Arctic Permafrost Active Layer Thickness and Soil Moisture, 2013

Four sites around Barrow, Alaska provide measurements of Active Layer Thickness (ALT) and soil volumetric water content (VWC) from August 2013. Data combines ground-penetrating radar (GPR) transects up to 7 km long with high-density mechanical probing surveys taken every meter along 100-meter lines. The dataset includes calculated uncertainties and was produced by ORNL_CLOUD.

Use Cases

• Calibrating and validating satellite or airborne remote sensing estimates of permafrost thaw depth using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and probe ALT measurements.
• Modeling soil moisture and thermal properties in the active layer using the calculated volumetric water content (VWC) at calibration points.
• Analyzing spatial variability of permafrost thaw along transects using the high-density (1-meter interval) mechanical probing survey data.
• Assessing measurement uncertainty in geophysical surveys for permafrost studies using the included calculated uncertainty estimates.

Strengths

• Combines two measurement methods: GPR transects (1-7 km) and traditional mechanical probing for cross-validation.
• Includes high-density ground truth with mechanical probe surveys taken every 1 meter along 100-meter lines.
• Provides calculated uncertainties for the Active Layer Thickness and soil volumetric water content estimates.
• Data is co-located, with VWC calculated at 3-8 calibration points per site where probe and GPR measurements align.

Limitations

• Row count, total size, and specific column names are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: one states 2013-08-15, while others state 2026-03 12.
• Temporal coverage is limited to a single month (August 2013).

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD

Collection Method

Ground-based measurements using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and traditional mechanical probing.

Time Range

August 2013

Freshness

2026-03-12 22:36:16.506330

Geography

Four selected sites around Barrow, Alaska.