Numerical study using the land surface model including fog deposition on vegetation: evaluation of potential vegetation distribution in arid areas

Abstract

We applied the meteorological model (MM5) and land surface model including fog deposition on vegetation (SOLVEG) to investigate the relation between surface water budget and vegetation distribution at semi-arid area in Saudi Arabia. MM5 reproduced measurements of meteorological variables for 1-year calculation. One-dimensional calculations using SOLVEG were carried out at each simulation grid of MM5 to evaluate fog deposition and Water Balance Index (WBI) representing water availability in soil surface layer for vegetation. Tall vegetation tended to distribute in areas of high WBI values. It is considered that water availability severely restricts the range of vegetation distribution in the study area and, therefore, WBI can be used to classify vegetation living in arid areas.