Borehole and near-surface ground temperatures in northeastern Canada

Permafrost is the foundation upon which northern ecosystems and communities rest and upon which new industrial infrastructures are built. Determining the thermal state and dynamics of permafrost soils is therefore of broad interest to many disciplines and users. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the thermo-dynamical processes in various geological, climatic, municipal and industrial settings that lead to permafrost thaw from climate forcing and terrain disturbance.

The data are from 11 sets of locations in Nunavik and Nunavut, northeastern Canada. The measurement sites are part of the SILA network of the Center for Northern Studies (CEN - Centre d’études nordiques); climate data are also available in other issues of Nordicana D. The available datasets cover the period from 1988-2023. For each set of locations, the number of boreholes and their depth ranges are as follows: Akulivik: 2 sites, Aupaluk: 2 sites, Kangiqsualujjuaq: 2 sites, Puvirnituq: 2 sites, Quaqtaq: 1 site, Tasiujaq: 2 sites, Umijuaq: 1 site, Iqaluit: 6 sites, Pangnirtung: 8 sites, Île Bylot 3 sites. In Salluit, the temperature data were recorded by Hobo temperature loggers near the ground surface at 21 different sites. Table 1 shows the depth range for the sites. The ground temperature data (oC) are available as: (1) recorded data, which are the averages of 60 measurements at minute intervals over each previous hour; (2) daily averages; (3) monthly averages; and (4) yearly averages.