Influence of Raindrop Size Distribution on Throughfall Dynamics under Pine and Birch Trees at the Rainfall Event Level

• Main Authors: Katarina Zabret, Jože Rakovec, Matjaž Mikoš, Mojca Šraj
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2017-12-01
• Series: Atmosphere
• Subjects: rainfall; rainfall interception; throughfall; raindrop size distribution; drop velocity; birch; pine; Slovenia
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/8/12/240

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.