Abstract
Reliable high spatial resolution information on the variation of extreme wind speeds under frozen and unfrozen soil conditions can enhance wind damage risk management in forestry. In this study, we aimed to produce spatially detailed estimates for the 10-year return level of maximum wind speeds for frozen (>20 cm frost depth) and unfrozen soil conditions for dense Norway spruce stands on clay or silt soil, Scots pine stands on sandy soil and Scots pine stands on drained peatland throughout Finland. For this purpose, the coarse resolution estimates of the 10-year return levels of maximum wind speeds based on 1979–2014 ERA-Interim reanalysis were downscaled to 20 m grid by using the wind multiplier approach, taking into account the effect of topography and surface roughness. The soil frost depth was estimated using a soil frost model. Results showed that due to a large variability in the timing of annual maximum wind speed, differences in the 10-year return levels of maximum wind speeds between the frozen and unfrozen soil seasons are generally rather small. Larger differences in this study are mostly found in peatlands, where soil frost seasons are notably shorter than in mineral soils. Also, the high resolution of wind multiplier downscaling and consideration of wind direction revealed some larger local scale differences around topographic features like hills and ridgelines.
Highlights
In the last few decades, wind storms have caused the most damage and economic losses in European forests, compared to all abiotic and biotic damage agents [1,2,3,4]
5–7 months for dense spruce season in northern Finland was on average approximately 5–7 months for dense spruce stands on clay stands clayand or silt soilstands (CSS) on andsandy pine stands on sandy soilstands (SP)
We produced high-resolution results of 10-year return levels of maximum wind speed, separately for seasons of frozen and unfrozen soil. This was done by utilizing wind speed data from ERA-Interim reanalysed data (ERA)-Interim reanalysis, modelled soil frost data, and surface roughness and topography-based wind multiplier downscaling
Summary
In the last few decades, wind storms have caused the most damage and economic losses in European forests, compared to all abiotic and biotic damage agents [1,2,3,4]. Winter storms have caused the most destructive damage in Western and Central Europe [3,5,6], e.g., storms like Vivian in. Damages have increased in recent years in northern Europe [4,6,7], where in 2015 Gudrun damaged 70 million m3 and in 2007 Per damaged. In Finland, over 25 million m3 of timber has been damaged during storms since 2000, the most in autumn storms in 2001 (Pyry and Janika, 7.3 million m3 ) and in summer storm in 2010 (Asta, Veera, Lahja and Sylvi, 8 million m3 ), respectively. Forest disturbances may amplify or even cancel out the expected increase in productivity of forests under changing climate [4,10]
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