Surface Energy Exchange and Hydrology of a Poor Sphagnum Mire

Abstract: Mires surface energy and water budgets govern the conditions for climatic, hydrological, ecological and carbon balance processes. The components of the water and surface energy budgets were quantified over two growing seasons for an open boreal mire. The measurements of fluxes were complemented with data on the spatial variation of water content and temperature in different micro-relief elements (hummocks and hollows). Since measurements on mires are scarce, special investigations of aerodynamic properties were done as well as a calibration of TDR function for peat. The partitioning of available energy at the surface depended mainly on air temperature and relative humidity. There was a trend of falling Bowen ratio both during the day and during the season from May (monthly value 0.9) to September (0.6). The bulk surface resistance (rs) to evapotranspiration was considerable and varied little (mean rs = 160 s m-1). The cause of its relatively large value could be found in a great aerodynamic resistance within the canopy layer, and the peat wetness variation influenced little. In the scale of the whole mire, the water storage were similar over the central, open areas. On a smaller scale, the presence of a pronounced micro-topography caused a variation of the surface wetness. This was also reflected in the spatial variation of soil temperatures. The heat storage in hummock was largely influenced by lateral heat fluxes. There were considerable effects of peat elasticity and approximately 40 % of the changes in water storage was caused by swelling/shrinking of the whole peat mound. This effect should be incorporated in future models of mire-water dynamics.