The annual net groundwater evaporation from continental salt
pans (playas) is a result of total evaporation (42 mm ± 13 mm)
minus groundwater recharge (3 mm). The resulting estimate of
39 mm ± 13 mm is at the lower end of the range derived from
the literature of 20 mm a1 (Robinson and Gunatilaka, 1991) to
120 mm a1 (Patterson and Kinsman, 1981; Shehata and Lotfi,
1993). It is important to note that most of the previous studies
reported about evaporation rates from salt pans close to the Arabian
Gulf, however, this study focuses on evaporation of groundwater
and hence on evaporation from salt pans further inland.
This is relevant as Patterson and Kinsman (1981) stated higher
evaporation rates from coastal salt pans (120 mm a1) than from
those which are located more inland (60 mm a1).