Assessing the Efficacy of Two Indirect Methods for Quantifying Canopy Variables Associated with the Interception Loss of Rainfall in Temperate Hardwood Forests

Thomas G. Pypker, Catherine S. Tarasoff, Hong-Suk Koh

School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/ojmh.2012.22005                

Abstract

Forest canopy water storage (S), direct throughfall fraction (p) and mean evaporation rate to mean rainfall intensity ratio (E/R) vary between storms and seasonally. Typically, researchers only quantify the mean growing and dormant season values of S, p and E/R for deciduous forests, thereby ignoring seasonal changes S, p and E/R .Past researchers adapted the mean method, which is usually used to estimate S, p and E/R on an annual or seasonal basis, to estimate the same canopy variables on a per storm basis (individual storm (IS) method). The disadvantage of the IS method is that it requires more expensive equipment and the calculation of the canopy variables is more labor intensive relative to the mean method. The goal of this study was to explore the use of the IS method for northern hardwood forests and to determine whether estimates of S, p and E/R derived by the IS method produce more accurate estimates of rainfall interception loss (I_n) using the Gash model relative to estimates derived by the mean method. The IS method estimated that S increased from approximately 0.11 mm in the early spring to 1.2 mm in the summer and then declined to 0.24 mm after fall senescence. Direct throughfall decreased from 0.4 in the early spring to 0.11 in the summer, and then increased to 0.4 after leaf senescence. When measurement period estimates of p, S and E/R derived by the IS and mean methods were applied to the Gash model, the modeled estimates of I_n differed from the measured values by 14.0 mm and 1.3 mm, respectively. Therefore, because the mean method provided more accurate estimates of I_n, the extra effort and expense required by the IS method is not advantageous for studies in northern hardwood forests that only need to model annual or seasonal estimates of I_n.

Keywords

Canopy Water Storage; Evaporation; Direct Throughfall; Gash Model; Sugar Maple; Mean Method; IS Method

