Evaporation from land surface in high latitude areas: A review of methods and study results

Abstract

Evaporation (ET) from land surfaces in high latitudes is examined on a circumpolar perspective based upon the study results obtained in various environments, from boreal forest (taiga) to the high Arctic desert. Direct and indirect methods of evaporation measurement are reviewed, as well as numerous computational techniques. We have focused upon methods conveniently adopted for calculating evaporation when detailed information on meteorological conditions within the surface boundary layer is not available. These methods range from complicated ones, such as eddy correlation, energy balance and Penman equations, to empirical relationships between ET and incoming solar radiation. Great attention was paid to the principles of each method, especially those developed in Russia as they differ from most of the methods utilized internationally. For example, the Budyko-Zubenok empirical scheme is based upon the principle of potential evaporation, which is affected by soil moisture (SM). This relationship between ET and SM, expressed in terms of the field capacity, has been found to be non-linear; a complication that is not typically accounted for in traditional approaches. This paper also contains a brief review of a number of evaporation case studies including Alaska (USA), northwestern Russia and Siberian taiga, Yukon basin (Canada), mountainous forest on Hokkaido Island (Japan), Canadian Arctic and glacierized basins of Greenland. © IWA Publishing 2006.