Northern Research Basins Water Balance (Proceedings of a workshop held at Victoria, Canada, March 2004). IAHS Publ. 290, 2004, 103–110

Abstract This paper expounds on preliminary results from hydrology studies in the boreal wetland watersheds situated near the White Sea, northern European Russia. Precipitation, snow water equivalent (SWE), evaporation, runoff, and groundwater storage (GWS) as obtained by observation were examined over 2 years of varying wetness. In general, findings include: (a) runoff from small wetland watersheds for a dry year is distinctively different from that generated on a highly forested river basin; (b) evaporation rates mainly depend on vegetation type; (c) in contrast, GWS was found to be highly variable and quickly responsive to rainfall. Also of significance was the amount of water contained within the frozen layer of peat. The climatic wetness indices have been evaluated and the water balance calculations were performed based on observed data.

Key words boreal wetland; evaporation; groundwater; precipitation; snow cover; runoff; Russia; water balance