Effects of rainfall characteristics on infiltration and redistribution patterns in revegetation-stabilized desert ecosystems

Wang, Xin Ping; Cui, Yan; Yan, Peng; Li, Xin Rong; Yu, Zhigang; Young, Michael H.

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.06.002

Cited by 88 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Wang et al (2008) suggested that the wetting front location can be detected by measuring the changes of water content in a soil profile. In the present study, the infiltration process was determined by measuring the changes of water content in a soil profile at depths of 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 cm, based on the assumption that the water reaches a certain depth when the soil moisture content begins to increase.…”

Section: Experimental Design and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In arid and semi-arid areas, precipitation is the only source of soil moisture. It is important to understand the rainfall infiltration processes and amounts because they represent the initial stage of the small catchment water cycle (Wang et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Soil moisture dynamics have received considerable attention in recent decades Gao et al, 2011;Hu et al, 2009). Previous studies have shown that infiltration processes can be more reliably captured by time series soil moisture content measurements using time domain reflectometry than by other methods (Jones et al, 2002;Wang et al, 2008). However, data on the infiltration processes and the effects of cumulative infiltration on different land covers remain scarce.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Responses of soil moisture in different land cover types to rainfall events in a re-vegetation catchment area of the Loess Plateau, China

Wang

Gao

et al. 2013

CATENA

186

122

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a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f oImplementation of the Grain-for-Green project has resulted in significantly increased vegetative cover on the Loess Plateau of China during the past few decades. The plant communities influence soil moisture recharge and usage processes, particularly the input process, which is directly related to transformation of the limited precipitation into available soil water in the semi-arid Loess Plateau. A study to measure soil moisture dynamics of typical land cover types associated with precipitation events was conducted in a re-vegetated catchment area. Smart probes were inserted at 6 different depths below the ground surface under grass (Andropogon), subshrub (Artemisia scoparia), shrub (Spiraea pubescens), tree (Robinia pseudoacacia), and crop (Zea mays) vegetation to record volumetric soil moisture at 10-minute intervals for a period of 60 days during the growing season in 2011. The advance of the wetting front and total accumulated infiltrated water were measured. The rainfall events were sporadic with widely different intensities, and the soil moisture was replenished mainly by 3-4 heavy precipitation events during July and August. The mean soil moisture content profiles of the 5 vegetation types can be ordered as crop > grass > subshrub> tree> shrub and this relationship displayed time stability. The different land cover types clearly influenced the water infiltration and water input amounts in the re-vegetated area. The subshrub site showed the highest total infiltration amount (164 mm) with precipitation (227 mm) during the study period. The grass site had an infiltration amount of 156 mm. The tree site had a total precipitation of 154 mm and an infiltration amount of 97 mm. The infiltration amount was 136 mm for the shrub site and was the lowest (83 mm) for the crop site. Natural grasses displayed a rapid infiltration rate and the wetting front was able to reach a greater depth.

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Section: Experimental Design and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Responses of soil moisture in different land cover types to rainfall events in a re-vegetation catchment area of the Loess Plateau, China

Wang

Gao

et al. 2013

CATENA

186

122

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“…The low water content of desert soils limits the number of shrubs and its stabilization. The effects of both rainfall and soil surface characteristics on soil water replenishment in re-vegetated desert ecosystems have been studied by Wang et al (2007Wang et al ( , 2008. However, the effect of stemflow on infiltration patterns associated with the soil moisture replenishment is almost totally unexplored.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Desert shrub stemflow and its significance in soil moisture replenishment

Wang

Berndtsson

et al. 2011

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Stemflow of xerophytic shrubs represents a significant component of water replenishment to the soil-root system influencing water utilization of plant roots at the stand scale, especially in water scarce desert ecosystems. In this study, stemflow of Caragana korshinskii was quantified by an aluminum foil collar collection method on re-vegetated sand dunes of the Shapotou restored desert ecosystem in northwestern China. Time domain reflectometry probes were inserted horizontally at 20 different soil profile depths under the C. korshinskii shrub to monitor soil moisture variation at hourly intervals. Results indicated that 2.2 mm precipitation was necessary for the generation of stemflow for C. korshinskii. Stemflow averaged 8% of the gross precipitation and the average funnelling ratio was as high as 90. The soil moisture in the uppermost soil profile was strongly correlated with individual rainfall and the stemflow strengthened this relationship. Therefore, it is favourable for the infiltrated water redistribution in the deeper soil profile of the root zone. Consequently, stemflow contributes significantly to a positive soil moisture balance in the root zone and the replenishment of soil moisture at deeper soil layers. This plays an important role in plant survival and the general ecology of arid desert environments.

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“…Studies looking in detail into individual rainfall event characteristics in RCM simulations are missing despite the fact that such characteristics of heavy rainfall events as event depth, duration, or intensity are relevant for urban hydrology (e.g. Einfalt et al, 1998;Barbosa et al, 2012;Willems et al, 2012) and determine characteristics of various hydrological processes as overland flow generation and shape of the resulting hydrograph (Singh, 1997), soil moisture dynamics (Wang et al, 2008;He et al, 2012), infiltration (Ran et al, 2012), rainfall erosion (Wischmeier and Smith, 1978), evaporation (Dunkerley, 2008a), storm sewer flow rates and direct runoff (Schilling, 1991;Giulianelli et al, 2006). Therefore considering these individual rainfall event characteristics is important also in RCM evaluation studies, which has been highlighted already by, for example, Westra et al (2014), who suggested (among other things) to focus on (spatial structure and) temporal evolution of rainfall events and their timing and intermittency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of rainfall events in regional climate model simulations for the Czech Republic

Svoboda

Hanel

Máca

et al. 2017

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Characteristics of rainfall events in an ensemble of 23 regional climate model (RCM) simulations are evaluated against observed data in the Czech Republic for the period 1981-2000. Individual rainfall events are identified using the concept of minimum inter-event time (MIT) and only heavy events (15 % of events with the largest event depths) during the warm season (May-September) are considered. Inasmuch as an RCM grid box represents a spatial average, the effects of areal averaging of rainfall data on characteristics of events are investigated using the observed data. Rainfall events from the RCM simulations are then compared to those from the at-site and area-average observations. Simulated number of heavy events and seasonal total precipitation due to heavy events are on average represented relatively well despite the higher spatial variation compared to observations. RCM-simulated event depths are comparable to the area-average observations, while event durations are overestimated and other characteristics related to rainfall intensity are significantly underestimated. The differences between RCM-simulated and at-site observed rainfall event characteristics are in general dominated by the biases of the climate models rather than the areal-averaging effect. Most of the rainfall event characteristics in the majority of the RCM simulations show a similar altitude-dependence pattern as in the observed data. The number of heavy events and seasonal total precipitation due to heavy events increase with altitude, and this dependence is captured better by the RCM simulations with higher spatial resolution.

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Effects of rainfall characteristics on infiltration and redistribution patterns in revegetation-stabilized desert ecosystems

Cited by 88 publications

References 19 publications

Responses of soil moisture in different land cover types to rainfall events in a re-vegetation catchment area of the Loess Plateau, China

Responses of soil moisture in different land cover types to rainfall events in a re-vegetation catchment area of the Loess Plateau, China

Desert shrub stemflow and its significance in soil moisture replenishment

Characteristics of rainfall events in regional climate model simulations for the Czech Republic

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