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Temperature data acquired from the DOI/GTN-P Deep Borehole Array on the Arctic Slope of Alaska, 1973-2013

May 23, 2014

A homogeneous set of temperature measurements obtained from the DOI/GTN-P Deep Borehole Array between 1973 and 2013 is presented; DOI/GTN-P is the US Department of the Interior contribution to the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P). The 23-element array is located on the Arctic Slope of
Alaska, a region of cold continuous permafrost. Most of the monitoring wells are situated on the Arctic coastal plain between the Brooks Range and the Arctic Ocean, while others are in the foothills to the south. The data represent the true temperatures in the wellbores and surrounding rocks at the time of the measurements; they have not been corrected to remove the thermal disturbance caused by drilling the wells. With a few exceptions, the drilling disturbance is estimated to have been on the order of 0.1 K or less by 1989. Thus, most of the temperature measurements acquired during the last 25 yr are little affected by the drilling disturbance. The data contribute to ongoing efforts to monitor changes in the thermal state of permafrost in both hemispheres by the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost, one of the primary subnetworks of the Global Terrestrial Observing
System (GTOS). The data will also be useful for refining our basic understanding of the physical conditions in permafrost in Arctic Alaska, as well as providing important information for validating predictive models used for climate impact assessments. The processed data are available from the Advanced Cooperative Arctic Data and Information Service (ACADIS) repository at doi:10.5065/D6N014HK.

Publication Year 2014
Title Temperature data acquired from the DOI/GTN-P Deep Borehole Array on the Arctic Slope of Alaska, 1973-2013
DOI 10.5194/essd-6-201-2014
Authors Gary D. Clow
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Earth System Science Data
Index ID 70116724
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center