Evaporative loss from soil, native vegetation, and snow as affected by hexadecanol

Henry W. Anderson; Allan J. West; Robert Ziemer; Franklin R. Adams

Treesearch

Evaporative loss from soil, native vegetation, and snow as affected by hexadecanol

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Henry W. Anderson, Allan J. West, Robert Ziemer, Franklin R. Adams

Year:

1963

Type:

Miscellaneous Publication

Station:

Pacific Southwest Research Station

Source:

International Association of Scientific Hydrology, Committee for Evaporation, Publication No. 62. p. 7-12.

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Abstract

Abstract - Only in a bulldozed brush field and with heavy applications of hexadecanol under snow did significant reductions in evapotranspiration occur with application of hexadecanol to natural stands. Marked reductions in evaporation from snow occurred when hexadecanol emulsion was applied to the snow surface. More than two-thirds of the precipitation in the United States is used by forest, browse, and non-economic vegetation areas (Wolman 1963). If transpiration or evaporation in these areas could be suppressed, important savings of water for other uses might be effected. One way of suppressing this water use might be by applying a chemical suppressant such as hexadecanol (Olsen et al. 1961, Roberts 1961, Woolley 1962). This paper reports results of a study of the effects of hexadecanol on summer soil moisture losses and winter snow surface evaporation loss at high elevation sites in the central Sierra Nevada.

Keywords

PSW4351, evaporation, hexadecanol, precipitation, soil

Citation

Anderson, Henry W.; West, Allan J.; Ziemer, Robert R.; Adams, Franklin R. 1963. Evaporative loss from soil, native vegetation, and snow as affected by hexadecanol. International Association of Scientific Hydrology, Committee for Evaporation, Publication No. 62. p. 7-12.