Potential Evapotranspiration uses Thornthwaite Method to the Water Balance in Padang City

Abstract

Abstract Population growth has resulted in many changes in land cover that occurs in the city of Padang. The availability of groundwater which mostly comes from rainfall is an important limiting factor that increased the production of a plant. Limited water availability causes competition for water use in the community both for agricultural activities, residential, industrial and other water uses. The water balance is a method that can be used to see the availability of groundwater for plants at a certain time. This study aims to analyze the water balance using the Thorntwaite method. The data used in this study are rainfall data along with climatological data for the years 2007-2018 which represent the Padang City area. The results showed that there was a water surplus every month. The highest excess of water occurred in November at 375.72 mm.