Characteristics of dew/hoar frost from Artemisia ordosica and bare soil based on weighing lysimeters in a semi-arid region

Abstract

Dew and hoar frost are important water resources in arid and semi-arid regions. However, knowledge of the characteristics of dew/hoar frost formation in the typical shrub canopy of Northwestern China and its importance for vegetation survival is still not clear as it is difficult to observe. In this study, we investigated dew/hoar frost formation characteristics under both Artemisia ordosica and bare soil conditions based on weighing lysimeters in Mu Us Sandy Land, Northwest of China. The results show that dew and hoar frost occurred 214 days for Artemisia ordosica and 162 days for bare soil. The hoar frost formation mainly occurs from October to March, while dew formation occurs every month. The amount of hoar frost was 19.6 mm under Artemisia ordosica condition and 17.4 mm under bare soil condition, and the amount of dew was 27.5 mm of Artemisia ordosica and 18.4 mm of bare soil. The most common daily amount of dew/hoar frost is between 0 and 0.2 mm, which accounts for 60.7 % and 52.5 % of dew/hoar frost formation days for the Artemisia ordosica and bare soil conditions, respectively. The results from boosted regression tree analysis indicated that relative humidity had the greatest influence on dew/hoar frost formation. During soil drought periods (July 15 to August 18, 2021), the soil water content of Artemisia ordosica kept constant at 0.061 cm3/cm3, while the soil water content of bare soil was dropped at the rate of 0.00135 (cm3/cm3)/d. The ratio of dew amount of Artemisia ordosica to rainfall amount was 42.1 %. Despite the small amount of dew, it serves as a frequent and important supplementary water source for the ecosystem. This study provided valuable insights into dew/hoar frost formation, especially its importance for vegetation survival.