International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) data at UCAR/JOSS/NOAA/CODIAC

Since then the programme has grown rapidly and is today one of the most active international field programmes in arctic ecology. The purpose of ITEX is to monitor the performance of plant species and communities on a circumpolar basis in undisturbed habitats with and without environmental manipulations.

At present, there are over twenty active ITEX field sites throughout the circumpolar Arctic and in some alpine areas, operated by field parties from thirteen countries. The basic experiment is a temperature enhancement manipulation, where the field mean surface temperature is increased by 2-3 degrees C to simulate the climate at the middle of the next century according to the forecast from the GCMs (General Circulation Models).