1 The Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) Program: Data Collection, Management, and Dissemination Strategies

• Main Authors: N I. Shiklomanov, F. E. Nelson, D. A. Streletskiy, K. M. Hinkel, J. Brown
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Active layer; Data analysis; Data archive; Polar regions; Permafrost; Sampling design; Active layer monitoring; Active layer thickness; permafrost
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.463.6385; http://permafrost.su/sites/default/files/ShiklomanovNik_final.pdf

The Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) program, established in the early 1990s, was designed to observe temporal and spatial variability of the active layer, near-surface permafrost parameters, and their response to changes and variations in climatic conditions. CALM is the world’s primary source of information about the active layer. Auxiliary information includes air temperature, soil moisture, soil temperature at different depth, snow cover, soil composition, and landscape characterization and frost heave and thaw subsidence. Metadata include detailed site descriptions and photographs for each site. Several groups of sites have been used to create regional maps of active-layer thickness. CALM data are distributed through the program’s website (www.udel.edu/Geography/calm), and are also archived in and distributed through the Frozen Ground Data Center at the University of Colorado. This paper provides details about the nature, availability, and uses of data from the CALM network