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	P. J. Zinke, “Forest Interception Studies in the United States,” In: W. E. Sopper and H. W. Lull, Eds., International Symposium on Forest Hydrology, Pergamon Press, New York, 1967, pp. 137-161.
[2]	G. Hormann et al., “Calculation and Simulation of Wind Controlled Canopy Interception of a Beech Forest in Northern Germany,” Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol. 79, No. 3, 1996, pp. 131-148. doi:10.1016/0168-1923(95)02275-9
[3]	J. H. C. Gash, “An Analytical Model of Rainfall Interception by Forest,” Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 105, No. 443, 1979, pp. 43-55. doi:10.1002/qj.49710544304
[4]	W. Klaassen, “Evaporation from Rain-Wetted Forest in relation to Canopy Wetness, Canopy Cover, and Net Radiation,” Water Resources Research, Vol. 37, No. 12, 2001, pp. 3227-3236. doi:10.1029/2001WR000480
[5]	L. Leyton, E. R. C. Reynolds and F. B. Thompson, “Rainfall interception in forest and moorland,” In: W. E. Sopper and H. W. Lull, Eds., International Symposium on Forest Hydrology, Pergamon Press, New York, 1967, pp. 163-178.
[6]	A. J. Rutter, K. A. Kershaw, P. C. Robins and A. J. Morton, “A Predictive Model of Rainfall Interception in Forests, I. Derivation of the Model from Observations in a Plantation of Corsican Pine,” Agricultural Meteorology, Vol. 9, 1971, pp. 367-384. doi:10.1016/0002-1571(71)90034-3
[7]	A. J. Rutte and A. J. Morton, “A Predictive Model of Rainfall Interception in Forests. III. Sensitivity of the Model to Stand Parameters and Meteorological Variables,” Journal of Applied Ecology, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1977, pp. 567-588. doi:10.2307/2402568
[8]	A. J. Rutter, A. J. Morton and P. C. Robins, “A Predictive Model of Rainfall Interception in Forests II. Generalization of the Model and Comparison with Observations in some Coniferous and Hardwood Stands,” Journal of Applied Ecology, Vol. 12, No. 1, 1975, pp. 367-380. doi:10.2307/2401739
[9]	W. Bouten, P. J. F. Swart and E. DeWater, “Microwave Transmission, a New Tool in Forest Hydrological Research,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 124, No. 1-2, 1991, pp. 119-130. doi:10.1016/0022-1694(91)90009-7
[10]	W. Klaassen, F. Bosveld and E. deWater, “Water Storage and Evaporation as Constituents of Rainfall Interception,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 212-213, 1998, pp. 36-50. doi:10.1016/S0022-1694(98)00200-5
[11]	I. R. Calder and I. R. Wright, “Gamma Ray Attenuation Studies of Interception from Sitka Spruce: Some Evidence for an Additional Transport Mechanism,” Water Resources Research, Vol. 22, No. 3, 1986, pp. 409-417. doi:10.1029/WR022i003p00409
[12]	T. E. Link, M. H. Unsworth and D. Marks, “The Dynamics of Rainfall Interception by a Seasonal Temperate Rainforest,” Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol. 124, No. 3-4, 2004, pp. 171-191. doi:10.1016/j.agrformet.2004.01.010
[13]	M. Herbst, P. T. W. Rosier, D. D. McNeil, R. J. Harding and D. J. Gowing, “Seasonal Variability of Interception Evaporation from the Canopy of a Mixed Deciduous Forest,” Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol. 148, No. 11, 2008, pp. 1655-1667. doi:10.1016/j.agrformet.2008.05.011
[14]	J. H. C. Gash, C. R. Lloyd and G. Lachaud, “Estimating Sparse Forest Rainfall Interception with an Analytical Model,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 170, No. 1-4, 1995, pp. 79-86. doi:10.1016/0022-1694(95)02697-N
[15]	NCDC, “Annual Climate Summary,” Marquette, WSO AP, National Climate Data Center, Michigan, 2008.
[16]	J. P. Kimmins, “Some Statistical Aspects of Sampling Throughfall Precipitation in Nutrient Cycling Studies in British Columbian Coastal Forests,” Ecology, Vol. 54, No. 5, 1973, pp. 1008-1019. doi:10.2307/1935567
[17]	L. J. Puckett, “Spatial Variability and Collector Requirements for Sampling Throughfall Volume and Chemistry under a Mixed Hardwood Canopy,” Canadian Journal of Forest Research, Vol. 21, No. 11, 1991, pp. 1581-1588. doi:10.1139/x91-220
[18]	C. R. Lloyd and A. O. Marques Filho, “Spatial Variability of Throughfall and Stemflow Measurements in Amazonian Rainforest,” Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol. 42, No. 1, 1988, pp. 63-72. doi:10.1016/0168-1923(88)90067-6
[19]	H. G. Wilm, “Determining Rainfall under a Conifer Forest,” Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. 67, No. 12, 1943, pp. 501-512.
[20]	J. B. Stewart, “Modeling Surface Conductance of Pine Forest,” Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol. 43, No. 1, 1988, pp. 19-35. doi:10.1016/0168-1923(88)90003-2
[21]	A. J. Pearce and L. K. Rowe, “Rainfall Interception in a Muli-Storied, Evergreen Mixed Forest: Estimates Using Gash’s Analytical Model,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 49, No. 3-4, 1981, pp. 341-353. doi:10.1016/S0022-1694(81)80018-2
