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Atmospheric deposition to watersheds in complex terrain
Author(s) -
LOVETT GARY M.,
BOWSER JONATHAN J.,
EDGERTON ERIC S.
Publication year - 1997
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(199706)11:7<645::aid-hyp526>3.0.co;2-2
Subject(s) - watershed , deposition (geology) , throughfall , environmental science , elevation (ballistics) , terrain , hydrology (agriculture) , canopy , atmospheric sciences , geology , soil science , geomorphology , sediment , geography , soil water , geometry , mathematics , cartography , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , machine learning , computer science
Single collection stations for wet or bulk deposition are generally inadequate to describe atmospheric inputs to watersheds in complex terrain. Atmospheric deposition is delivered by wet, dry and cloud deposition processes, and these processes are controlled by a wide range of landscape features, including canopy type and structure, topographic exposure, elevation and slope orientation. As a result, there can be a very high degree of spatial variability within a watershed, and a single sampling point, especially at low elevation, is unlikely to be representative. Atmospheric inputs at the watershed scale can be calculated from the whole watershed mass balance if the outputs and within‐watershed sources and sinks are known with sufficient accuracy. Alternatively, indices of atmospheric deposition such as Pb accumulation in the forest floor and SO 2− 4 flux in throughfall can be used to characterize patterns of total deposition, and these indices can be used to model deposition to the entire watershed based on known landscape features such as elevation and canopy type. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.