Weather and Consumptive Use in the Bear River Basin, Idaho During 1982; Research technical completion report, project A-076-IDA

Temporary weather stations located in the western portion of the Bear River basin in southeastern Idaho were monitored during the 1982 growing season. Hourly measurements of solar radiation, wind travel, air temperature and dewpoint temperature were recorded. Solar radiation in the area was similar to measurements at Logan, Utah and Kimberly, Idaho during the same period. Measured wind travel and air temperatures in the Bear River basin varied with site location. Consumptive use estimated for crops around each of three weather sites was compared to soil moisture depletion measured with a neutron probe. Consumptive use methods evaluated included the Wright-1982, FAO-Blaney-Criddle, Jensen-Raise, SCS-Blaney-Criddle and a regional aridity approach to estimating consumptive use reported by Morton (1976) and Brutsaert and Stricker (1979). Performance of consumptive use methods depended on whether crops were irrigated or dryland crops