Micrometeorological Research of Peat Swamp Forests in Narathiwat, Thailand.

Abstract

Deforestation in tropical forest is continuing, and may be a cause of global environmental problems. Yet how the deforestation effects the environment is somewhat obscured. As a first step, an investigation of the differences of environmental characteristics between a natural tropical forest and deforested canopies has been conducted. Some measurements in a tropical swamp forest, a secondary forest, and a reclaimed paddy field in Narathiwat province, Thailand have been carried out. The measurements are made to clarify energy and mass exchange rates between the canopies and the atmosphere using micrometeorological methods. In the forest, those measurements are being conducted from a 38 meter-high observation tower constructed in June, 1992. Results obtained show that the deforestation of the tropical swamp forest undoubtedly changes the micrometeorology. In particular, the changes clearly appear in heat, water vapor, and carbon dioxide which are transported especially during the dry season. It was proved that a newly developed system to estimate gas flux by using the eddy accumulation theory shows excellent performances to promise reliable gases fluxes measurements in natural environment.