Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven
Ust-Lensky State Nature Reserve, Tiksi, Russia
Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS, Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Science Center SB RAS"
Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science of the RAS
Permafrost Institute of the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Department of Physical Geography, University of Stockholm
GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences
Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development
ALLena: Thaw depth measurements of the active layer in the Lena River Delta region from 1998 to 2022, Northeastern Siberia
Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science
Active layer thickness (ALT) is one of currently two Essential Climate Variables related directly to permafrost regions as defined by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). ALT is determined as the maximum thaw depth at the end of the thawing season and is being monitored across the Arctic to better understand climate change impacts on landscape, permafrost, hydrology, vegetation, and soil biogeochemistry. In addition, spatially and/or temporally distributed measurements of thaw depth (TD) in the active layer during the thawing period are often recorded during field work in permafrost regions for various research purposes and process understanding. The ALLena dataset presents a compilation of thaw depth (TD) measurements of the active layer in the Lena River Delta region based on published and unpublished field data collected during Russian and joint German-Russian expeditions from 1998 to 2022. The dataset contains data from different areas of the Lena Delta region with clustering in research-intensive areas, e.g. in the vicinity of Research Station Samoylov Island, but also includes sites adjacent to the delta such as Muostakh Island, Bykovsky Peninsula and Tiksi settlement surroundings. The compiled data is distributed across various ecosystems and geomorphological units underlain by different types of deposits and characterized by various relief positions, microtopography, soil and vegetation cover (e.g. active floodplains, polygonal tundra on Holocene Lena Delta terraces, remnants of Yedoma Ice Complex, etc.). TD measurements were conducted as opportunistic single as well as targeted TD transects or grid measurements. For some sites measurements of TD were repeated at the same locations in different years. TD was measured one time per site or several times per site within a few centimeters to several meters to capture small-scale heterogeneity depending on e.g. microcrotopography or vegetation type. This is the main datatable which contains discrete TD values if they were measured one to three times per site. In case of more than three TD values per measurement site, the datatable provides the minimum, maximum, and mean TD as well as the number of measurements that were averaged. For sites with more than three TD measurements per site, separate detailed tables are provided. […]
Active layer thickness (ALT) is one of currently two Essential Climate Variables related directly to permafrost regions as defined by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). ALT is determined as the maximum thaw depth at the end of the thawing season and is being monitored across the Arctic to better understand climate change impacts on landscape, permafrost, hydrology, vegetation, and soil biogeochemistry. In addition, spatially and/or temporally distributed measurements of thaw depth (TD) in the active layer during the thawing period are often recorded during field work in permafrost regions for various research purposes and process understanding. The ALLena dataset presents a compilation of thaw depth (TD) measurements of the active layer in the Lena River Delta region based on published and unpublished field data collected during Russian and joint German-Russian expeditions from 1998 to 2022. The dataset contains data from different areas of the Lena Delta region with clustering in research-intensive areas, e.g. in the vicinity of Research Station Samoylov Island, but also includes sites adjacent to the delta such as Muostakh Island, Bykovsky Peninsula and Tiksi settlement surroundings. The compiled data is distributed across various ecosystems and geomorphological units underlain by different types of deposits and characterized by various relief positions, microtopography, soil and vegetation cover (e.g. active floodplains, polygonal tundra on Holocene Lena Delta terraces, remnants of Yedoma Ice Complex, etc.). TD measurements were conducted as opportunistic single as well as targeted TD transects or grid measurements. For some sites measurements of TD were repeated at the same locations in different years. TD was measured one time per site or several times per site within a few centimeters to several meters to capture small-scale heterogeneity depending on e.g. microcrotopography or vegetation type. This is the main datatable which contains discrete TD values if they were measured one to three times per site. In case of more than three TD values per measurement site, the datatable provides the minimum, maximum, and mean TD as well as the number of measurements that were averaged. For sites with more than three TD measurements per site, separate detailed tables are provided. The dataset presents a highly valuable compilation of TD data over a uniquely large Arctic region and long time span. It might complement the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) program and other published ALT and TD datasets for other permafrost regions and may be used for e.g. parametrization or validation of permafrost modelling and remote sensing studies.
Thermokarst Lake to Lagoon Transitions in Eastern Siberia: Do Submerged Taliks Refreeze?
Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface
Thaw subsidence of a yedoma landscape in Northern Siberia, measured in situ and estimated from TerraSAR-X interferometry
Russian-German Cooperation: Expeditions to Siberia in 2020
Berichte zur Polar- und Meeresforschung = Reports on Polar and Marine Research
Russian-German Cooperation SYSTEM LAPTEV SEA: The Expedition LENA 2009
Russian-German Cooperation SYSTEM LAPTEV SEA: The Expedition LENA 2006
Russian-German Cooperation SYSTEM LAPTEV SEA: The Expedition LENA - New Siberian Islands 2007 during the International Polar Year 2007/2008
Partitioning net ecosystem exchange of CO2 on the pedon scale in the Lena River Delta, Siberia
Russian-German Cooperation: Expeditions to Siberia in 2019
Carbon and nitrogen pools in thermokarst-affected permafrost landscapes in Arctic Siberia
Ratio of In Situ CO2 to CH4 Production and Its Environmental Controls in Polygonal Tundra Soils of Samoylov Island, Northeastern Siberia
Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
Russian-German Cooperation System Laptev Sea 2000: The Expedition LENA 2002
Observing Muostakh disappear: permafrost thaw subsidence and erosion of a ground-ice-rich island in response to arctic summer warming and sea ice reduction
Carbon Dioxide and Methane Release Following Abrupt Thaw of Pleistocene Permafrost Deposits in Arctic Siberia
Russian-German Cooperation: Expeditions to Siberia in 2018
Approaches for the complex assessment of polychemical pollution of permafrost-affected soils and the upper layer of permafrost
Russian-German Cooperation: Expeditions to Siberia in 2021
Russian-German cooperation system Laptev Sea: The Expedition LENA 2012
Russian-German Cooperation: Expeditions to Siberia in 2016
Russian-German Cooperation System Laptev Sea 2000: The Expedition LENA 2001
Russian-German Cooperation System Laptev Sea 2000: The Lena Delta 1998 Expedition
Berichte zur Polarforschung = Reports on Polar Research
Russian-German Cooperation System Laptev Sea 2000: The Expedition LENA 1999
Russian-German Cooperation System Laptev Sea 2000: The Expedition LENA 2000
Identifying drivers behind spatial variability of methane concentrations in East Siberian ponds
Landscape controls and vertical variability of soil organic carbon storage in permafrost-affected soils of the Lena River Delta
Russian-German Cooperation: Expeditions to Siberia in 2017
Causes and Processes of Thermo-Erosional Gully Initiation Near Tiksi Settlement, Arctic Eastern Siberia
Spectral characterization of periglacial surfaces and geomorphological units in the Arctic Lena Delta using field spectrometry and remote sensing
Russian-German Cooperation SYSTEM LAPTEV SEA: The Expedition LENA 2008
International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic - INTERACT III
Events contain measurements taken at one location (e. g. an island or channel) within the same year and campaign, for a specific scientific purpose, by the same author and/or measuring person
Dataset ID, unique identifier for each record in this dataset (running number)
Field ID, identifier assigned to a measurement by the data author/measuring person during field work
date in ISO-format, in coordinated universal time (UTC)
"1" flags cases where the specific date is unknown, and only the date range within which measurements were taken was available
general location name of the measurement site (e. g. island or channel)
specifies how coordinates were obtained: handheld GPS; GNSS; map
"1" means that coordinates were not available and positions were instead identified by georeferencing of available figures. "2" flags coordinates that are likely wrong, because they do not match the description
method used to measure thaw depth: metal probe; measurement tape in soil pit; measurement tape at outcrop; measurement tape on core
No. 1 - for single measurement or first out of max. three measurements per site, empty if more than 3 measurements were taken
No. 2 - for second out of max. three measurements per site
No. 3 - for third out of max. three measurements per site
mean of all thaw depth measurements per site
"1" was used when thaw depth values were not directly available and were extracted from published figures depicting thaw depth instead. "2" means that the actual thaw depth was larger than the given value (because the actual thaw depth could not be reached during the measurement due to limited probe size or obstacles such as pebbles)
minimum of all thaw depth measurements per site. Empty if only 1 measurement was taken
maximum of all thaw depth measurements per site. Empty if only 1 measurement was taken
number of thaw depth measurements per site, for which mean, max and min are provided in this row
Is a separate detailed table available for sites with more than three thaw depth measurements per site? yes; no
description of microtopography characteristics
description of vegetation characteristics
description of geomorphological features
description of geological unit/lithology
local geographical reference that describes the location at which measurements were taken
publication status of the thaw depth measurement data: published; unpublished
source of the thaw depth measurement data: data author/measuring person; field report; data publication
field report published in Reports on Polar and Marine Research (BzPM) by Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, which includes information about the thaw depth measurements
data publication of thaw depth measurements
related publications to thaw depth measurements
name of the expedition/field campaign during which the thaw depth measurements were taken
person responsible for the thaw depth measurement data
of person that conducted the thaw depth measurement in the field
additional information related to the thaw depth measurement
spatial type of measurements: "point"; "transect"; "grid"
Repeated meas: was another measurement performed at the same location at a different point in time? "yes"; "no"
if "Repeated meas" is "yes", was the repeated measurement performed in the same season or a different year? "seasonal"; "interannual"; "seasonal, interannual"
if "Repeated meas" is "yes", in which years were measurements taken at this location?
if "Repeated meas" is "yes", which events do the repeated measurements belong to?