@inproceedings{MaurerTrujilloSiliezarOeseretal., author = {Maurer, Thomas and Trujillo Sili{\´e}zar, Carlos Gustavos and Oeser, Anne and Pohle, Ina and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {A methodology for investigating interdependencies between measured throughfall, meteorological variables and canopy structure on a small catchment}, series = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2016, Vienna, Austria}, booktitle = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2016, Vienna, Austria}, publisher = {European Geophysical Society}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, abstract = {In evolving initial landscapes, vegetation development depends on a variety of feedback effects. One of the less understood feedback loops is the interaction between throughfall and plant canopy development. The amount of throughfall is governed by the characteristics of the vegetation canopy, whereas vegetation pattern evolution may in turn depend on the spatio-temporal distribution of throughfall. Meteorological factors that may influence throughfall, while at the same time interacting with the canopy, are e.g. wind speed, wind direction and rainfall intensity. Our objective is to investigate how throughfall, vegetation canopy and meteorological variables interact in an exemplary eco-hydrological system in its initial development phase, in which the canopy is very heterogeneous and rapidly changing. For that purpose, we developed a methodological approach combining field methods, raster image analysis and multivariate statistics. The research area for this study is the H{\"u}hnerwasser ('Chicken Creek') catchment in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany, where after eight years of succession, the spatial distribution of plant species is highly heterogeneous, leading to increasingly differentiated throughfall patterns. The constructed 6-ha catchment offers ideal conditions for our study due to the rapidly changing vegetation structure and the availability of complementary monitoring data.Throughfall data were obtained by 50 tipping bucket rain gauges arranged in two transects and connected via a wireless sensor network that cover the predominant vegetation types on the catchment (locust copses, dense sallow thorn bushes and reeds, base herbaceous and medium-rise small-reed vegetation, and open areas covered by moss and lichens). The spatial configuration of the vegetation canopy for each measurement site was described via digital image analysis of hemispheric photographs of the canopy using the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst, GapLight and ImageJ software. Meteorological data from two on-site weather stations (wind direction, wind speed, air temperature, air humidity, insolation, soil temperature, precipitation) were provided by the 'Research Platform Chicken Creek'. Data were combined and multivariate statistical analysis (PCA, cluster analysis, regression trees) were conducted using the R-software to i) obtain statistical indices describing the relevant characteristics of the data and ii) to identify the determining factors for throughfall intensity. The methodology is currently tested and results will be presented. Preliminary evaluation of the image analysis approach showed only marginal, systematic deviation of results for the different software tools applied, which makes the developed workflow a viable tool for canopy characterization. Results from this study will have a broad spectrum of possible applications, for instance the development / calibration of rainfall interception models, the incorporation into eco-hydrological models, or to test the fault tolerance of wireless rainfall sensor networks.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MaurerPohleOeseretal., author = {Maurer, Thomas and Pohle, Ina and Oeser, Anne and Sieber, Andr{\´e} and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Bestimmung der Zusammenh{\"a}nge zwischen Bestandsniederschlag, meteorologischen Variablen und Vegetationsstruktur in einem sich entwickelnden Einzugsgebiet}, series = {Abstract-Sammlung zu Posterbeitr{\"a}gen, eingereicht zum Tag der Hydrologie in Trier 2017, 23. 03. - 24. 03. 2017}, booktitle = {Abstract-Sammlung zu Posterbeitr{\"a}gen, eingereicht zum Tag der Hydrologie in Trier 2017, 23. 03. - 24. 03. 2017}, pages = {S. 34}, language = {de} } @inproceedings{MaurerPohleOeseretal., author = {Maurer, Thomas and Pohle, Ina and Oeser, Anne and Sieber, Andr{\´e} and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Investigating the interrelations between throughfall, meteorological variables and vegetation structure in a developing hydrological catchment}, series = {European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2017 Vienna, Austria, 23-28 April 2017}, booktitle = {European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2017 Vienna, Austria, 23-28 April 2017}, publisher = {European Geophysical Society}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, abstract = {In landscapes with heterogeneous vegetation structure, interception and throughfall patterns produce spatiotemporal variability of soil moisture. This variability is important for eco-hydrological processes, in particular on small spatial scales up to the catchment scale. Throughfall depends on vegetation structure, whereas vegetation development is presumably co-determined by the spatio-temporal distribution of throughfall itself. In addition to vegetation structure, meteorological factors like wind speed and rainfall intensity also have an impact on throughfall. The objective of this study is to quantify the influence of vegetation structure and meteorological variables on spatial (and in the long run the temporal) variability of throughfall. For that purpose, we developed an approach combining field methods, image analysis and multivariate statistics. The 6-ha constructed catchment ‚H{\"u}hnerwasser' (aka Chicken Creek, southern Brandenburg, Germany) offers ideal conditions for the investigation of eco-hydrological feedback processes. After more than 10 years of development, vegetation structure on the catchment is spatially heterogeneous and evolves through natural succession. Furthermore, complementary meteorological data are available on-site. Throughfall was measured using 50 tipping-bucket rain gauges, which are aligned along two transects in 0.5 and 1 m heights, covering the dominating vegetation types on the catchment (e.g., robinia, sallow thorn, reed, reedgrass, herbs). The spatial distribution of vegetation structures around each measurement site was recorded with hemispheric photographs, which were subsequently analyzed using image processing techniques. Two weather stations provide reference values for precipitation and relevant meteorological variables for wind speed and direction, air humidity, temperature and irradiation. The amount and distribution of precipitation measured in scarcely vegetated areas of the catchment widely correspond with values from the reference weather stations. Under dense vegetation, very heterogeneous values were recorded, which can be explained by i) canopy interception, and ii) fetching effects. The results of this study can serve as basis for interception models and may also contribute to complex eco-hydrological models.}, language = {en} }