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Chemistry of rainfall, throughfall and stemflow in a eucalypt forest and a pine plantation in south‐eastern Australia: 1. Rainfall
Author(s) -
Crockford R. H.,
Richardson D. P.,
Sageman R.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1085(199601)10:1<1::aid-hyp295>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - throughfall , stemflow , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , nitrogen , atmospheric sciences , environmental chemistry , soil water , soil science , chemistry , geology , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry
Rainfall samples were collected from several hundred rainfall events. Up to nine samples per event were collected from sites 3–500 m apart. They differed substantially in both concentration and composition, even though great care was taken to wash all collectors beforehand. Dryfall, storage and analytical procedures could not explain the variation. When data for rainfall events of similar size (but very different cation inputs) were examined, the major differences were associated with the prevailing wind direction. Events leading to high concentrations were associated with easterly winds and showed the influence of a marine source. Chemical concentration and composition were not altered by the occurrence of a drought year followed by a very wet year. The mean pH was 5·3 and ranged from 4·6 to 5·8. For a given event, a difference of 0·5 often occurred between collection sites. Regular seasonal variations in the concentration of NO 3 ‐N and the NO 3 /NH 4 ratio occurred, with the ratio being higher in summer due primarily to bush fires. Organic nitrogen comprised 14% of total nitrogen.