The effect of wind velocity,air temperature and humidity on NH3 and SO2 transfer into bean leaves (phaseolus vulgaris L.)

The influence of wind velocity, air temperature and vapour pressure deficit of the air (VPD) on NH₃ and SO₂ transfer into bean leaves (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) was examined using a leaf chamber. The measurements suggested a transition in the properties of the leaf boundary layer at a wind velocity of 0.3–0.4 ms⁻¹ which corresponds to aRe_crit value of about 2000. At higher wind velocities the leaf boundary layer resistance (r_b) was 1.5–2 times lower than can be calculated from the theory. Nevertheless, the assessed relationships betweenr_b and wind velocity appeared to be similar to the theoretical derived relationship forr_b. The NH₃ flux and in particular the SO₂ flux into the leaf strongly increased at a VPD decline. The increase of the NH₃ flux could be attributed to an increase of the stomatal conductance (g_s). However, the increase of the SO₂ flux could only partly be explained by an increase ofg_s. An apparent additional uptake was also observed for the NH₃ uptake at a low temperature and VPD. The SO₂ flux was also influenced by air temperature which could be explained by a temperature effect ong_s. The results suggest that calculation of the NH₃ and SO₂ flux using data ofg_s gives a serious understimation of the real flux of these gases into leaves at a low temperature and VPD.