Effects of bibosoop plantation on wind speed, humidity, and evaporation in a traditional agricultural landscape of Korea: Field measurements and modeling

Bibosoops are a unique type of traditional Korean village groves. They have been nurtured at the mouths of watersheds, where villages are typically located and in the low mountain ridge areas surrounding villages. This research aimed to examine how a bibosoop influences wind speed, humidity, and evaporation in an agricultural landscape. The mountain–valley breeze was measured around a typical bibosoop with an average height of 20 m (h) from November 2004 to July 2005, and a two-box model was developed to describe the effects of a bibosoop on the absolute humidity of the leeward side. The results reveal that a mountain–valley breeze prevailed over the study area and that the valley wind speed was predominantly greater than the mountain wind speed, especially during the spring (March–May 2005). Compared to the measurements at −2 h on the windward side, the valley wind speed was reduced by approximately 30% at 2 h, relative humidity increased by approximately 5% at 2 h, absolute humidity increased by 0.2–1.5 g m−3 at 6 h, and the estimated potential evaporation decreased by approximately 7% on the leeward side. The absolute humidity of the leeward side was fairly well predicted by our model, thus verifying that the wind speed reduction by the bibosoop reduced evaporation and increased the absolute humidity of the leeward side. Our findings indicate that a bibosoop reduces valley wind speed and evaporation in a traditional agricultural landscape, thus contributing to water conservation in the leeward paddy fields during spring, which is a dry season in Korea.