ABSTRACT
It is apparent that the water surface temperature is a quantity of primary importance in the evaporation of water. It is therefore appropriate to inquire how well temperature measurements can be made at the liquid water surface. When a monomolecular film is applied to a water surface, evaporation is reduced and the energy that would otherwise have gone into evaporation goes instead to increase the temperature of the water. In this regard it is of interest to estimate the effect of the inaccuracy of the temperature measurement on the calculated rate of evaporation and on the calculated evaporation coefficient. D. M. Gates et al. used a microwave refractometer to make measurements of the moisture profile above a water surface. He attributed an abrupt bending of the moisture profile toward the surface within the first several mm of the surface, giving the profile a sigmoid shape, to the measuring technique.
