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Factors Influencing Soil Moisture At The Hillslope Scale In A Semi-Arid Mountainous Environment, Ivan John Geroy
Factors Influencing Soil Moisture At The Hillslope Scale In A Semi-Arid Mountainous Environment, Ivan John Geroy
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Soil moisture couples ground, surface, and atmospheric water interactions via the processes of evapotranspiration, infiltration, and runoff generation (Grayson et al., 1997). Consequently, understanding the factors that influence the spatial distribution of soil moisture is vitally important to the accurate conceptualization and modeling of watershed processes. Typically, topographic indexing methods for the prediction of soil moisture have been studied in temperate or humid areas where the soil profile is often saturated and redistribution of soil moisture is driven by topography (Famiglietti et al., 1998; Grayson et al., 1997; Western et al., 1999). By contrast, in semi-arid environments, long periods of …
Using Soil Moisture Trends Across Topographic Gradients To Examine Controls On Semi-Arid Ecosystem Dynamics, Toni Jo Smith
Using Soil Moisture Trends Across Topographic Gradients To Examine Controls On Semi-Arid Ecosystem Dynamics, Toni Jo Smith
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
This study investigated controls on soil water storage and its effect on vegetation cover in a semi-arid, mountainous environment characterized by warm-dry summers and wet-cold winters. Soil moisture and soil temperature were monitored over 286 days at eight sites spanning four elevations (approx. 1100, 1300, 1500, and 1800 m asl), and paired north and south exposures. These sites span an ecological gradient from grass and shrub land to conifer forest. Measurements of soil texture, soil depth, vegetation cover (normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI), and soil carbon content were made at the same sites. Variables that strongly influence the soil water …