Active layer thickness in the watershed of the Yukon River (Indigenous Observation Network), 2019.

The dataset presents results of measurements of the thickness of the active layer (ALT) as a part of a continuation of the Indigenous Observing Network (ION) project (ION 2.0) led by the Yukon River Intertribal Watershed Council (YRITWC) in partnership with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. ION 2.0 continues the measurements of water quality constituents and expands the observation and monitoring program to include measurements of changes in the state of permafrost due to dynamics of the ALT at numerous of the long-term water quality monitoring sites at the communities along the Yukon River. The ION project has documented the long-term changes in major ion chemistry that have occurred over three decades throughout the Yukon River Watershed. The investigators have interpreted these changes as being driven by thawing of discontinuous permafrost throughout this large Arctic watershed and complementary measurements of the active layer will support further interpretation and modelling. This project involves significant co-production of knowledge with members of Indigenous communities and capacity building through training in sampling methods, and sample and data analysis.