The seasonal thaw layer in permafrost regions, namely the active layer, is an important part of the study of seasonal frozen soil, and its changes are also affected by climate change. The change of active layer thickness has a profound impact on the energy transfer between earth and atmosphere, water cycle, carbon cycle, surface and underground hydrological processes, and vegetation growth. By collecting the long time series active layer thickness of 347 stations in the Northern Hemisphere and the temperature data output by dozens of CMIP5, the author constructs the E-factor of the permafrost region in the Northern Hemisphere through Stefan equation; Finally, the spatial distribution of the active layer thickness in the permafrost region of the Northern Hemisphere and the future prediction under different climate scenarios are obtained by coupling the melting index. It is found that the observed value is significantly correlated with the simulated value, the correlation coefficient R=0.84 (P<0.01), the average percentage error is 4.7%, the average deviation error is -11.7 cm, and the root mean square error is 64 cm. This data product can be used in the research of frozen soil and climate change, frozen soil carbon cycle, frozen soil ecological hydrological process, frozen soil engineering, etc.

File naming and required software

1. Data format: NetCDF4
2. Projection: WGS84
3. Data size: 13.9MB
4. Variable name: ALT
5. Data unit: cm

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Cite as:

Peng, X. (2022). Past and projected active layer thickness in permafrost regions across the Northern Hemisphere (1850-2100). A Big Earth Data Platform for Three Poles, DOI: 10.11888/Cryos.tpdc.272835. CSTR: 18406.11.Cryos.tpdc.272835. (Download the reference： RIS | Bibtex )

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References literature

1.Peng, X., Zhang, T., Frauenfeld, O.W., Wang, K., Luo, D., Cao, B., Su, H., Jin, H., & Wu, Q. (2018). Spatiotemporal changes in active layer thickness under contemporary and projected climate in the Northern Hemisphere. Journal of Climate, 31(1), 251-266. (View Details )

Support Program

Research on the mechanism, influence and climate effect of rapid change in the Arctic (No:2019YFA0607003)

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