|
Process-based Canopy Interception Modeling for EnvironmentalHydrology: Integrating Vegetation Structure to ImproveWatershed Water Balance |
|---|---|
| รหัสดีโอไอ | |
| Creator | Banchongsak Faksomboon |
| Title | Process-based Canopy Interception Modeling for EnvironmentalHydrology: Integrating Vegetation Structure to ImproveWatershed Water Balance |
| Publisher | Thai Society of Higher Education Institutes on Environment |
| Publication Year | 2569 |
| Journal Title | EnvironmentAsia |
| Journal Vol. | 19 |
| Journal No. | 3 |
| Page no. | 160-178 |
| Keyword | Canopy interception, Process-based modeling, Structural heterogeneity, Leaf areaindex, Canopy closure, Precipitation partitioning, Ecohydrological modeling, Subtropicalforests |
| URL Website | http://www.tshe.org/ea/index.html |
| Website title | EnvironmentAsia |
| ISSN | 1906-1714 |
| Abstract | Canopy interception is a key ecohydrological process governing precipitation redistributionand watershed water balance, yet its representation in existing models remains limited bysimplified descriptions of canopy structure. This study develops a process-based canopyinterception modeling framework that explicitly integrates leaf area index (LAI) andcanopy closure (C) as complementary structural controls, with model parameters calibratedusing a constrained Gauss–Newton nonlinear optimization approach. Field observationsof rainfall, throughfall, and stemflow were collected across three representative foresttypes evergreen, deciduous, and disturbed deciduous forests in the subtropical PongNam Ron Watershed (PNRW) of northern Thailand, based on 65 rainfall events. Resultsshow that canopy interception ranged from 21.49% to 26.98%, with disturbed deciduousforest exhibiting the highest interception despite lower LAI and canopy closure. Thiscounterintuitive pattern indicates that interception is not governed solely by bulk canopydensity, but is strongly influenced by structural heterogeneity associated with disturbance.The proposed model achieved strong agreement with observations (overall R² = 0.81) andconsistently high performance across forest types, demonstrating improved predictiveaccuracy and physical interpretability compared with conventional approaches. Thesefindings provide new mechanistic insight into how forest disturbance reshapes canopyhydrological functioning by reorganizing canopy storage, drainage pathways, andevaporation processes. By highlighting the role of structural complexity in regulatinginterception dynamics, this study establishes a conceptual basis for structure-informedecohydrological modeling frameworks that better capture spatial variability within forestcanopies. The proposed framework offers a transferable and physically interpretable toolfor improving canopy interception estimation and watershed water balance assessmentin data-limited subtropical regions. Its application supports more reliable evaluation ofprecipitation partitioning and provides actionable guidance for forest restoration, landuse planning, and water resource management under increasing climatic variability anddisturbance pressures. The framework also provides a scalable basis for cross-regionalcomparison of canopy interception processes, supporting the development of generalizedecohydrological models applicable across diverse forest ecosystems |
