In tropical highlands of the northern Andes, known as páramos, fog incidence is very frequent. Its quantification is not yet clear, mostly because of the complexity of distinguishing between fog and low-intensity rainfall. Moreover, there is uncertainty about the performance of the various types of gauges used to capture fog in this ecosystem. This study was carried out at the Zhurucay Ecohydrological Observatory (3,800 m a.s.l.), in southern Ecuador, assessing two cylindrical (Juvik and Wire Harp types) and two flat-screen fog collection gauges. A high-resolution laser disdrometer was installed next to the fog gauges, to measure precipitation of very low intensities and isolate fog from rainfall. We collected data over a 12-month period for four types of events—fog only, fog dominant, fog non-dominant and fog negligible. We evaluated the performance of the gauges during each type of event as well as to estimate the amount, rate and duration of fog. Fog was present during 68% of the days of the study, predominantly in the early morning and at night, and the average daily contribution was 1.37 mm. Most of the events occurred at rates below 0.3 mm h⁻¹. Measured rainfall was 1,200.1 mm, and fog estimations amounted to 340.1 mm. This fog contribution could bring total annual precipitation to about 1,540.2 mm, suggesting an extra 22% of water potentially available to the ecosystem—a very important asset for hydrological and ecological processes. This is the first study that has compared different types of fog gauges in the Andean páramo.

中文翻译：

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评估雾量计及其在安第斯帕拉莫地区量化雾的有效性

在安第斯山脉北部被称为帕拉莫斯的热带高地，雾的发生非常频繁。其量化尚不清楚，主要是因为区分雾和低强度降雨的复杂性。此外，在这个生态系统中用于捕捉雾的各种类型的仪表的性能也存在不确定性。这项研究是在厄瓜多尔南部的朱鲁凯生态水文观测站 (3,800 米) 进行的，评估了两个圆柱形（Juvik 和 Wire Harp 类型）和两个平面雾收集计。在雾量计旁边安装了一个高分辨率激光测距仪，以测量强度非常低的降水并将雾与降雨隔离。我们在 12 个月内收集了四种类型事件的数据——仅雾、雾占主导、雾非占主导和雾可忽略不计。我们在每种类型的事件中评估了仪表的性能，并估计了雾的数量、速率和持续时间。在研究的 68% 的日子里，雾都存在，主要是在清晨和晚上，平均每日贡献为 1.37 毫米。大多数事件以低于 0.3 mm h 的速率发生^-1。实测降雨量为 1,200.1 毫米，估计雾量为 340.1 毫米。这种雾的贡献可以使年总降水量达到约 1,540.2 毫米，这意味着生态系统可能获得额外 22% 的水——这是水文和生态过程的一项非常重要的资产。这是第一项比较安第斯帕拉莫不同类型雾量计的研究。