Greenland Permafrost Temperatures at 18 Depths, 1967-1982

Bi-weekly average temperatures from 18 sensors at depths up to 9 meters near Sisimiut, Greenland, recorded from September 1967 to August 1982. The dataset also includes snow depth, snow extent, and surface air temperature measurements. Data are provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in tab-delimited ASCII text format.

Use Cases

• Modeling permafrost thermal stability based on temperature profiles at multiple depths.
• Analyzing seasonal and long-term temperature trends in the active layer.
• Correlating surface air temperature and snow cover data with subsurface thermal conditions.
• Validating remote sensing or climate models of Arctic ground temperatures.

Strengths

• Covers a 15-year time span from 1967 to 1982.
• Includes measurements from 18 distinct depths, from 0.25 m to 9 m.
• Contains complementary data on snow depth, snow extent, and surface air temperature.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data are provided as bi-weekly averages, not the original daily recordings.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Temperatures recorded once a day by thermometers at a site near Sisimiut (Holsteinsborg), west Greenland.

Time Range

September 1967 to August 1982

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 22:04:08.947547; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Sisimiut (Holsteinsborg), west Greenland