[22]	T. E. Link, G. N. Flerchinger, M. H. Unsworth and D. Marks, “Simulation of Water and Energy Fluxes in an Old-Growth Seasonal Temperate Rain Forest Using the Simultaneous Heat and Water (SHAW) Model,” Journal of Hydrometeorology, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2004, pp. 443-457. doi:10.1175/1525-7541(2004)005<0443:SOWAEF>2.0.CO;2
[23]	A. Muzylo et al., “A Review of Rainfall Interception Modelling,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 370, No. 1-4, 2009, pp. 191-206. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.02.058
[24]	I. R. Calder, R. L. Hall, P. T. W. Rosier, H. G. Bastable and K. T. Prasanna, “Dependence of Rainfall Interception on Drop Size: 2. Experimental Determination of the Wetting Functions and Two-Layer Stochastic Model Parameters for Five Tropical Tree Species,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 185, No. 1-4, 1996, pp. 379-388. doi:10.1016/0022-1694(95)02999-0
[25]	A. G. Price and D. E. Carlyle-Moses, “Measurement and Modelling of Growing-Season Canopy Water Fluxes in a Mature Mixed Deciduous Forest Stand, Southern Ontario, Canada,” Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol. 119, No. 1-2, 2003, pp. 69-85. doi:10.1016/S0168-1923(03)00117-5
[26]	R. F. Keim, “Comment on ‘Measurement and Modeling of Growing-Season Canopy Water Fluxes in a Mature Mixed Deciduous Forest Stand, Southern Ontario, Canada,” Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol. 124, No. 3-4, 2004, pp. 277-279. doi:10.1016/j.agrformet.2004.02.003
[27]	R. F. Keim and A. E. Skaugset, “A Linear System Model of Dynamic Throughfall Rates Beneath Forest Canopies,” Water Resources Research, Vol. 40, No. 5, 2004, Article No. W05208. doi:10.1029/2003WR002875
[28]	J. A. Vrugt, S. C. Dekker and W. Bouten, “Identification of Rainfall Interception Model Parameters from Measurements of Throughfall and Forest Canopy Storage,” Water Resources Research, Vol. 39, 2003, p. 1251. doi:10.1029/2003WR002013
[29]	D. E. Carlyle-Moses and A. G. Price, “An Evaluation of the Gash Interception Model in a Northern Hardwood stand,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 214, No. 1-4, 1999, pp. 103-110. doi:10.1016/S0022-1694(98)00274-1
[30]	J. D. Helvey and J. H. Patric, “Canopy and Litter Interception of Rainfall by Hardwoods of Eastern United States,” Water Resources Research, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1965, pp. 193-206. doi:10.1029/WR001i002p00193
[31]	L. K. Rowe, “Rainfall Interception by an Evergreen Beech Forest, Nelson, New Zealand,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 66, No. 1-4, 1983, pp. 143-158. doi:10.1016/0022-1694(83)90182-8
[32]	R. E. Horton, “Rainfall Interception,” Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 47, No. 9, 1919, pp. 603-623. doi:/10.1175/1520-0493(1919)47<603:RI>2.0.CO;2
[33]	F. André, M. Jonard and Q. Ponette, “Precipitation Water Storage Capacity in a Temperate Mixed Oak-Beech Canopy,” Hydrological Processes, Vol. 22, No. 20, 2008, pp. 4130-4141. doi:10.1002/hyp.7013
[34]	A. M. J. Gerrits, L. Pfister and H. H. G. Savenije, “Spatial and Temporal Variability of Canopy and Forest Floor Interception in a Beech Forest,” Hydrological Processes, Vol. 24, No. 21, 2010, pp. 3011-3025. doi:10.1002/hyp.7712
[35]	G. N. Flerchinger and K. E. Saxton, “Simultaneous Heat and Water Model of a Freezing Snow-Residue-Soil System. I. Theory and Development,” Transactions of the ASAE, Vol. 32, No.2, 1989, pp. 565-571.
[36]	V. G. Jetten, “Interception of Tropical Rainforest: Performance of a Canopy Water Balance Model,” Hydrological Processes, Vol. 10, No. 5, 1996, pp. 671-685. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1085(199605)10:5<671::AID-HYP310>3.0.CO;2-A
[37]	J. H. C. Gash, I. R. Wright and C. R. Lloyd, “Comparative Estimates of Interception Loss from Three Coniferous Forests in Great Britain,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 48, No. 1-2, 1980, pp. 89-105. doi:10.1016/0022-1694(80)90068-2
[38]	P. G. Jarvis and D. Fowler, “10: Forests and Atmosphere,” In: J. Evans, Ed., The Forests Handbook, Blackwell Science, Oxford, 2008, pp. 229-281.
[39]	T. Toba and T. Ohta, “An Observational Study of the Factors that Influence Interception Loss in Boreal and Temperate Forests,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 313, No. 3-4, 2005, pp. 208-220. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.03.003
[40]	Z. Teklehaimanot, P. G. Jarvis and D. C. Ledger, “Rainfall Interception and Boundary Layer Conductance in relation to Tree Spacing,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 123, No. 3-4, 1991, pp. 261-278. doi:10.1016/0022-1694(91)90094-X
[41]	A. Deguchi, S. Hattori and H. T. Park, “The Influence of Seasonal Changes in Canopy Structure on Interception Loss: Application of the Revised Gash Model,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 318, No. 1-4, 2006, pp. 80-102. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.06.005