BOREAS/SRC AMS: Surface Meteorology and Radiation in the Boreal Forest

Northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan's boreal forest region, covering roughly 1,000,000 square kilometers, is the focus of this surface observation network. The Saskatchewan Research Council collected meteorological and radiation data from December 1993 to December 1996 across ten sites for Suite A measurements and five sites for Suite B measurements. The dataset provides a multi-year record of near-surface atmospheric conditions and energy balance components.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived surface radiation estimates based on ground-based solar and longwave radiation measurements.
• Modeling regional energy and water budgets using concurrent measurements of temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation, and soil temperature.
• Analyzing seasonal and interannual variability in surface meteorology for a high-latitude continental region.
• Studying photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) dynamics in relation to boreal forest vegetation.

Strengths

• Provides a spatially distributed network of 10 ground measurement sites across a large geographic area.
• Offers a continuous, multi-year temporal record covering a full three-year period from 1993 to 1996.
• Includes complementary measurement suites for both standard meteorology (Suite A) and specialized radiation components (Suite B).

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low: specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided on any platform.
• Conflicting freshness information: one source lists a last update in 2026 (likely administrative), while another indicates the data collection ended in 1996.
• The license is vaguely specified as 'other-license-specified', requiring further investigation for reuse terms.

Provenance

Source

Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC), collected for the BOREAS project.

Collection Method

Ground-based sensor network measuring surface meteorological and radiation parameters.

Time Range

1993-12 to 1996-12

Freshness

2026-03-13 07:49:29.621368 (administrative metadata update); data collection ended 1996-12-31.

Geography

Roughly 1000 km by 1000 km area in northern Manitoba and northern Saskatchewan, Canada (boreal forest).