Abstract
Part of precipitation is intercepted by forest canopies, while the rest reaches the ground as throughfall or stemflow. This process is influenced by various meteorological variables, of which we have mainly focused on drop diameter and velocity. Rainfall in the open and throughfall under birch and pine trees have both been measured since 2014 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The results demonstrate that the total throughfall during 3.5 years was 73% and 53% of rainfall under birch and pine trees, respectively. During the 236 analysed events, the median volume diameter was 1.8 mm (±1.7 mm), and kinetic energy between 0.01 mJ/cm2 and 23.3 mJ/cm2 was recorded. We closely analysed the effect of rainfall microstructure on throughfall under pine and birch trees during three specific rainfall events. The increase in drop diameter and fall velocity during a rainfall event instantaneously increased throughfall under pine trees between 25% and 47%, whereas no such changes were observed under birch trees. This may be the consequence of different tree properties of the two species. Additionally, in the case of a saturated canopy, throughfall under pine trees exceeded rainfall in the open after an onset of larger and faster drops.
Highlights
Rainfall interception can be observed when precipitation falls above ground that is covered with vegetation
We took into account 236 rainfall events for which complete data on drop diameter and velocity were available
Continuous measurements of rainfall, throughfall, and drop size distribution (DSD) over three and a half years provided enough data to analyse the influence of open rainfall microstructure on throughfall
Summary
Rainfall interception can be observed when precipitation falls above ground that is covered with vegetation. When rainfall reaches the tree canopy, some raindrops fall directly through the gaps in the canopy, while the rest are retained on leaves and branches. Drops retained in the canopy can later reach the ground by dripping, or can evaporate back into the atmosphere. The latter is known as rainfall interception or interception loss. The precipitation can reach the ground by flowing down the branches and stems (i.e., stemflow), or by falling through or from the canopy (i.e., throughfall). Throughfall itself consists of three components: free throughfall, drip, and splash [1,2,3,4]
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