Simulated effects and adaptive evaluation of different canopies rainfall interception models in Loess Plateau

To understand the hydro-ecological effects of canopy rainfall interception, we measured and simulated the dynamics of canopy interception for Korshinsk peashrub and Apricot in the Loess Plateau. Measurement results showed that the canopy interception were significantly different between the two kinds vegetation. The interception increased with the increase of rainfall for Korshinsk peashrub tree stand, and the steady interception rate was about 15%. Comparatively, the interception rate was relative low for Apricot tree stand for its ‘funnel-shaped’ canopy, especially, when the rainfall was lower than 5 mm. There are no significant relationship between the interception rate of Apricot canopy and rainfall, and the steady interception rate was about 10%. About the simulation of Interception laws of Caragana Korshinskii, the determination coefficient of rainfall and canopy density was 0.74 in Cui’s interception model, in which including variables of rainfall and canopy density, and the determination coefficient of simulation was 0.68 in the Wang’s interception model, in which variable is rainfall. However, there was no better simulation result of the two models for the ‘funnel-shaped’ canopy of apricot tree stand.