Review of forest evaporation studies, primarily in the United Kingdom.

Abstract

The major experimental and modelling studies that have contributed to developing our understanding of the physical principles governing the process of forest evaporation are reviewed with emphasis on developments in the UK over the last 50 years. The importance of considering the two components of forest evaporation separately - transpiration and evaporation of intercepted rainfall - and the compensating mechanisms that control the surface resistance are stressed. Finally, the remaining problems of understanding and modelling forest evaporation are discussed.