Ground temperature time series in European mountain permafrost

RELATED PUBLICATION

This dataset is related to the following publication:

Noetzli J., Isaksen, K., Barnett, J., Chrisitiansen, H.H., Delaloye, R., Etzelmueller, B., Farinotti, D., Gallemann, T., Guglielmin, M., Hauck, C., Hilbich, C., Hoelzle, M., Lambiel, C., Magnin, F., Oliva, M., Paro, L, Pogliotti, P., Riedl, C., Schoeneich, P., M., Valt, M., Vieli A., Philliips, M. (2024). Enhanced permafrost warming in Euro­pean mountains in the 21st century. Nature Communications, 15, 10508, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54831-9.

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For information on the measurements, selection criteria, processing information and data providers please refer to the methods, data availability and acknowledgements sections of the related publication ! 

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CONTENT

The dataset includes monthly and annual time series of ground temperatures measured in 64 boreholes in European mountain permafrost areas and corresponding metadata.

Temporal coverage: at least 10 years until 2022

Spatial coverage: European mountain regions (Svalbard, Scandinavia, Iceland, European Alps, Sierra Nevada)

Depth of measurements: at least 10 m; for all boreholes data of the sensors closest to 5, 10 and 20 m depth are included

Monthly means are calculated from daily values and annual values are derived from monthly mean values.

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DATA COMPILATION

The data were compiled to derive 10-year and 20-year warming rates in European mountain permafrost in the study by Noetzli et al. (in review, see above). Data were collected from national permafrost observation networks as well as from individual institutions (e.g, universities, environmental agencies).

The aquisition of long time series over decades requires long-term committment from the responsible institutions to maintain instruments and to collect and curate the data. Details on the data source for each time series can be found in the metadata file as well as in the related publication. The main data sources by country are given in the list below.

Country
Data source (institution or national network)

Austria
GeoSphere Austria

France
Réseau français d'observation du permafrost (PermaFrance, permafrance.osug.fr)

Germany
Bavarian Environment Agency

Iceland
University of Oslo

Italy
ARPA Piemonte, ARPA Valle d'Aosta, ARPA Veneto, University of Insubria

Norway
Norwegian Permafrost Monitoring Network (cryo.met.no and sios-svalbard.org)

Spain
Universitat de Barcelona

Svalbard
Norwegian Permafrost Monitoring Network (cryo.met.no and sios-svalbard.org)

Sweden
University of Stockholm

Switzerland
Swiss Permafrost Monitoring Network PERMOS (http://www.permos.ch)

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FILES AND FORMAT

This data set includes three csv-files: 1) metadata with information on the measurement location and data provider2) monthly ground temperature time series and 3) annual ground temperature time series. 

The variables in the three files are described below. Data files are in long data format.

File 1 – borehole_overview.csvKey information on the boreholes, responsible institutions and contact persons.

Variable
Description

Name
Name of the borehole (as used in the related study)

Country
Alpha-2 code

Region
Larger region

First_year
First year of data

Elevation [m asl.]
Elevation of the borehole

Lat [° N]
Latitude

Lon [° E]
Longitude

Depth [m]
Total depth of the borehole

DZAA [m]
Depth of the Zero Annual Amplitude (uppermost sensor with annual amplitude ≤0.1)

Phase lag
Phase lag at 10 m depth compared to surface in months

Morphology
Main morphology of the site

Surface_cover
Main surface cover at the site

Lithology
Main lithology of the site

Ice_content
Basic classification by ground ice content at the site (no ice, ice-poor, ice-bearing, ice-rich), see publication for details

Institution
Responsible institution (in the year 2024)

Contact_person
Contact person (in the year 2024)

Special_remarks
Remarks on location, e.g. horizontal borehole

File 2 – permafrost_temperatures_european_mountains_monthly_2022.csvTime series of monthly mean ground temperatures at ca. 5, 10 and 20 m depth for 64 boreholes in European mountain permafrost until 2022.

Variable
Description

bh
Name of the borehole

time [YYYY-MM-DD]
Date

depth [m]
Depth of measurement

temp [°C]
Monthly mean ground temperature (aggregated from daily values)

t_min [°C]
Minimum daily ground temperature of the year

t_max [°C]
Maximum daily ground temperature of the year

count
Number of daily values available to calculate monthly mean values

dclass [5, 10 or 20 m]
Depth class defined for analyses in related study

File 3 – permafrost_temperatures_european_mountains_annual_2022.csvTime series of annual mean ground temperatures at ca. 5, 10 and 20 m depth for 64 boreholes in European mountain permafrost until 2022.

Variable
Description

bh
Name of the borehole

time [YYYY]
Year

depth [m]
Depth of measurement

temp [°C]
Annual mean ground temperature (aggregated from monthly values)

t_min [°C]
Minimum monthly ground temperature of the year

t_max [°C]
Maximum monthlyground temperature of the year

count
Number of monthly values available to calculate annual mean values

dclass [5, 10 or 20 m]
Depth class defined for analyses in related study

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CONTACT

For question related to this dataset please contact the corresponding author: [e-mail]. For questions related to a specific time series, see metadata for contact information.