IJCRRI Journ Cur Res ReInternational Journal of Current Research and ReviewI Journ Cur Res Re2231-21960975-5241Radiance Research Academy1678TechnologyTHE FAO PENMAN MONTIETH METHOD OF ESTIMATING EVAPOTRANSPIRATION COMPARED WITH NINE OTHER METHODS IN CAPE COAST MUNICIPALITY, GHANA Owusu-SekyereJoshua D.ManuSamuel A.15102012)209216This article is copyright of Popeye Publishing, 20092009This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) Licence. You may share and adapt the material, but must give appropriate credit to the source, provide a link to the licence, and indicate if changes were made.

A comparison of nine methods of evapotranspiration (ETO) determination with the FAO Penman-Montieth method was conducted. The nine methods are: Original Blaney-Criddle, Soil Conservation Service modified Blaney-Criddle, FAO Blaney-Criddle, Jensen-Haise, Hargreaves 1985, Hargreaves-Samani, Hamon 1963, Hamon 1961 and Piche evaporimeter. The investigations were conducted for both 5-day and 10-day periods for a duration of six months spanning May to July 2009 (three months of wet season) and November 2009 to January 2010 (three months of dry season). ETo estimates obtained were compared with ETo estimates from FAO Penman-Montieth method using correlation coefficient. The following methods; Jensen Haise, Hargreaves and Hamon (both 1961 and 1963) had consistently high correlation coefficients for the period and could thus be used to estimate evapotranspiration in the Cape Coast Municipality. A regression analysis was carried out for the methods which had consistently high correlation coefficients and the Penman-Montieth equation was done; thus the equations to use for predicting evapotranspiration values for the Penman-Montieth equation was achieved.