Improving the understanding of rainfall distribution and characterisation in the Cathedral Peak catchments using a geo-statistical technique

Morris, F.; Toucher, Michele; Clulow, Alistair D.; Kusangaya, Samuel; Morris, CD; Bulcock, H. H.

doi:10.4314/wsa.v42i4.19

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(49 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It was found that the rainfall in the region does not simply increase with altitude as occurs in other mountainous regions of the world (Fowler et al, 1988;Al-Ahmadi & Al-Ahmadi, 2013;Morris et al, 2016) or decrease in the high altitudes as Singh and Mal (2014) reported in the Himalayas. In the Upper Cauvery Catchment, there does not seem to be a straightforward correlation between altitude and rainfall (Figure 7).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

An Investigation into the Suitability of Gauge-Corrected Remotely Sensed Rainfall Datasets for Hydrological Modelling in the Western Ghats

HORAN,

Smithers,

Clark

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An accurate spatial and temporal representation of rainfall is essential for hydrological assessments and water resources management. Rainfall is monitored in India’s mountainous Western Ghats region via in-situ rainfall gauging stations maintained by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). However, the network is sparse, and significant periods of data are missing. Furthermore, the IMD gridded rainfall dataset is known to underestimate the depth of rainfall at the high altitudes within this region. In this study, rainfall estimated by the IMD grids and from remote sensing using the CHIRPS (0.25- and 0.05- degree), MSWEP and PERSIANN datasets are compared to the IMD in-situ gauged rainfall within the Western Ghats using a point-to-pixel analysis. The GWAVA model is utilised to determine the effect of the selected rainfall input datasets on representing wider water resources. It was found that the average ensemble provided the best representation of the in-situ gauged and catchment rainfall and a better representation than the IMD grids. It remains critical for water resources management to ensure that in-situ rainfall gauging networks are maintained. In-situ data sources of high confidence remain important for the continuous development and ground-truthing of different rainfall datasets.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

An Investigation into the Suitability of Gauge-Corrected Remotely Sensed Rainfall Datasets for Hydrological Modelling in the Western Ghats

HORAN,

Smithers,

Clark

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This range falls within the long term record reported by previous studies; therefore AGB produced across the area might also be considered typical, varying from as low as less than 1 kg/m 2 , to a maximum of 4 kg/m 2 . However, although rainfall received falls within the long term average, the data used by Morris et al (2016) might be considered inconclusive to draw solid conclusion about the rainfall pattern during the 2016 study period. In this regard, a comprehensive rainfall pattern, which includes recent recordings and other climatic variables which might influence species AGB across the area under study, is required.…”

Section: Spatial Variations In Agb Over Timementioning

confidence: 98%

“…Higher AGB may be primarily caused by the prevailing of favourable climatic factors, which boost species AGB production and accumulation. For instance, Morris et al (2016) and Nel (2009) reported that the http://repository.uwc.ac.za area receives summer rainfall, from November to March. This facilitates species growth and AGB production, during this period.…”

Section: Spatial Variations In Agb Over Timementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In relation to the general climate, for example rainfall pattern, which is one of the variables which influence AGB variations across the study area, few studies have detailed the typical rainfall received across the study area (Everson and Everson, 2016;Morris et al, 2016). The study by Morris et al (2016) reported the mean annual rainfall range, based on longterm records from 1948 to 1994. They found that annual rainfall varied between 1020 and 1535 mm.…”

Section: Spatial Variations In Agb Over Timementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Characterizing the spatio-temporal variations of C3 and C4 dominated grasslands aboveground biomass in the Drakensberg, South Africa

