ABoVE: Thaw Depth at Burned and Unburned Sites Across Alaska, 2016-2018

Alaska thaw depth measurements from seven locations collected during August 2016, June and September 2017, and July-August 2018. The dataset includes three paired unburned-burned sites, with measurements taken along 30-meter transects at 1-meter increments using a thaw probe. It was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and covers a range of permafrost regions and vegetation types.

Use Cases

• Modeling permafrost thaw rates based on repeated measurements at specific sites.
• Analyzing the impact of fire disturbance on ground thaw by comparing paired burned and unburned sites.
• Studying spatial variability in thaw depth across different vegetation types mentioned in the description, such as boreal forests and tundra.
• Investigating the relationship between permafrost region type (continuous to sporadic) and thaw depth measurements.

Strengths

• Includes three paired unburned-burned sites, enabling comparative analysis of fire impact.
• Measurements were taken at 1-meter increments along three 30-meter transects per site, suggesting detailed spatial sampling.
• Covers a temporal range across four field campaigns from 2016 to 2018.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the selected seven locations in Alaska.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Field measurements using a 1.15 m T-shaped thaw depth probe along established transects.

Time Range

August 2016, June and September 2017, July-August 2018

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 19:45:51.376645; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Seven locations across Alaska, spanning continuous to sporadic permafrost regions.