Towards an improved representation of potential evapotranspiration for oil sands reclamation and monitoring projects

Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) is an important input variable for hydrological models, however, accurately estimating it can be costly. Several simplified models exist for estimating PET, however, their accuracy depends on the quality of input data, assumptions, and land type. For the various oil sands reclamation and monitoring projects, a wide range of estimations currently exist. The purpose of this research is to utilize existing field data from Suncor projects to assess the effectiveness of several generalized approaches for calculating PET and assessing how they compare to field-measured values. The results generated in this proposed study will provide recommendations on how to establish standards for generating accurate PET measurements across monitoring and reclamation projects.

Faculty Supervisor:

Richard Petrone

Student:

Partner:

Hatfield Consultants

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Waterloo

Program: