Soil frost and runoff at Svartberget, northern Sweden -: measurements and model analysis

The effect of soil frost on runoff was investigated using a comprehensive data set collected at the Svartberget Experimental Forest, near Vindeln, Vasterbotten in northern Sweden. Measurements of snow depth, soil temperature, frost depth and other climate parameters have been made at three sites since 1981, as part of a long-term climate monitoring programme. Simulation residuals from the HBV rainfall-runoff model, in which no effect of soil frost is assumed, were compared with 16 years of measured soil frost conditions. A simple model for simulation of soil frost depth was developed and incorporated into the HBV model. The model parameters were calibrated to observations of snow depth, soil frost depth, groundwater levels and runoff, by use of a simple weighted optimization criterion. No clear effect of soil frost could be seen on the timing and magnitude of runoff in this analysis, or when analysing data on the conservative oxygen isotope O-18. The soil at the forested site froze in only slightly more than half the years, despite the high latitude and low winter temperatures. Furthermore, the soil had often thawed before the start of the spring flood. Almost all spring floods, therefore, occurred when the soil was unfrozen. Snow depth and soil frost depths were inversely related, with the deepest soil frost during winters with little snow. Soil frost therefore is unlikely to aggravate the very high floods in forested basins of this type, except perhaps under exceptional circumstances such as large rain events on frozen ground. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.