Data for: Evidence for unexpected net permafrost aggradation driven by local hydrology and climatic triggers

• Main Authors: Sniderhan, Anastasia, Spence, Christopher, Kokelj, Steve, Baltzer, Jennifer L.
• Language: English
• Published: Borealis 2023
• Subjects: Earth and Environmental Sciences; Discontinuous Permafrost; Taiga Shield; Boreal Forest; Land Cover Change; Northwest Territories; Canada; The Baker; permafrost; taiga; Taiga shield
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/Y6TTU1

This dataset supports a journal article on land cover and permafrost change in the Baker Creek watershed, a discontinuous permafrost landscape in the Northwest Territories, Canada. We quantified changes in land cover type using 1972 aerial photographs and 2017 satellite imagery. An intensive field campaign in 2019 allowed us to collect field data on thickness of the soil organic layer and permafrost presence/absence that supported strong associations between land cover change and changes in permafrost extent, allowing us to infer permafrost change from land cover transitions observed in imagery. We calculated mean flow accumulation for each area where land cover change/permafrost was quantified to look at the relationships between local hydrology and permafrost change. We also collected topographical data derived from a digital elevation model which was used to predict land cover transitions.