Abstract
Fog deposition is a notable component of the water budget of herbaceous-shrub ecosystems on the central and southern coastal regions of California. This paper presents an analysis of fog water deposition rates and meteorological controls in Big Sur, California. Mesh-screen fog collectors were installed the Brazil Ranch weather station sites to measure fog water during the summer seasons of 2010 and 2011. Fog deposition occurred during 73% of days recorded in 2010 and 87% of days recorded in 2011. The daily average deposition rate was 2.29 L/m2 in 2010 and 3.86 L/m2 in 2011. The meteorological variables which had the greatest influence on prediction of fog deposition were wind speed, wind direction, and the dew-point depression (difference between air temperature and dew point). Based on these results, we hypothesize that high rates of summer fog deposition help sustain the productivity of California coastal vegetation through periods of low rainfall.
Highlights
The presence of fog on the California Central Coast has been linked to numerous important bio-physical processes, including moderation of surface temperatures and increase of relative humidity [1,2,3]
This paper presents an analysis of fog water deposition rates and meteorological controls in Big Sur, California
Due to the absence of other fog collection studies on the California Central Coast, there is no local benchmark to compare the relative quantity of fog water collected at the Big Sur site
Summary
The presence of fog on the California Central Coast has been linked to numerous important bio-physical processes, including moderation of surface temperatures and increase of relative humidity [1,2,3]. Coastal shrub foliage may trap advected fog water and drip moisture into the surrounding soil below to mediate losses due to evapotranspiration [4,6,7]. The physical processes leading to coastal fog formation on the Pacific coast have been studied for decades. Warm surface air blowing over cold upwelling ocean water near the California coast is cooled to create a surface-based inversion. Petterssen [8] reported that radiative cooling of the fog layer, together with heating from the sea surface, initiates mixing and lifting of the marine inversion. Subsidence acts to strengthen the inversion above the stratus cloud top and forces lowering of clouds [10], which can move ashore with sustained winds to generate fog over land
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
