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Rainfall Interception Processes and Urban Hydrology

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2019) | Viewed by 14057

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO 80907, USA
Interests: ecohydrology; rainfall interception processes; fog precipitation; leaf surface characteristics; biogeography; leaf biomechanics; human-environment interactions; biosphere reserves; Central America

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I encourage you to submit an original research article, review, or technical note for a Special Issue of Water on Rainfall Interception Processes and Urban Hydrology. Hydrological processes in urban ecosystems, such as downstream discharge, evapotranspiration, surface runoff and infiltration, are influenced by the built environment (e.g., infrastructure, asphalt, and buildings). However, urban environments include more land covers than these built environment features. Urban ecosystems are complex mosaics of different land covers that include vegetation in parks, household and business landscaping, open spaces, and along urban streets. The type of vegetation within urbanized watersheds affects ecohydrological processes, such as rainfall interception, evapotranspiration, and infiltration. This Special Issue will address the influence of vegetation on hydrological processes within an urban ecosytem. Papers across a broad scale of analysis (e.g., individual plants, small plots, large urban green spaces, or entire watersheds) and from various geographical contexts are encouraged to contribute. Case studies are acceptable, but should contribute to the broader understanding and exploration of the role of vegetation in urban hydrological processes.

Prof. Dr. Curtis D. Holder
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • rainfall interception
  • urban hydrology
  • ecohydrology
  • urban ecosystems
  • interception processes
  • evapotranspiration
  • urban green spaces
  • landscaping
  • canopy storage capacity
  • urban irrigation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 10097 KiB  
Article
Tracking Sources and Fate of Groundwater Nitrate in Kisumu City and Kano Plains, Kenya
by Benjamin Nyilitya, Stephen Mureithi and Pascal Boeckx
Water 2020, 12(2), 401; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020401 - 2 Feb 2020
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5728
Abstract
Groundwater nitrate (NO3) pollution sources and in situ attenuation were investigated in Kisumu city and Kano plains. Samples from 62 groundwater wells consisting of shallow wells (hand dug, depth <10 m) and boreholes (machine drilled, depth >15 m) were obtained [...] Read more.
Groundwater nitrate (NO3) pollution sources and in situ attenuation were investigated in Kisumu city and Kano plains. Samples from 62 groundwater wells consisting of shallow wells (hand dug, depth <10 m) and boreholes (machine drilled, depth >15 m) were obtained during wet (May–July 2017) and dry (February 2018) seasons and analyzed for physicochemical and isotopic (δ15N-NO3, δ18O-NO3, and δ11B) parameters. Groundwater NO3 concentrations ranged from <0.04 to 90.6 mg L−1. Boreholes in Ahero town showed significantly higher NO3 (20.0–70.0 mg L−1) than boreholes in the Kano plains (<10.0 mg L−1). Shallow wells in Kisumu gave significantly higher NO3 (11.4–90.6 mg L−1) than those in the Kano plains (<10.0 mg L−1). About 63% of the boreholes and 75% of the shallow wells exceeded the drinking water WHO threshold for NO3 and NO2 (nitrite) during the study period. Mean δ15N-NO3 values of 14.8‰ ± 7.0‰ and 20.7‰ ± 11.1‰, and δ18O-NO3 values of 10.2‰ ± 5.2‰ and 13.2‰ ± 6.0‰ in wet and dry seasons, respectively, indicated manure and/or sewage as main sources of groundwater NO3. However, a concurrent enrichment of δ15N and δ18O was observed, especially in the dry season, with a corresponding NO3 decrease, indicating in situ denitrification. In addition, partial nitrification of mostly sewage derived NH4+ appeared to be responsible for increased NO2 concentrations observed in the dry season. Specifically, targeted δ11B data indicated that sewage was the main source of groundwater NO3 pollution in shallow wells within Kisumu informal settlements, boreholes in Ahero, and public institutions in populated neighborhoods of Kano; while manure was the main source of NO3 in boreholes and shallow wells in the Kano and planned estates around Kisumu. Waste-water sanitation systems in the region should be urgently improved to avoid further deterioration of groundwater sources. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rainfall Interception Processes and Urban Hydrology)
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13 pages, 1617 KiB  
Article
Evaluating the Influence of Rain Event Characteristics on Rainfall Interception by Urban Trees Using Multiple Correspondence Analysis
by Katarina Zabret and Mojca Šraj
Water 2019, 11(12), 2659; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11122659 - 17 Dec 2019
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 4424
Abstract
Urban trees play an important role in the built environment, reducing the rainfall reaching the ground by rainfall interception. The amount of intercepted rainfall depends on the meteorological and vegetation characteristics. By applying the multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), we analysed the influence of [...] Read more.
Urban trees play an important role in the built environment, reducing the rainfall reaching the ground by rainfall interception. The amount of intercepted rainfall depends on the meteorological and vegetation characteristics. By applying the multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), we analysed the influence of rainfall amount, intensity and duration, the number of raindrops, the mean volume diameter (MVD), wind speed and direction on rainfall interception. The analysis was based on data from 176 events collected over more than three years of observations. Measurements were taken under birch (Betula pendula Roth.) and pine (Pinus nigra Arnold) trees located in an urban park in the city of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The results indicate that rainfall interception is influenced the most by rainfall amount and the number of raindrops. In general, the ratio of rainfall interception to gross rainfall decreases with longer and more intense rainfall events. The influence of the raindrop number depends also on their size (MVD), which is evident especially for the pine tree. For example, pine tree interception increases with smaller raindrops regardless of their number. In addition, MCA gives a new insight into the influence of wind characteristics, which was not visible using previous methods of data analysis (regression analysis, correlation matrices, regression trees, boosted regression trees). According to the nearby buildings, a wind corridor is sometimes created, decreasing rainfall interception by both tree species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rainfall Interception Processes and Urban Hydrology)
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11 pages, 2172 KiB  
Article
Phosphorus Forms and Associated Properties along an Urban–Rural Gradient in Southern China
by Guobing Qin, Jianfu Wu, Xiaomei Zheng, Rongwei Zhou and Zongqiang Wei
Water 2019, 11(12), 2504; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11122504 - 27 Nov 2019
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3327
Abstract
Urbanization is widely assumed to degrade soil ecosystem services, but the changes in the urban soil phosphorus (P) status due to urbanization and the associated environmental implications have rarely been studied. The objective of this study was to investigate the P forms and [...] Read more.
Urbanization is widely assumed to degrade soil ecosystem services, but the changes in the urban soil phosphorus (P) status due to urbanization and the associated environmental implications have rarely been studied. The objective of this study was to investigate the P forms and associated soil properties in urban soils. Thirty sites were selected along an urban–rural gradient in Nanchang, China, to examine the effects of urbanization on soil P fractions. Residual P and NaOH-extractable P (NaOH-Pi and NaOHPo) were the major P forms in the 0–30 cm of urban soils, comprising on average 37% and 43% of the total P pool, respectively, similar to the suburban and rural soils. Compared with non-urban soils, urban soil had higher contents of total P and P fractions (i.e., PH2O, PKCl, NaOH-Pi, PHCl, and residual P), as well as higher contents of related soil P-retentive properties, especially soil pH and Mehlich 3-extractable Ca and Mg. Phosphorus enrichment in the urban soils may become a source of aquatic pollution because the soil labile P content (the sum of PH2O and PKCl) was positively related to total P, PHCl, NaOH-Pi, and residual P, which implied that the labile P can be replenished by these P pools. This study increased the understanding of P stabilization characteristics (e.g., the specific P forms) of urban soils and has further implications for urban environmental management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rainfall Interception Processes and Urban Hydrology)
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