Active layer physical processes at Broeggerhalvoya, western Spitsbergen, Version 1

Annual precipitation was 17 % greater than the ong-term mean (372 mm); however, the number of rain-on-snow events was less (3) than average (5.5). Overall, the reference period is close to long-term averages. A program of automated soil temperature recordings was initiated in the summer of 1984, at a patterned ground field site Thermistors were placed approximately 0.1 m apart in an epoxy-filled PVC rod (18 mm outside diameter), buried in the center of a fine-grained domain of a sorted circle, down to 1.14 m below the ground surface.

The data presented here covers 7/1/85-7/1/86, once a day (6 am), at two levels (0.0 m, 1.145 m below surface). The resolution of the thermistors is 0.004 C, and the accuracy is estimated to be 0.02 C near 0 C. Missing data accounts for less than 7 %. The gaps are filled with simple average of the beginning and end of the gap values.

For a detailed description of the field site and data analysis see Putkonen (1997) and Hallet and Prestrud (1986). These data are presented on the CAPS Version 1.0 CD-ROM, June 1998.