Modelling rainfall interception by forests: a new method for estimating the canopy storage capacity

Pereira, Fernando Leite; Valente, Fernanda; Nóbrega, Cristina

Publication

Modelling rainfall interception by forests: a new method for estimating the canopy storage capacity

2015Conference object

dc.contributor.author	Pereira, Fernando Leite
dc.contributor.author	Valente, Fernanda
dc.contributor.author	Nóbrega, Cristina
dc.date.accessioned	2024-02-22T11:04:41Z
dc.date.available	2024-02-22T11:04:41Z
dc.date.issued	2015
dc.description.abstract	Evaporation of rainfall intercepted by forests is usually an important part of a catchment water balance. Recognizing the importance of interception loss, several models of the process have been developed. A key parameter of these models is the canopy storage capacity (S), commonly estimated by the so-called Leyton method. However, this method is somewhat subjective in the selection of the storms used to derive S, which is particularly critical when throughfall is highly variable in space. To overcome these problems, a new method for estimating S was proposed in 2009 by Pereira et al. (Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 149: 680-688), which uses information from a larger number of storms, is less sensitive to throughfall spatial variability and is consistent with the formulation of the two most widely used rainfall interception models, Gash analytical model and Rutter model. However, this method has a drawback: it does not account for stemflow (Sf ). To allow a wider use of this methodology, we propose now a revised version which makes the estimation of S independent of the importance of stemflow. For the application of this new version we only need to establish a linear regression of throughfall vs. gross rainfall using data from all storms large enough to saturate the canopy. Two of the parameters used by the Gash and the Rutter models, pd (the drainage partitioning coefficient) and S, are then derived from the regression coefficients: pd is firstly estimated allowing then the derivation of S but, if Sf is not considered, S can be estimated making pd=0. This new method was tested using data from a eucalyptus plantation, a maritime pine forest and a traditional olive grove, all located in Central Portugal. For both the eucalyptus and the pine forests pd and S estimated by this new approach were comparable to the values derived in previous studies using the standard procedures. In the case of the traditional olive grove, the estimates obtained by this methodology for pd and S allowed interception loss to be modelled with a normalized averaged error less than 4%. Globally, these results confirm that the method is more robust and certainly less subjective, providing adequate estimates for pd and S which, in turn, are crucial for a good performance of the interception models.	pt_PT
dc.description.version	info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion	pt_PT
dc.identifier.citation	PEREIRA, F. L. ; VALENTE, F. ; NÓBREGA, C. (2015) - Modelling rainfall interception by forests: a new method for estimating the canopy storage capacity. In European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2015, Vienna, Austria - Geophysical Research Abstracts. Vol. 17, EGU2015-6687.	pt_PT
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10400.11/8894
dc.language.iso	eng	pt_PT
dc.peerreviewed	no	pt_PT
dc.publisher	EGU	pt_PT
dc.relation.publisherversion	https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2015/EGU2015-6687.pdf	pt_PT
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/	pt_PT
dc.subject	Rrainfall interception	pt_PT
dc.subject	Canopy storage capacity	pt_PT
dc.subject	Sparse forests	pt_PT
dc.title	Modelling rainfall interception by forests: a new method for estimating the canopy storage capacity	pt_PT
dc.type	conference object
dspace.entity.type	Publication
oaire.citation.conferencePlace	Vienna, Austria	pt_PT
oaire.citation.title	European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2015	pt_PT
oaire.citation.volume	Vol. 17	pt_PT
person.familyName	Leite Pereira
person.givenName	Fernando
person.identifier.ciencia-id	B710-F492-0A79
person.identifier.orcid	0000-0003-0087-4384
person.identifier.rid	D-8053-2011
person.identifier.scopus-author-id	25723657600
rcaap.rights	openAccess	pt_PT
rcaap.type	conferenceObject	pt_PT
relation.isAuthorOfPublication	83206420-4fd8-4877-b0bd-3e1adb2131fa
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery	83206420-4fd8-4877-b0bd-3e1adb2131fa