Abstract:
Rainfall partitioning and evapotranspiration were studied upon an individual Juniper
tree under an urban tropical climate in Kuala Terengganu. The juniper was selected
for its rainfall interception capabilities as a potential to be optimized as landscaping
trees for the regulation of urban microclimate and stormwater runoff. A comparative
trimmed landscaping juniper and a broadleaf representative mango tree were also
studied. Meteorological data and gross rainfall was recorded for a year and observed
on how they influence each other. Interception loss partitioned by the planted
juniper, trimmed juniper and mango tree were 23.9%, 29.7% and 26.2%,
respectively. The junipers produced reasonable throughfall values with low
throughfall variability, yielding significant interception losses even for larger storms
with short drying period between storms which imply their effectiveness as rainfall
interceptors. The broadleaf produced significant negative interception values which
was resulted from large throughfall variability and exaggerated throughfall values
caused by the funneling effect by broad leaves.
