Modeling polar bear (Ursus maritimus) snowdrift den habitat on Alaska’s Beaufort Sea coast using SnowDens-3D and ArcticDEM data

Pregnant polar bears (Ursus maritimus) excavate maternal dens in seasonal snowdrifts during fall along Alaska’s Beaufort Sea coast to shelter their altricial young during birth and development. With recent sea ice decreases, bears are denning more frequently on land. Each year, the weather and blowing-snow conditions control the creation of snowdrifts across the landscape, and the available snowdrift den habitat can vary widely from one year to the next, depending on the late fall and early winter air temperature, snowfall, and wind speed and direction. We implemented a physics-based, spatiotemporal, polar bear snowdrift den habitat model (SnowDens-3D) across the eastern Alaska Beaufort Sea coast (an area of approximately 17,000 km^2^). High-resolution (2.0 m) topography data were provided by the ArcticDEM, and daily meteorological forcings were provided by NASA’s MERRA-2 reanalysis. A 21-year (2000–2020) SnowDens-3D simulation was performed, and model outputs were compared with 91 hist..., , , # Modeling polar bear (*Ursus maritimus*) snowdrift den habitat on Alaska’s Beaufort Sea coast using SnowDens-3D and ArcticDEM data

## Dataset Authors, Title, and DOI Link

Authors =
Katherine Gura, Colorado State University, [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])
Glen E. Liston, Colorado State University, [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

Dataset Title and DOI Link =
Modeling polar bear (*Ursus maritimus*) snowdrift den habitat on Alaska’s Beaufort Sea coast using SnowDens-3D and ArcticDEM data, data archive. [Dataset]. Dryad. [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.34tmpg4t4](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.34tmpg4t4)

## Data file

Archive Data File Name = AK_PBDH_SD3D_Data_Archive.zip

This AK_PBDH_SD3D_Data_Archive.zip file includes the files described in the README_Data_for_Alaska_SnowDens-3D_and_ArcticDEM_Modeling.md (and .pdf) file.

## Description of the data and data files

### 1) GeoTIFF/AK\_PBDH\_SD3D\_20m\_\*\*\*\*.tif (22 fil...