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33 - Measuring cloud water interception in the Tambito forests of southern Colombia

from Part III - Hydrometeorology of tropical montane cloud forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2011

By
J. González
Edited by
L. A. Bruijnzeel ,
F. N. Scatena  and
L. S. Hamilton
J. González
Affiliation:
King's College London, UK
L. A. Bruijnzeel
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
F. N. Scatena
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
L. S. Hamilton
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the results obtained with passive cloud water collectors installed at five elevations between 1400 and 2400 m.a.s.l. in the Tambito area of southern Colombia. Harp-based cloud water interception (CWI) proved significantly higher in the upper montane cloud forest (UMCF) zone (>2200 m.a.s.l.) compared to the lower montane cloud forest (LMCF) zone. Average CWI values ranged from 0.1 to 1.3 mm day−1 but there was no significant correlation between altitude and average CWI below the main cloud belt, presumably due to differences in exposure between sites. Furthermore, CWI exhibited differences in seasonality with elevation, with maximum CWI/rainfall ratios in the UMCF zone during the dry season and earlier in the year at lower elevations. In addition, a comparison of the wire harp to the more widely use method of measuring the excess throughfall minus rainfall was explored in the LMCF.

INTRODUCTION

Despite the importance of cloud water interception (CWI) to the water budget of tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), its quantification remains difficult. Various types of artificial cloud water collectors have been used to monitor fog incidence at many TMCF sites (Bruijnzeel and Proctor, 1995; Bruijnzeel 2001), but there is no standard device to monitor CWI. Interpreting the results obtained with fog collectors is confounded by the difficulty to distinguish rainfall from fog (cf. Frumau et al., this volume; Giambelluca et al., this volume; Tanaka et al., this volume), whereas the fog catch of some types of gages is also affected by wind direction (Juvik and Nullet, 1995a; García-Santos, 2007).

Type
Chapter
Information
Tropical Montane Cloud Forests
Science for Conservation and Management
 , pp. 317 - 323
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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References

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