Effect of Soil Water Repellency on Energy Partitioning Between Soil and Atmosphere: A Conceptual Approach

Water repellency (WR) is a phenomenon known from many soils around the world and can occur in arid as well as in humid climates; few studies, however, have examined the effect of soil WR on the soil-plant-atmosphere energy balance. The aim of our study was to estimate the effects of soil WR on the calculated soil-atmosphere energy balance, using a solely model-based approach. We made out evapotranspiration to have the largest influence on the energy balance; therefore the effect of WR on actual evapotranspiration was assessed. To achieve this we used climate data and measured soil hydraulic properties of a potentially water-repellent sandy soil from a site near Berlin, Germany. A numerical 1D soil water balance model in which WR was incorporated in a straightforward way was applied, using the effective cross section concept. Simulations were carried out with vegetated soil and bare soil. The simulation results showed a reduction in evapotranspiration of 30–300 mm year−1 (9%–76%) at different degrees of WR compared to completely wettable soil, depending on the severity degree of soil WR. The energy that is not being transported away by water vapor (i.e., due to reduced evapotranspiration) had to be transformed into other parts of the energy balance and thus would influence the local climate.