Articles | Volume 30, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-3095-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-3095-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
21 May 2026
Research article |
| 21 May 2026
| 21 May 2026
Simulating carbon fluxes in boreal catchments: WSFS-Vemala model development and key insights
Marie Korppoo
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Climate solutions, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Helsinki, Finland
Inese Huttunen
Climate solutions, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Helsinki, Finland
Markus Huttunen
Climate solutions, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Helsinki, Finland
Maiju Narikka
Climate solutions, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Helsinki, Finland
Jari Silander
Quality of information, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Helsinki, Finland
Tom Jilbert
Environmental geochemistry group, Department of geosciences and geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Martin Forsius
Nature solutions, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Helsinki, Finland
Pirkko Kortelainen
Nature solutions, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Helsinki, Finland
Niina Kotamäki
Marine and Freshwater solutions, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Helsinki, Finland
Cintia Uvo
Marine and Freshwater solutions, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Helsinki, Finland
Water Resources Engineering, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Anna-Kaisa Ronkanen
Marine and Freshwater solutions, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Helsinki, Finland
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EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2106, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2106, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
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We describe an experiment to investigate variations of lake ice properties. We put a large number of seismic instruments on a frozen lake to record the ambient ice vibrations and make a range of supporting measurements. The initial results show that environmental effects can be resolved from the vibrations. This includes meteorological changes but also the trapping of methane or other gas bubbles during ice formation, which can help quantify the release of greenhouse gases from lakes.
Ana Lúcia Lindroth Dauner, Max O. A. Kankainen, Sakari Väkevä, Eero Asmala, Marko Järvinen, Karoliina Koho, and Tom Jilbert
Biogeosciences, 23, 3637–3653, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-3637-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-3637-2026, 2026
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Aquatic vegetated ecosystems are important for global carbon storage, but freshwater shorelines remain understudied. We found that the sedimentary organic carbon (SOC) stocks ranged from 0 to 40.8 kg m−2, with a large spatial variability. Large SOC stocks were found in sheltered areas, with the predominance of fine-grained sediments. In exposed areas, vegetation might also impact SOC accumulation. Accounting for shoreline exposure is crucial for improving regional carbon budget estimates.
Jiahui Qiu, Kari Luojus, Harri Kaartinen, Yubao Qiu, Jari Silander, Epari Ritesh Patro, Björn Klöve, and Ali Torabi Haghighi
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 2703–2722, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-2703-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-2703-2026, 2026
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We developed a 24-year record revealing how river ice on the six largest Arctic rivers has changed under a warming climate. Using satellite images from the MODIS Terra and Aqua sensors, we monitored daily ice cover and seasonal freeze-up and breakup timing. On average, over 65 % of river segments show later freeze-up (~ 9 d), earlier breakup (~ 8 d), and shorter ice seasons (~ 14 d), revealing a clear signal of rapid warming across Arctic river systems.
Dana Hellemann, Xiaole Sun, Tom Jilbert, Eva Ehrnsten, Lora Harris, Bo Gustafsson, Christoph Humborg, and Alf Norkko
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-959, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-959, 2026
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Using model-simulations and field data, we assess the effect of past eutrophication on present and future ammonium dynamics in coastal sediments of the Baltic Sea and their impact on the coastal ecosystem. Our results indicate a clear eutrophication legacy effect on the persistence of ammonium being released from the sediment to the water column, particularly under oxygen deficiency, with long-lasting effects into the far future and thus important implications for ecosystem recovery measures.
Margaret F. Williamson, Tom Jilbert, Alf Norkko, and Camilla Gustafsson
Biogeosciences, 23, 1327–1340, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-1327-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-1327-2026, 2026
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Reed bed carbon (C) storage is a topic of interest due to increased global distribution of reeds. C budgets to combat climate change often catalog reed beds as saltmarshes. Our findings show that reed beds are unique from saltmarshes, C storage is highest in reed bed sediments, and that reed bed zones may impact C storage. Further research into reed bed C is needed to better combat climate change and to ensure reeds are managed in a way that does not release excess C.
