Thermal State of Permafrost in North America - Orthomosaic Images and Digital Surface Models for Imnavait, Alaska, United States 2020-2024

This dataset contains orthomosaic images and digital surface models (DSMs) for an area of study near Imnavait in northern Alaska, United States of America (USA). The data were collected to further support ongoing research that aims to assess geomorphological and environmental changes near ground temperature monitoring sites, and to provide spatial data for validation of land surface deformation models. The 2022 flight was conducted using a DJI Phantom 4 RTK (P4RTK) equipped with a DJI D-RTK 2 Mobile Base Station for real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning. For flight missions in 2023 and beyond, we utilized a DJI Matrice M300 RTK (M300RTK) drone equipped with a DJI Zenmuse P1 camera and a 35mm lens (45MP). An Emlid RS3 GNSS base station was used for RTK positioning. All images were processed using Agisoft Metashape (v.2.2.0) following a standard three-dimensional mapping processing workflow utilizing ground control points measured in the field for horizontal and vertical corrections and reliable reproduction from year to year. All DSM and orthomosaic files are projected using NAD83 State Plane 4 and ellipsoidal heights in meters.
The Imnavait site is located approximately 125 miles (201 kilometers (km)) south of Deadhorse in the foothills of the Brooks Range in northern Alaska. Landcover units include Graminoid-moss tundra and graminoid, prostrate-dwarf-shrub, moss tundra (wet and moist nonacidic).