# Chapter 2:2 Evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration is a collective term that includes all processes by which water at the earth’s surface is converted to water vapor. It includes evaporation from the plant canopy, transpiration, sublimation and evaporation from the soil. Evapotranspiration is the primary mechanism by which water is removed from a watershed. Roughly 62% of the precipitation that falls on the continents is evapotranspired. Evapotranspiration exceeds runoff in most river basins and on all continents except Antarctica (Dingman, 1994). The difference between precipitation and evapotranspiration is the water available for human use and management. An accurate estimation of evapotranspiration is critical in the assessment of water resources and the impact of climate and land use change on those resources. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://swatplus.gitbook.io/io-docs/theoretical-documentation/section-2-hydrology/chapter-2-2-evapotranspiration.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.