@misc{ElsenbeerCasselCastro1992, author = {Elsenbeer, Helmut and Cassel, Keith and Castro, Jorge}, title = {Spatial analysis of soil hydraulic conductivity in a tropical rain forest catchment}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-16979}, year = {1992}, abstract = {The topography of first-order catchments in a region of western Amazonia was found to exhibit distinctive, recurrent features: a steep, straight lower side slope, a flat or nearly flat terrace at an intermediate elevation between valley floor and interfluve, and an upper side slope connecting interfluve and intermediate terrace. A detailed survey of soil-saturated hydraulic conductivity (K sat)-depth relationships, involving 740 undisturbed soil cores, was conducted in a 0.75-ha first-order catchment. The sampling approach was stratified with respect to the above slope units. Exploratory data analysis suggested fourth-root transformation of batches from the 0-0.1 m depth interval, log transformation of batches from the subsequent 0.1 m depth increments, and the use of robust estimators of location and scale. The K sat of the steep lower side slope decreased from 46 to 0.1 mm/h over the overall sampling depth of 0.4 m. The corresponding decrease was from 46 to 0.1 mm/h on the intermediate terrace, from 335 to 0.01 mm/h on the upper side slope, and from 550 to 0.015 mm/h on the interfluve. A depthwise comparison of these slope units led to the formulation of several hypotheses concerning the link between K sat and topography.}, language = {en} } @misc{ElsenbeerCasselTinner1993, author = {Elsenbeer, Helmut and Cassel, Keith and Tinner, W.}, title = {A daily rainfall erosivity model for Western Amazonia}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-16962}, year = {1993}, abstract = {Rainfall erosivities as defined by the R factor from the universal soil loss equation were determined for all events during a two-year period at the station La Cuenca in western Amazonia. Three methods based on a power relationship between rainfall amount and erosivity were then applied to estimate event and daily rainfall erosivities from the respective rainfall amounts. A test of the resulting regression equations against an independent data set proved all three methods equally adequate in predicting rainfall erosivity from daily rainfall amount. We recommend the Richardson model for testing in the Amazon Basin, and its use with the coefficient from La Cuenca in western Amazonia.}, language = {en} } @misc{ElsenbeerCasselZuniga1994, author = {Elsenbeer, Helmut and Cassel, Keith and Zu{\~n}iga, L.}, title = {Throughfall in the terra firme forest of Western Amazonia}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-16955}, year = {1994}, abstract = {Throughfall measurements were made under primary terra firme rainforest in the Rio Pichis valley, in the Upper Amazon Basin of Peru. Based on 214 precipitation events over nearly 18 months, throughfall was estimated to be 83.1±8.8\% of gross precipitation. Regression analysis of all events revealed that gross precipitation is the only significant explanatory variable; the use of one-burst events does not significantly improve the regression relationship. Gross precipitation is, however, a poor predictor of throughfall for small rainfall events. The two forest structure parameters, canopy capacity, S, and free throughfall coefficient, p, were determined to be 1.3±0.2 mm and 0.32±0.18 mm. Rainfall intensity was found to influence these parameters. New methods which attempt to minimize the influence of meteorologic variables are used to estimate the potential values of these canopy parameters.}, language = {en} } @misc{ElsenbeerLackCassel1995, author = {Elsenbeer, Helmut and Lack, Andreas and Cassel, Keith}, title = {Chemical fingerprints of hydrological compartments and flow paths at La Cuenca, western Amazonia}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-16937}, year = {1995}, abstract = {A forested first-order catchment in western Amazonia was monitored for 2 years to determine the chemical fingerprints of precipitation, throughfall, overland flow, pipe flow, soil water, groundwater, and streamflow. We used five tracers (hydrogen, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and silica) to distinguish "fast" flow paths mainly influenced by the biological subsystem from "slow" flow paths in the geochemical subsystem. The former comprise throughfall, overland flow, and pipe flow and are characterized by a high potassium/silica ratio; the latter are represented by soil water and groundwater, which have a low potassium/silica ratio. Soil water and groundwater differ with respect to calcium and magnesium. The groundwater-controlled streamflow chemistry is strongly modified by contributions from fast flow paths during precipitation events. The high potassium/silica ratio of these flow paths suggests that the storm flow response at La Cuenca is dominated by event water.}, language = {en} }