Dataset of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor permafrost distribution in 2016

• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Science Data Bank 2018
• Subjects: China-Pakistan Economic Corridor; permafrost distribution; TTOP Model; MODIS land surface temperature; Earth science; The Corridor; permafrost
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.11922/sciencedb.662

Passing through the Pamirs and Karakoram Mountain System, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has widely developed various types of geological disasters caused by freeze-thaw cycles in permafrost at altitudes above 4,000 meters. The study on distribution and mapping of permafrost is the basis for solving the practical engineering problems in the Corridor, and it is of great importance to the water resources utilization, ecological security and border defence construction. The spatial scope of the study is approximately in 23°47′ N ~ 40°55′ N, 60°20′ E ~ 80°16′ E, including Kashgar in Xinjiang, Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture and Pakistan area. The data of the permafrost distribution in the Corridor （format: Tiff, spatial resolution: 1 km） is acquired on the basis of TTOP Model, which is conducted with the data on surface temperature for MODIS in 2016, glacial cataloging data for the Pamirs of China in 2009, glacier cataloging for Pakistan in 2003-2004 and World Soil Database for 2008 （HWSD v1.2）. Coefficient of determination as a statistical method are used to analyze and evaluate the quality of the data and existed literature are used to verify the data result. This dataset can be served as a fundamental survey material of the permafrost changes in the Corridor, providing basic data support for the research on frost heaving and thaw in the construction of the region. Besides, the dataset could be analyzed with climate, hydrology, and other data to reveal the quantitative relation in hydrology-soil-atmosphere-ecology in the Corridor. With the climate change in this region, the dataset is expected to intensify the scientific understanding of the ecological environment and sustainable development in the region.