Variation on PAR to global solar radiation ratio along altitude gradient in Naeba Mountain

Summary We investigated the ratio of photosynthetically active photon flux (Q _p ) to global solar radiation (R _s ) at three sites along different altitudes in Naeba Mountain, Japan at various temporal scales based on 3 years measurement data (1999–2001). The lowest values of the ratio ever reported were found for all sites on both an hourly and a daily scale. A similar slight diurnal pattern was found for all sites based on the monthly mean hourly values of the ratio. However, different sites exhibited different seasonal courses. Statistically significant altitude dependencies were found for the hourly Q _p /R _s under both clear and cloudy weather conditions (t-test, P < 0.001). For clear weather conditions, the hourly Q _p /R _s exhibited an increasing trend with altitude at an average rate of 3.6% per km. The increasing rate was more noticeable below 900 m (8.8% per km) than above (0.7% per km). The inverse trend was found for hourly Q _p /R _s with the altitude under cloudy weather conditions. The hourly Q _p /R _s decreased from 550 m to 1500 m at a rate of 1.8% per km. Again, a major decrease occurred below 900 m, which had the rate of 4.2% per km, compared with 0.2% per km over 900 m. Although the same tendencies were noted for daily Q _p /R _s , under clear sky conditions, they were not as statistically significant as the hourly counterpart (t-test, P < 0.021). The increasing rate of Q _p /R _s at this scale under clear weather conditions was near that of the hourly rate, but below the 900 m rate was reduced to near half of the hourly rate (4.7% per km). And the rate over 900 m increased to 2.7% per km. On the other hand, statistically significant altitude effect was noted for the daily under cloudy weather conditions (t-test, P < 0.002). A rapidly decreasing rate was found for it along the altitude gradient. The reason was due to the large decreasing rate below 900 m (12.4% per km). But again similar to the hourly Q _p /R _s , a very small decreasing rate of daily Q _p /R _s was found over 900 m under cloudy weather conditions. These results suggest the necessity of considering the altitude dependency of Q _p /R _s in future studies.