Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System (CAPS), Version 1

This data product, Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System (CAPS), Version 1 (G01175), was published on CD_ROM in 1998 and has been superseded by the Circum-Arctic Map of Permafrost and Ground-Ice Conditions, Version 2 (GGD318) data set.The CAPS product is no longer held by the NOAA program at NSIDC. We maintain this short description of CAPS in our catalog in order to make it easier to find CAPS data.

CAPS contains over 100 data sets pertaining to permafrost and frozen ground topics, as well as metadata records describing additional data sets available elsewhere. Dozens of contributors submitted data collections representing global sites. This compilation of data and information products is intended for a broad audience including the scientific and engineering communities, educators, and policy makers.

Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System Version 2.0 (CAPS 2) is an update to CAPS Version 1.0, and is the second five-year compilation of permafrost and frozen ground-related data and information products with a global perspective. CAPS 2 was compiled by the International Permafrost Association's (IPA) Standing Committee on Data, Information, and Communication (SCDIC) and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), and was published online and on CD-ROM in 2003.

CAPS was a major component of the IPA's Global Geocryological Data (GGD) system, an internationally distributed system of linked data centers or nodes. NSIDC and the International Arctic Research Center (IARC) developed the Frozen Ground Data Center (FGDC) as a central node in the GGD system. The CAPS 2 compilation was intended to be a snapshot of FGDC data and metadata holdings as of spring 2003. It includes data and information for seasonally frozen ground regions from in situ measurements, satellite remote sensing, and model outputs. The data can be accessed by subject, investigator, or location.

You may see the FGDC logo when looking for CAPS data. The Frozen Ground Data Center at NSIDC held permafrost data but it is no longer in operation.