Monthly average temperatures for the period between October 2004 and September 2024 at the permafrost monitoring network at Mt. Hochreichart, Austria

This dataset contains the monthly average temperatures for the period between October 2004 and September 2024 from eleven ground and air temperature monitoring sites in the summit area and a nearby cirque of the Hochreichart mountain in the Niedere Tauern Range, Austria. Ground temperature (GP) is monitored at a total of eight sites, and air temperature (AT) at three further sites. At each monitoring location, one to four sensors are installed (altogether 17 sensors) either only at the surface or at different depths, with the maximum depth at a monitoring site being 2.5 m below the surface. Monitoring sensors labelled in the dataset with 000 are installed at the surface. They are shielded from direct solar radiation by thin platy rocks and pore air in the coarse-blocky rock can reach the sensors relatively unhindered. Sensors with the labels 003 to 250 are located between 3 and up to 250 cm below the surface. The lowest-elevated sensor is located at 1512 m asl, the highest one at 2416 m asl at the summit plateau. One of the 16 data series (the ones of senor R-A2) comes from the Federal Government of Styria, Hydrological Service, all others from the data creator's measurement network. This work is embedded in a long-term monitoring initiative in the Hohe and Niedere Tauern Ranges in Austria. The project is currently funded by the Hohe Tauern National Park and the Earth System Sciences funding program of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. For more information about the long-term research activities at Hochreichart visit https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2021. This dataset is linked to the publication “Ground temperature monitoring during the period 2004–2024 indicates permafrost degradation in the Austrian Alps”, which will be published in autumn 2025 in the journal “Permafrost and Periglacial Processes”.