Table of content
 
Nordicana D108 / DOI : 10.5885/45810XD-C9F549F3E93040BD

Air and ground temperature, air humidity and site characterization data from the Canadian Shield taiga near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada

Nicholas Brown 1, Emilie Stewart-Jones 1, Julia Riddick 1, Olivia Meier-Legault 1, Steve Kokelj 2 Kumari Karunaratne 2, Stephan Gruber 1,
1 Carleton University
2 Northwest Territories Geological Survey


Abstract

A network of temperature and humidity sensors was deployed near Yellowknife, Canada to establish 28 distinct study sites reflecting landscape variability. The field campaign was designed to measure the spatial variation of near-surface climatic conditions and ground temperature. The sites differ in their vegetation type and abundance, surficial geology, solar aspect, slope, and elevation. The data will be beneficial for understanding the effects of landscape characteristics on ground temperature and for providing data to conduct systematic model evaluation. Individual study plots measuring 15 m × 15 m were selected to represent different facets of the landscape. For each plot, up to four sub-plots were selected to represent the diversity of surface characteristics within the plot area. Each plot was characterized according to surface features, disturbances and topography. Sub-plot metadata included vegetation type and abundance as well as leaf-area index. At each sub-plot, a single-channel temperature logger was installed approximately 10 cm below the ground surface. At other sites, air temperature and humidity sensors were installed 2 m above the ground surface. In addition, seven temperature sensors were installed into horizontal and vertical rock surfaces across the study area. Instruments were programmed to record data every 20 minutes. All instruments were set to UTC time. Time series have been aggregated to hourly and daily averages. Study plot locations were chosen to provide easy access from Yellowknife while at the same time being sufficiently far from town so as to be infrequently disturbed by people. Overall, sites were selected to represent baseline conditions rather than disturbance . However, some areas show signs of human disturbance such as cutlines which almost certainly will have affected the present thermal regime. In addition, some sites are clearly within degrading permafrost.

Data citation

Brown, N., Stewart-Jones, E., Riddick, J., Meier-Legault, O., Kokelj, S., Karunaratne, K., Gruber, S., 2022. Air and ground temperature, air humidity and site characterization data from the Canadian Shield taiga near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, v. 1.0 (2016-2021). Nordicana D108, doi: 10.5885/45810XD-C9F549F3E93040BD.

Location map


Acknowledgements

This project was supported by the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Ontario Research Fund (project 32295) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (projects RGPIN-2015-06456, RGPIN-2020-04783, NETGP 523228-18)

Status

Published

Version history

You can request for data from previous versions at nordicana@cen.ulaval.ca.


Version 1.0 (2016-2021) - Updated November 30, 2022

Measurement sites

  Site Latitude Longitude Altitude (m)
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YK16-RH01
62.55316283 -114.0366457 214
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YK16-RH02
62.55494461 -114.0270683 230
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YK16-RH03
62.505233 -114.275833 202
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YK16-RV01
62.5376748 -113.875319 210
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YK16-RV02
62.54051888 -113.8850664 210
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YK16-RV03
62.5053333 -114.2767321 198
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YK16-RV04
62.55326947 -114.0361681 205
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YK16-SO01
62.5389994 -114.096797 174
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YK16-SO02
62.53914127 -114.0944037 182
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YK16-SO05
62.50594255 -114.2769614 183
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YK16-SO03
62.54019126 -114.0932055 174
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YK16-SO04
62.54829926 -114.059847 165
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YK16-SO06
62.50759683 -114.2756641 177
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YK16-SO07
62.55420755 -114.0160878 208
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YK16-SO08
62.55444261 -114.0178417 212
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YK16-SO09
62.55477677 -114.0142927 211
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YK16-SO10
62.57143025 -114.0337361 200
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YK16-SO11
62.57640159 -114.0540923 186
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YK16-SO12
62.55537621 -114.0246924 231
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YK16-SO13
62.54631188 -114.0698644 175
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TCG16-047
62.6006895 -114.3119074 227
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YK17-AIR_dense1
62.45719 -114.53056 191
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YK17-AIR_dense2
62.46025 -114.53606 190
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YK17-AIR_open1
62.45569 -114.53058 187
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YK17-AIR_open2
62.45973 -114.53275 190
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YK17-AIR_rock1
62.45783 -114.53085 197
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YK17-AIR_rock2
62.45977 -114.53012 198
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YK16-AIR-ELYN
62.456575 -114.531542 196

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