A comparison between the three study sites allows definition of the impact of surface controls on the surface energy budget, for the two subarctic locations. The two wetland sites demonstrated similar evaporation behaviour but the dryland evaporates substantially less. This similarity in wetland evaporation in spite of major differences in rainfall and standing water demonstrates the importance of the surface organic layer in transporting and storing water for evaporation. The magnitude of convective and conductive heat fluxes is strongly correlated with temperature in both regions. Warm temperatures enhance the latent and ground heat fluxes while suppressing the sensible heat flux at all sites.
Cold temperatures have the opposite effect.