Redistribution Model of Rainfall by Vegetation

The process that vegetation redistributes rainfall and the way that vegetation change the raindrop' s energy were analyzed quantitatively in the paper. Then the raindrop' s energy. to splash was compared. There are 3 ways for the vegetation to redistribut the rainfall, i. e., interception, through fall and stem flow. Among them, only through fall can splash the ground. The redistribution decrease the rainfall to splash the ground, but it increases the raindrop' s diameter. Through the comparison, conclusion is obtained as follows: (1) Litter coverage is connected with the energy of splash erosion in linear negative correlation. The larger the litter coverage is, the less the energy of splash erosion is. (2) When rainfall comes up to the critical rainfall to produce throughfall (accumulated on leaf and branch), the energy of splash erosion is connected with the canopy density in linear negative correlation, but it is no correlation with the height of vegetation; after the through fall formed the height of vegetation is the most important factor. The higher the vegetation is, the more the energy of splash erosion is. (3) The larger the raindrop s diameter is, the more the energy of splash erosion which is reduced by vegetation.