Data examining the comparative effect of salt and soil pores on the freezing characteristic curve of laboratory and field soils

The data sets were used in studying the role of salt and soil pore on the freezing characteristic curve of frozen soils. In the laboratory, the soil moisture characteristic curve (SMC) of a silica sand was measured using a Hydraulic Property Analyzer (HYPROP). The soil freezing characteristic curve (SFC) of the same sand was measured using a series of column experiments with controlled total water content and pore-water salinity. In the field, data were collected from the St Denis National Wildlife Area (SDN), a mixed grassland cropped site in the Canadian prairies in Saskatchewan and the Boreal Ecosystem Research and Monitoring Sites (BERMS) Old Jack Pine (OJP) site in Saskatchewan, Canada. The data were used to validate the performance of three alternative SFC models (capillary, salt exclusion, and the combined capillary salt models).