Seasonal and Diurnal Variations of Meteorological Elements in a Tropical Deforested Area in Cambodia

Recently, deforestation in Cambodia has been progressing rapidly, resulting in significant environmental changes. Although meteorological observations under tropical forests have been conducted in the past, it is necessary to continue collecting scientific knowledge and assessing the impact of deforestation on the natural environment. Therefore, this study analyzed the seasonal and diurnal variations of meteorological elements based on observation data obtained from the forest area and deforestation site located at an altitude of about 274 to 280 m in Kulen Mountain from 2017 to 2020. As a result, the temperature showed a seasonal variation with a maximum value of 31℃ to 34℃ around April and a decrease to around 25℃ from December to January due to solar radiation and rainfall. A large diurnal range in temperature was observed during the dry season (November-April) due to defoliation in the forest area. However, the annual precipitation (1077.8 mm) in Kulen Mountain was approximately 27％ less than that in the plains, and approximately 89％ of the annual precipitation was concentrated in the rainy season (May to October). The humidity deficit of the logging area is greater than that of the forest area, and it is always drier than the forest area throughout the year.