Estimating winter evaporation in boreal forests with operational snow course data

Snow course measurements from 11 sites located in eastern and northern Finland were used to estimate the total interception evaporation of a winter season for different forest categories. We categorized the sites based on forest density and tree species. Results showed that interception loss from gross precipitation increased with forest density,and approached 30% for a forest with the highest density class. Interception loss for the most common forest density class was 11%. Interception losses were slightly larger in spruce forests than in pine, deciduous, or mixed forests. We provide suggestions as to how to design snow surveys to estimate wintertime interception evaporation better. Rough terrain and transition zones between forest and open areas should be avoided. Since evaporation fraction was strongly dependent on tree crown characteristics, snow course data should include direct estimates of canopy closure. Qualitative observations made by different observers should be given a reference frame to ensure comparability of records from different sites. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.