Abstract
I present a model of coupled advective/conductive heat transport that incorporates key processes acting in the near‐surface environment of a groundwater discharge zone, including convective heat transfer between the land surface and the atmosphere and evaporative cooling. The model is used to examine the potential for evaporative cooling to impact temperature distributions in the near‐subsurface. The model predictions suggest that evaporative cooling may be an important factor in some cases of practical interest, and that evaporative effects may influence thermal gradients, and therefore calculations of heat flux, that are based on shallow (0.1–2 m depth) temperature measurements. Although the model was originally developed for application to hydrothermal discharge zones, most groundwater discharge areas (seeps and springs) have the potential to be influenced by evaporative cooling, so the model predictions may be useful for understanding soil temperatures across a wide range of environmental systems.