Analysis of artificial precipitation interception over two meadow species on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

This study examines the interception characteristics during the artificial precipitation experiments over alpine and swamp meadows in a small-sized permafrost catchment Fenghuoshan located in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The interception data under different rainfall intensity conditions were collected during the experiments. The data were analyzed using the statistical methods. The result shows that the canopy interception for alpine meadow can reach a high value of 0.61 mm, while only 0.18 mm is found for swamp meadow. The maximum rates of canopy interceptions for alpine and swamp are 12.4% and 3.8%, respectively. The relationship between the canopy interception and rainfall amount for alpine meadow can be represented by a power function; while a quadratic polynomial relationship is derived for swamp meadow. Such relationship becomes a power function for both meadows if rainfall amount is replaced by rainfall intensity. A linear relationship between the canopy interception and the density of vegetation coverage is also found for both meadows.