Lammers, Richard B; Shiklomanov, Alexander I; Vörösmarty, Charles J; Fekete, Balázs M; Peterson, Bruce J (2016): R-ArcticNet, A Regional Hydrographic Data Network for the Pan-Arctic Region (ISO-image of CD-ROM) [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.859422,

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Supplement to: Lammers, RB et al. (2001): Assessment of contemporary Arctic river runoff based on observational discharge records. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 106(D4), 3321-3334, https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JD900444

We describe the contemporary hydrography of the pan-Arctic land area draining into the Arctic Ocean, northern Bering Sea, and Hudson Bay on the basis of observational records of river discharge and computed runoff. The Regional Arctic Hydrographic Network data set, R-ArcticNET, is presented, which is based on 3754 recording stations drawn from Russian, Canadian, European, and U.S. archives. R-ArcticNET represents the single largest data compendium of observed discharge in the Arctic. Approximately 73% of the nonglaciated area of the pan-Arctic is monitored by at least one river discharge gage giving a mean gage density of 168 gages per 106 km2. Average annual runoff is 212 mm yr−1 with approximately 60% of the river discharge occurring from April to July. Gridded runoff surfaces are generated for the gaged portion of the pan-Arctic region to investigate global change signals. Siberia and Alaska showed increases in winter runoff during the 1980s relative to the 1960s and 1970s during annual and seasonal periods. These changes are consistent with observations of change in the climatology of the region. Western Canada experienced decreased spring and summer runoff.

The CD-ROM contains a comprehensive river discharge database for the entire pan-Arctic drainage system using data from 3713 gauges. The pan-Arctic drainage region covers a land area of approximately 21 million km2 that drains into the Arctic Ocean as well as Hudson Bay, James Bay and the Northern Bering Strait, including the Yukon and Anadyr Rivers.

The data set contains monthly river discharge data extending from the 1890s (for four Canadian and five Russian gauges) until the early 1990s. The length of record for individual gauges is extremely variable, but the majority of data was collected between 1960 and 1990.

The project concentrates on the hydrological cycle of the northern latitudes, especially the development of a river discharge database for the entire Pan-Arctic region. A coarse grid cell resolution of 30 minutes latitude by 30 minutes longitude allows for modeling of the data. Most of the drainage basins used were greater than 15,000 km2; however, for Canada and Russia we collected all available river gauges. The gauges for large drainage areas are of the greatest interest in the regional, continental and global-scale scientific community for modeling purposes.

With the potential sensitivity of arctic sea ice formation to inputs from the terrestrial land surface there is a need to provide the Arctic scientific community with time series of river discharge data. This data set provides a baseline against which Arctic system scientists can compare simulation results and which can provide a boundary condition for Ocean circulation models.

The data on this CD-ROM addresses the need to inventory and make available data for water resources assessments in the context of deteriorating monitoring networks. The Global River Discharge Database (RivDIS 1.0) published recently by UNESCO as part of the Technical Documents in Hydrology series and this arctic river discharge database developed at the University of New Hampshire and released on CD-ROM by the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Boulder, CO are part of ongoing efforts to consolidate and electronically archive hydrometeorological data.