Evaporation from open water surfaces: Which set of factors collectively governs evaporation losses from reservoirs, tanks, or lakes?

Introduction / Context:
Evaporation is the phase change of liquid water to vapor from open water bodies. In hydrology and water resources engineering, accurately estimating evaporation is essential for reservoir operation, irrigation planning, and water-balance studies.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Climatic influences: temperature, humidity, wind speed, solar radiation.
• Surface characteristics: area and, indirectly, depth due to heat storage effects.
• Surroundings: vegetation and precipitation regime affect microclimate and advective transfers.

Concept / Approach:
Evaporation rate increases with higher temperature and wind speed and decreases with higher humidity. Larger surface areas provide more interface for vapor exchange; depth influences thermal inertia and daily evaporation patterns. Vegetation and precipitation modify boundary-layer conditions and energy balance.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Identify primary meteorological drivers: temperature, humidity, wind.Account for surface characteristics: area (directly) and depth (via heat storage and temperature profile).Consider environmental modifiers: precipitation regime and vegetative surroundings that can affect fetch, shading, and boundary-layer stability.Therefore, all listed factors contribute materially to evaporation losses.

Verification / Alternative check:
Formulations such as mass-transfer, energy-budget, or combination methods (e.g., Penman-type) explicitly include these variables through aerodynamic and energy components.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Any single subset (only area/depth, or only humidity/wind, etc.) is incomplete; evaporation is multi-factorial.

Common Pitfalls:
Assuming only temperature matters; ignoring the strong role of wind and humidity deficit or overlooking surface area effects.

Final Answer:
All the above.