By Frank van Steenbergen
Postcard from Yerseke, the Netherlands. There is fog and the fog is millions of miniscule microscopical water droplets, invisible, opaque and floating in the air. In the open air nothing much happens and the fog passes on but in the forest the tiny droplets are caught and then we have very local rain.
The twigs, leaves and needles intercept the miniscule droplets, and one mini-droplet attract another and more and more – till thousands of mini’s coalesce into a large droplet. The ever heavier droplet ultimately can no longer cling to the twig or leaf and it falls down. Rain.
So the forest is it own source of water. In some areas forests can control up to 40% of their water supply from trapping fog. In the small forest patch in Yerseke its is oaks and beeches that catch the moisture on a moist winterday and cause rain to gently drip.
