An 18-year record (1998-2016) of permafrost soil temperature, soil water content, and meteorological data from a high Arctic permafrost site Bayelva (Svalbard)

• Main Authors: Lange, Stephan, Bornemann, Niko, Muster, Sina, Boike, Julia
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: ICOP 2016
• Subjects: Arctic; Bayelva; Svalbard; Svalbard Archipelago; north atlantic current; North Atlantic; permafrost; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/41215/; https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/41215/1/ICOP2016_Stephan_Lange.pdf; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.48150; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.48150.d001

Since 1998 we record hourly data from the Bayelva site close to Ny-Alesund, on Spitsbergen Island in the Svalbard archipelago (78°551 N, 11°571 E), where continuous permafrost underlies the un- glaciated coastal areas. The West Spitsbergen Ocean Current, a branch of the North Atlantic Current, warms this area to an average air temperature of about −13 °C in January and +5 °C in July, and provides about 400 mm of precipitation annually, falling mostly as snow between September and May. Significant warming of air temperatures has been detected since 1960, which is generally attributed to changes in the radiation budget and in atmospheric circulation. This warming is also reflected in the permafrost temperatures, as recorded from boreholes as well as increased active layer thaw depths. The scientific goal is to establish a long term- permafrost observational site to investigate the observed warming of permafrost and potential causes. At the site, weather components (radiation components, temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, snow) and soil temperature and moisture in the seasonally thawing surface layer. In 2007, additional instruments were added: an eddy covariance system and a 10 m permafrost temperature profile. In 2012, this site was equipped with a 220 V power supply and data transfer cables that are buried in the soil. Data are transferred hourly to Potsdam and loggers and sensors can be accessed and programmed remotely from AWI. Due to this major improvement, we obtained a data record without gaps since 2012. Thus, this site is included as validation site in satellite missions, for example in NASA’s soil moisture active passive mission (SMAP). We give an overview of the available data, as well as the processing and cleaning routines that are applied.