Air Temperature and Thaw Depth, North Slope, Alaska: Field Measurements (1995-97) and Computed Values

Air temperature and thaw depth were measured in the years 1995, 1996, and 1997; air temperature was measured at 10 core Flux Study plots and additional sites, and thaw depth was measured within each of seven Arctic System Science (ARCSS) 1 km x 1 km grids.

The data were collected to provide a basis for extrapolating thawing degree-days and thaw depth to the landscape scale (the Kuparuk River basin). Modeled air temperatures derived from the 1995 air temperature measurements are represented in 787 x 371 element matrices of thawing degree-day sums at weekly intervals for part of summer 1995. Thaw depth matrices were model led using the interpolated thawing degree-day data, a vegetation map of the Kuparuk River basin, and a digital elevation model (DEM) of the same area.