Hydrological observation network of the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) (Hydrological observation networks)

The national program of hydrological monitoring is managed by the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), which is responsible for keeping the monitoring networks representative, for giving instructions concerning observations and measurements, for collecting the results into a database and for information services concerning the water situation. Regional environment centers are responsible for the field work needed for maintaining the monitoring stations, but they also have their own regional monitoring programs and information services. The data available from SYKE for northern Finland also include a land cover classification covering the region with a spatial resolution of 25 m. Actual hydrological monitoring observations are available e.g. on snow water equivalent, snow depth, snow density, fraction of snow covered area, soil frost depth, lake and river ice, water temperature, river discharges and water levels. Fig. 4.1 shows the monitoring network for the whole region of Finland. The snow data include monthly or bimonthly observations at fixed snow courses (each course is track of 2 to 4 kilometres providing an estimate on regional snow cover characteristics separately for open and forested areas (actually for six land cover categories). Also water quality (including some optical characteristics) monitoring data are available from selected lakes of northern Finland. Network type: Hydrological in-situ monitoring