Shoko

Mutanga

Dube

et al. 2018

International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinfor

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

C3 and C4 grass species composition, with different physiological, morphological and most importantly phenological characteristics, influence Aboveground Biomass (AGB) and their ability to provide ecosystem goods and services, over space and time. For decades, the lack of appropriate remote sensing data sources compromised C3 and C4 grasses AGB estimation, over space and time. This resulted in uncertainties in understanding their potential and contribution to the provision of services. This study therefore examined the utility of the new multi-temporal Sentinel 2 to estimate and map C3 and C4 grasses AGB over time, using the advanced Sparse Partial Least Squares Regression (SPLSR) model. Overall results have shown the variability in AGB between C3 and C4 grasses, estimation accuracies and the performance of the SPLSR model, over time. Themeda (C4) produced higher AGB from February to April, whereas from May to September, Festuca produced higher AGB. Both species also showed a decrease in AGB in August and September, although this was most apparent for Themeda than its counterpart. Spectral bands information predicted species AGB with lowest accuracies and an improvement was observed when both spectral bands and vegetation indices were applied. For instance, in the month of May, spectral bands predicted species AGB with lowest accuracies for Festuca (R 2 = 0.57; 31.70% of the mean), Themeda (R 2 = 0.59; 24.02% of the mean) and combined species (R 2 = 0.61; 15.64% of the mean); the use of spectral bands and vegetation indices yielded 0.77; (18.64%), 0.75 (14.27%) and 0.73 (16.47%), for Festuca, Themeda and combined species, respectively. The red edge (at 0.705 and 0.74 μm) and derived indices, NIR and SWIR 2 (2.19 μm) were found to contribute more to grass species AGB estimation, over time. Findings have also revealed the potential of the SPLSR model in estimating C3 and C4 grasses AGB using Sentinel 2 images, over time. The AGB spatial variability maps produced in this study can be used to quantify C3 and C4 forage availability or accumulating fuel, as well as for developing operational management strategies.

show abstract

“…The mean annual precipitation at the BBT site area is approximately 1 400 mm with roughly 80% of the rainfall occurring in the austral summer from October to March (Morris et al 2016). Dry winter conditions prevail from May to August.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Frequent burning maintained a stable grassland over four decades in the Drakensberg, South Africa

Morris

Everson

et al. 2020

African Journal of Range & Forage Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The mesic temperate montane grasslands of the Drakensberg, located within the broader Drakensberg Alpine Centre in southern Africa (Carbutt and Edwards 2003), are productive and ancient (Ellery and Mentis 1992; Bredenkamp et al. 2002; Bond and Parr 2010). Covering more than 42 000 km 2 of the upland area in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), with only >2 500 km 2 in formal protected areas (Carbutt et al 2011), these closed-canopy grasslands were shaped by conditions during the late Miocene, which facilitated the spread of grassland dominated by C 4 grasses that benefitted from increasing aridity, low atmospheric CO 2 concentrations, and recurrent natural fires (Manry and Knight 1986; Meadows and Linder 1993; Keeley and Rundel 2005; Scheiter et al. 2012). Fire has played an important role in the evolutionary development of the structure and floristic composition of the Drakensberg grassland, with constituent productive grasses that promote fire (Bond et al. 2003) and a diverse assemblage of endemic resprouting forbs with underground bud banks and energy storage units that allow them to withstand frequent burns (Uys 2006; Bond 2016). Fires also maintain the Drakensberg grassland largely free of trees, except for scattered protea species and woody plants in refugia (Adie et al. 2017). A pronounced dry winter together with slow decomposition rates of sourveld grass leaves, result in high loads of cured above-ground biomass (Everson et al. 1988a), which fuel the fires that remove accumulated moribund foliage and litter, allowing sufficient light to reach the soil surface to sustain basal-tillering caespitose grasses (Everson et al. 1985; Everson et al. 1988b; Bond et al. 2003; Neumann et al. 2014) and initiate spring flowering in numerous obligate fire-stimulated grassland forbs (Lamont and Downes 2011). Together, the afore-mentioned appear to indicate a fire regime naturally occurring outside the main growing season of montane grassland plants, but at a time when swards are most susceptible to fire. The frequency and seasonal timing of historical fire regimes in the Drakensberg is unknown and likely variable (Gordijn et al. 2018). Before San hunter-gatherers employed fire to attract wildlife after they settled in the Drakensberg approximately 8 000 to 5 000 BP (Hall 1984; Mazel 1989), lightning was the main natural source of ignition in the

show abstract

Improving the understanding of rainfall distribution and characterisation in the Cathedral Peak catchments using a geo-statistical technique

Cited by 8 publications

References 30 publications

An Investigation into the Suitability of Gauge-Corrected Remotely Sensed Rainfall Datasets for Hydrological Modelling in the Western Ghats

An Investigation into the Suitability of Gauge-Corrected Remotely Sensed Rainfall Datasets for Hydrological Modelling in the Western Ghats

Characterizing the spatio-temporal variations of C3 and C4 dominated grasslands aboveground biomass in the Drakensberg, South Africa

Frequent burning maintained a stable grassland over four decades in the Drakensberg, South Africa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About