Anna-Maria Virkkala, Isabel Wargowsky, Judith Vogt, McKenzie A. Kuhn, Simran Madaan, Richard O'Keefe, Tiffany Windholz, Kyle A. Arndt, Brendan M. Rogers, Jennifer D. Watts, Kelcy Kent, Mathias Göckede, David Olefeldt, Gerard Rocher-Ros, Edward A. G. Schuur, David Bastviken, Kristoffer Aalstad, Kelly Aho, Joonatan Ala-Könni, Haley Alcock, Inge Althuizen, Christopher D. Arp, Jun Asanuma, Katrin Attermeyer, Mika Aurela, Sivakiruthika Balathandayuthabani, Alan Barr, Maialen Barret, Ochirbat Batkhishig, Christina Biasi, Mats P. Björkman, Andrew Black, Elena Blanc-Betes, Pascal Bodmer, Julia Boike, Abdullah Bolek, Frédéric Bouchard, Ingeborg Bussmann, Lea Cabrol, Eleonora Canfora, Sean Carey, Karel Castro-Morales, Namyi Chae, Andres Christen, Torben R. Christensen, Casper T. Christiansen, Housen Chu, Graham Clark, Francois Clayer, Patrick Crill, Christopher Cunada, Scott J. Davidson, Joshua F. Dean, Sigrid Dengel, Matteo Detto, Catherine Dieleman, Florent Domine, Egor Dyukarev, Colin Edgar, Bo Elberling, Craig A. Emmerton, Eugenie Euskirchen, Grant Falvo, Thomas Friborg, Michelle Garneau, Mariasilvia Giamberini, Mikhail V. Glagolev, Miquel A. Gonzalez-Meler, Gustaf Granath, Jón Guðmundsson, Konsta Happonen, Yoshinobu Harazono, Lorna Harris, Josh Hashemi, Nicholas Hasson, Janna Heerah, Liam Heffernan, Manuel Helbig, Warren Helgason, Michal Heliasz, Greg Henry, Geert Hensgens, Tetsuya Hiyama, Macall Hock, David Holl, Beth Holmes, Jutta Holst, Thomas Holst, Gabriel Hould-Gosselin, Elyn Humphreys, Jacqueline Hung, Jussi Huotari, Hiroki Ikawa, Danil V. Ilyasov, Mamoru Ishikawa, Go Iwahana, Hiroki Iwata, Marcin Antoni Jackowicz-Korczynski, Joachim Jansen, Järvi Järveoja, Vincent E. J. Jassey, Rasmus Jensen, Katharina Jentzsch, Robert G. Jespersen, Carl-Fredrik Johannesson, Chersity P. Jones, Anders Jonsson, Ji Young Jung, Sari Juutinen, Evan Kane, Jan Karlsson, Sergey Karsanaev, Kuno Kasak, Julia Kelly, Kasha Kempton, Marcus Klaus, George W. Kling, Natacha Kljun, Jacqueline Knutson, Hideki Kobayashi, John Kochendorfer, Kukka-Maaria Kohonen, Pasi Kolari, Mika Korkiakoski, Aino Korrensalo, Pirkko Kortelainen, Egle Koster, Kajar Koster, Ayumi Kotani, Praveena Krishnan, Juliya Kurbatova, Lars Kutzbach, Min Jung Kwon, Ethan D. Kyzivat, Jessica Lagroix, Theodore Langhorst, Elena Lapshina, Tuula Larmola, Klaus S. Larsen, Isabelle Laurion, Justin Ledman, Hanna Lee, A. Joshua Leffler, Lance Lesack, Anders Lindroth, David Lipson, Annalea Lohila, Efrén López-Blanco, Vincent L. St. Louis, Erik Lundin, Misha Luoto, Takashi Machimura, Marta Magnani, Avni Malhotra, Marja Maljanen, Ivan Mammarella, Elisa Männistö, Luca Belelli Marchesini, Phil Marsh, Pertti J. Martkainen, Maija E. Marushchak, Mikhail Mastepanov, Alex Mavrovic, Trofim Maximov, Christina Minions, Marco Montemayor, Tomoaki Morishita, Patrick Murphy, Daniel F. Nadeau, Erin Nicholls, Mats B. Nilsson, Anastasia Niyazova, Jenni Nordén, Koffi Dodji Noumonvi, Hannu Nykanen, Walter Oechel, Anne Ojala, Tomohiro Okadera, Sujan Pal, Alexey V. Panov, Tim Papakyriakou, Dario Papale, Sang-Jong Park, Frans-Jan W. Parmentier, Gilberto Pastorello, Mike Peacock, Matthias Peichl, Roman Petrov, Kyra St. Pierre, Norbert Pirk, Jessica Plein, Vilmantas Preskienis, Anatoly Prokushkin, Jukka Pumpanen, Hilary A. Rains, Niklas Rakos, Aleski Räsänen, Helena Rautakoski, Riika Rinnan, Janne Rinne, Adrian Rocha, Nigel Roulet, Alexandre Roy, Anna Rutgersson, Aleksandr F. Sabrekov, Torsten Sachs, Erik Sahlée, Alejandro Salazar, Henrique Oliveira Sawakuchi, Christopher Schulze, Roger Seco, Armando Sepulveda-Jauregui, Svetlana Serikova, Abbey Serrone, Hanna M. Silvennoinen, Sofie Sjogersten, June Skeeter, Jo Snöälv, Sebastian Sobek, Oliver Sonnentag, Emily H. Stanley, Maria Strack, Lena Strom, Patrick Sullivan, Ryan Sullivan, Anna Sytiuk, Torbern Tagesson, Pierre Taillardat, Julie Talbot, Suzanne E. Tank, Mario Tenuta, Irina Terenteva, Frederic Thalasso, Antoine Thiboult, Halldor Thorgeirsson, Fenix Garcia Tigreros, Margaret Torn, Amy Townsend-Small, Claire Treat, Alain Tremblay, Carlo Trotta, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Merritt Turetsky, Masahito Ueyama, Muhammad Umair, Aki Vähä, Lona van Delden, Maarten van Hardenbroek, Andrej Varlagin, Ruth K. Varner, Elena Veretennikova, Timo Vesala, Tarmo Virtanen, Carolina Voigt, Jorien E. Vonk, Robert Wagner, Katey Walter Anthony, Qinxue Wang, Masataka Watanabe, Hailey Webb, Jeffrey M. Welker, Andreas Westergaard-Nielsen, Sebastian Westermann, Jeffrey R. White, Christian Wille, Scott N. Williamson, Scott Zolkos, Donatella Zona, and Susan M. Natali
