Bright, Ryan M.; Anton-Fernandez, Clara; Astrup, Rasmus; Stromman, Anders H. (2015). Empirical models of albedo transitions in managed boreal forests: analysis of performance and transportability. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH, 45(2), 195-206.

Abstract
Managing boreal forests for effective climate change mitigation requires comprehension of the full spectrum of climate regulation services that they provide, which includes both the storage of carbon and exchanges of heat and moisture with the atmosphere. It is increasingly recognized that surface albedo is the most important biogeophysical mechanism by which the boreal forest directly influences the global energy balance. Forest management decisions that influence age class and species distributions affect not only the carbon sink capacity, but also the albedo (and hence climate services) of the forested landscape. Disregarding albedo and how it is influenced by management decisions can have profound implications for the effectiveness of any climate change mitigation policy involving active forest management. Here, we explore, analyze, and compare the albedo predicted by simple empirical models with in situ and remotely sensed albedo observations in regions outside the region in which the models were originally developed (southeastern Norway), including boreal Canada and Europe. We find that the models are robust in their ability to predict the longer term interannual trends in the mean winter-summer albedo amplitude, the rapid albedo evolution in young stands, and the timing of seasonal transitions and weak with respect to capturing interannual albedo changes linked to seasonal climate variability and phenology.

DOI:
10.1139/cjfr-2014-0132

ISSN:
0045-5067