The new database of the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P)

Abstract

Abstract. The Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P) provides the first dynamic database associated with the Thermal State of Permafrost (TSP) and the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) programs, which extensively collect permafrost temperature and active layer thickness (ALT) data from Arctic, Antarctic and mountain permafrost regions. The purpose of GTN-P is to establish an early warning system for the consequences of climate change in permafrost regions and to provide standardized thermal permafrost data to global models. In this paper we introduce the GTN-P database and perform statistical analysis of the GTN-P metadata to identify and quantify the spatial gaps in the site distribution in relation to climate-effective environmental parameters. We describe the concept and structure of the data management system in regard to user operability, data transfer and data policy. We outline data sources and data processing including quality control strategies based on national correspondents. Assessment of the metadata and data quality reveals 63 % metadata completeness at active layer sites and 50 % metadata completeness for boreholes.Voronoi tessellation analysis on the spatial sample distribution of boreholes and active layer measurement sites quantifies the distribution inhomogeneity and provides a potential method to locate additional permafrost research sites by improving the representativeness of thermal monitoring across areas underlain by permafrost. The depth distribution of the boreholes reveals that 73 % are shallower than 25 m and 27 % are deeper, reaching a maximum of 1 km depth. Comparison of the GTN-P site distribution with permafrost zones, soil organic carbon contents and vegetation types exhibits different local to regional monitoring situations, which are illustrated with maps. Preferential slope orientation at the sites most likely causes a bias in the temperature monitoring and should be taken into account when using the data for global models. The distribution of GTN-P sites within zones of projected temperature change show a high representation of areas with smaller expected temperature rise but a lower number of sites within Arctic areas where climate models project extreme temperature increase.GTN-P metadata used in this paper are available at

State of the Climate in 2016

“…Cryosphere 1) permafrost thermal state -D. A. Streletskiy, B. Biskaborn, J. Noetzli, J-P. Lanckman, V. E. Romanovsky, P. Schoeneich, N. I. Shiklomanov, S. L. Smith, G. Vieira, and L. Zhao The Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P) provides systematic long-term measurements of permafrost temperature and active layer thickness (ALT) worldwide, and it is part of the Global Climate Observing System under the umbrella of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The GTN-P recently launched a sophisticated data management system (http://gtnpdatabase.org), which includes 1350 temperature boreholes and 250 active layer measurement sites worldwide (Biskaborn et al 2015) in order to assess the thermal state of the permafrost at the global scale.…”

New observations indicate the possible presence of permafrost in North Africa (Djebel Toubkal, High Atlas, Morocco)

“…The International Permafrost Association maintains the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P), which includes over 1074 boreholes, but with only 31 sites in mountain permafrost settings (Biskaborn et al, 2015), which are still poorly assessed regions (Gruber and Haeberli, 2009) and are mainly found in the Alps.…”

Transient modeling of the ground thermal conditions using satellite data in the Lena River delta, Siberia

“…Transferring this knowledge to larger regions is hampered by the considerable spatial variability of the ground thermal regime (which limits the representativeness of a measurement) and the strong concentration of TSP and CALM sites in a few regions, while vast permafrost areas are not at all covered (Biskaborn et al, 2015).…”