What is "atmometer"

Atmometer \At*mom"e*ter\, n. [Gr. ? smoke, vapor + -meter: cf. F. atmom[`e]tre.] An instrument for measuring the rate of evaporation from a moist surface; an evaporometer.
--Huxley.

n. An instrument that measures the rate of evaporation of a liquid.

n. an instrument that measures rate of evaporation of water [syn: evaporometer]

An atmometer or evaporimeter is a scientific instrument used for measuring the rate of water evaporation from a wet surface to the atmosphere. Atmometers are mainly used by farmers and growers to measure evapotranspiration (ET) rates of crops at any field location. Evapotranspiration is a measure of all of the water that evaporates from land surfaces plus the water that transpires from plant surfaces. Based on the amount of water that does evaporate and transpire, the user can water crops correspondingly, which results in less water use and possibly increased crop yields. Companies that currently sell atmometers include C&M Meteorological Supply and Calsense.