To estimate the irrigation volume required for agriculture and improve water resources utilization efficiency, it is essential to obtain an estimate of reference evapotranspiration (ET0) and its components (e.g., reference transpiration, T0 and reference soil evaporation, E0). This study updated a soil-plant-atmosphere continuum (SPAC) evapotranspiration model and its associated components to obtain a reference-based SPAC model of reference evapotranspiration (R-SPAC), and it applied the model to an agricultural ecosystem. Model simulations of mean hourly ET0 were benchmarked against those of the Penman-Monteith method by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO-PM) throughout the growing season. The resulting good correlation obtained (R2 = 0.96, agreement index, I = 0.98, root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) = 0.05 mm h−1) validated the accuracy of the R-SPAC model. Sensitivity analysis was used to explore uncertainties and errors for ET0, T0, and E0 caused by input variables. The results showed that net radiation and shortwave radiation at the study site were the main drivers of ET0 for both the FAO-PM and R-SPAC models. The study showed that the proposed R-SPAC model can be used for predicting ET0 and for exploring interactions between climate, crop type, and soil in determining evapotranspiration under various future environment conditions.

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