HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Ekern, P. C. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Ekern, P. C. Agricola Articles by Ekern, P. C.

Direct Interception of Cloud Water on Lanaihale, Hawaii¹

ABSTRACT

Lanai, a relatively dry island, lies in the trade wind flow downstream from Maui and Molokai and is peculiarly adapted to a demonstration of the amount of water that can be gathered by direct interception from clouds. An observation station was established at the 2,750-foot level on Lanaihale in July 1955, and maintained for 3 years. The water collected over the 3 years by a network of rain gauges set beneath a Norfolk Island pine tree averaged 391 inches while rainfall in the open was only 149 inches. Since the tree also intercepted some rainfall, a net of 30 inches is suggested as the annual gain from cloud water interception. A wire harp kept oriented into the wind by a vane gathered 1,706 inches of water while rainfall alone was 97 inches. The harp had a vertical silhouette 27.5 times the area of the standard rain gauge in which the catch was measured. A 15- to 20-inch gain per unit vertical area exposed is suggested as the annual direct cloud interception by the harp. Identical catchers of aluminum louver mounted at several elevations up to 30 feet above the ground gave an increased catch greater than the increase of wind with elevation.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director as Technical Paper No. 294 of the Pineapple Research Institute of Hawaii, Honolulu. Presented before Div. I and VI, Soil Science Society of America, Nov. 16, 1959, at Cincinnati, Ohio.

² Soil Physicist, Pineapple Research Institute of Hawaii, Honolulu.

Received for publication August 1, 1963. Accepted for publication January 30, 1964.