The National Agriculture Research Center (NARC) of Jordan, partner of PROSIM project, has completed the purchase of 15 evaporation pans in Balqa, Jordan. The Tender was published by the end of February 2022 and presented all the technical specifications for the equipment needed according to the irrigation water demand in Balqa

The evaporation pan is the third innovative solution (IS3) proposed within the PROSIM project and it is being installed in Jordan to serve 35 farmers and 11,5 hectares in Balqa for cultures of vegetables in greenhouses as well as open field.

Since Jordan is endemically affected by drought, the situation imposes an optimal management of its water reserves through accurate estimation of the climatic evaporative demand and the potential evapotranspiration (E.T.P.) of the irrigated perimeter of Balqa.

Thus, this low cost innovative solution allows farmers to evaluate local evaporation and water needs for irrigation at plot/greenhouse level. It consists of a water basin or tank with a large enough surface and sufficient depth to measure the change in water level due to evaporation. It measures the evaporation rate of a given volume of water and surface exposed to the air (expressed in mm per day, month or year).This data depends exclusively on the temperature and humidity of the air, as well as on precipitation.

The basin size ranges from 1 to 5 meters in diameter and from 10 to 70 cm deep. It is usually placed 15 cm above the ground on a wooden pallet with a hole in it so that air can circulate underneath it. This prevents the transmission of thermal energy between the ground and the tank, which could distort the results obtained. In all cases, the water level is maintained at a short distance below the edge of the tank. The variations in the water level of the tank, measured at fixed intervals, reflect the intensity of evaporation.