Interception measurements and assessment of Gash model performance for a tropical semi-arid region
- Semi-arid environments usually face water scarcity and conflicts for its use; therefore a complete understanding of the water balance in these regions is desired. To evaluate interception, measurements of precipitation, throughfall and stemflow were carried out in a Brazilian tropical semi-arid experimental watershed with well preserved Caatinga vegetation. Data analysis indicates that interception losses correspond to 13% of total rainfall, representing an important process in the watershed's water balance, where runoff is only 6% of total precipitation. Gash interception model was applied in the region with good results for long term simulation. Nevertheless, the model produced significant but not systematic errors on a daily basis. This was attributed to its incapability of representing the temporal variation of precipitation during the event, which is a major factor affecting interception. Rainfall intensity was shown to be a good parameter to determine an applicability threshold for Gash model in the study area.
Author details: | Pedro Henrique Augusto MedeirosORCiD, Jose Carlos de AraujoORCiD, Axel BronstertORCiDGND |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0045-6888 |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Year of first publication: | 2009 |
Publication year: | 2009 |
Release date: | 2017/03/25 |
Source: | Revista ciencia agronomica. - ISSN 0045-6888. - 40 (2009), 2, S. 165 - 174 |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Geowissenschaften |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Institution name at the time of the publication: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Erd- und Umweltwissenschaften |