An index that is proportional to the ratio of temperature gradient to vapor pressure gradient in the atmosphere above a field. It is relatively low when the field is wet and the evaporation rate is high, i.e., when the temperature gradient is small relative to the vapor pressure gradient. When the field is dry, the humidity gradients tend to be low and much of the received solar energy goes to warming the soil, hence the temperature gradients tend to be steep and the Bowen ratio becomes large.
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Introduction to Environmental Soil Physics. (First Edition). 2003. Elsevier Inc. Daniel Hillel (ed.) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/book/9780123486554
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(2011). Bowen Ratio. In: Gliński, J., Horabik, J., Lipiec, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Agrophysics. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3585-1_539
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3585-1_539
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