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-585, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-585, 2025
Revised manuscript under review for ESSD
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This dataset includes monthly measurements of carbon dioxide and methane exchange between land, water, and the atmosphere from over 1,000 sites in Arctic and boreal regions. It combines measurements from a variety of ecosystems, including wetlands, forests, tundra, lakes, and rivers, gathered by over 260 researchers from 1984–2024. This dataset can be used to improve and reduce uncertainty in carbon budgets in order to strengthen our understanding of climate feedbacks in a warming world.
K. Mareike Paul, Martijn Hermans, Sami A. Jokinen, Inda Brinkmann, Helena L. Filipsson, and Tom Jilbert
Biogeosciences, 20, 5003–5028, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5003-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5003-2023, 2023
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Seawater naturally contains trace metals such as Mo and U, which accumulate under low oxygen conditions on the seafloor. Previous studies have used sediment Mo and U contents as an archive of changing oxygen concentrations in coastal waters. Here we show that in fjords the use of Mo and U for this purpose may be impaired by additional processes. Our findings have implications for the reliable use of Mo and U to reconstruct oxygen changes in fjords.
Inda Brinkmann, Christine Barras, Tom Jilbert, Tomas Næraa, K. Mareike Paul, Magali Schweizer, and Helena L. Filipsson
Biogeosciences, 19, 2523–2535, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2523-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2523-2022, 2022
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The concentration of the trace metal barium (Ba) in coastal seawater is a function of continental input, such as riverine discharge. Our geochemical records of the severely hot and dry year 2018, and following wet year 2019, reveal that prolonged drought imprints with exceptionally low Ba concentrations in benthic foraminiferal calcium carbonates of coastal sediments. This highlights the potential of benthic Ba / Ca to trace past climate extremes and variability in coastal marine records.
Karol Kuliński, Gregor Rehder, Eero Asmala, Alena Bartosova, Jacob Carstensen, Bo Gustafsson, Per O. J. Hall, Christoph Humborg, Tom Jilbert, Klaus Jürgens, H. E. Markus Meier, Bärbel Müller-Karulis, Michael Naumann, Jørgen E. Olesen, Oleg Savchuk, Andreas Schramm, Caroline P. Slomp, Mikhail Sofiev, Anna Sobek, Beata Szymczycha, and Emma Undeman
Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 633–685, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-633-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-633-2022, 2022
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The paper covers the aspects related to changes in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus (C, N, P) external loads; their transformations in the coastal zone; changes in organic matter production (eutrophication) and remineralization (oxygen availability); and the role of sediments in burial and turnover of C, N, and P. Furthermore, this paper also focuses on changes in the marine CO2 system, the structure of the microbial community, and the role of contaminants for biogeochemical processes.
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Short summary
The development of carbon processes in the water quality model WSFS (Watershed Simulation and Forecasting System)-Vemala presents a significant advancement in simulating both total organic and inorganic carbon dynamics, burial and emissions through a river/lake network. The addition of organic acids to the total alkalinity definition improved pH simulations and thus the simulation of CO2 emissions in the acidic and organic rich waters of Finland. The new Vemala model provides a robust foundation to support water management in the future.
The development of carbon processes in the water quality model WSFS (Watershed Simulation and...
