Meteorological, Radiation, Soil, and Snow Data from Alaska Sites, 1998-2002

Summary

This data set contains meteorological, radiation, soil, and snow data from several sites in three regions in Alaska: Ivotuk, Kougarok and Council.

The goal of the project is to improve the understanding of the scientific role that soil moisture and surface temperature play in affecting the surface energy balance, sub-surface thermal dynamics, and vegetation distribution.

Measurements were taken as part of the Land-Atmosphere-Ice Interactions Arctic Transitions in the Land-Atmosphere System (LAII-ATLAS) program. The research project was funded by the Arctic System Sciences (ARCSS) Program, grant number OPP-9818066.

Please refer to the ATLAS web site for a complete description of this project and the resulting data.

Data are available for ordering through NCAR.

Citing These Data:

Hinzman, L., D. Kane, and D. Goering. 2003. �Meteorological, radiation, soil, and snow data from Alaska sites, 1998-2002. Boulder, CO: National Center for Atmospheric Research, ARCSS Data Archive.

Overview Table

Table of Contents

1. Contacts and Acknowledgments:

Investigator(s) Name and Title:

2. Detailed Data Description:

Format:

Data are available as comma-delimited text files.

File Naming Convention:

Each file is named according to the name of the site, data type, and date of collection. For example,

• "ivotuk_moss_met_1998.txt" contains data from the Ivotuk moss (Met 1) site, meteorological data, collected in 1998.
• "k2_soil_2002.txt" contains data from the Kougarok K2 site, soil data, collected in 2002.

File Size:

File sizes range from 50 KB to 700 KB.

Spatial Coverage:

Data were collected from eight sites located within three different regions in Alaska. The collection sites were located as follows:

Ivotuk

Met site 1 (moss): 68.480° N, 155.745° W
Met site 2 (shrub): 68.487° N, 155.743° W

Kougarok

K1 site: 65.440° N, 164.579° W
K2 site: 65.428° N, 164.644° W
K3 site: 65.460° N, 164.638° W

Council

C1 site: 64.843° N, 163.705° W
C2 site: 64.891° N, 163.644° W
C3 site: 64.746° N, 163.894° W

Temporal Coverage:

The data were collected at Ivotuk from 1998-07-13 to 2002-12-31; at Kougarok from 1999-04-07 to 2002-12-31; and at Council from 1999-07-28 to 2002-10-31.

Temporal Resolution:

Meteorological, radiation, and soil data were collected hourly; snow data collection varied from once every hour to once every three hours.

Parameters or Variables:

Parameter Description:

The parameters measured varied among the sites. Meteorological data include air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, and rainfall

Radiation data include incoming and outgoing short- and long-wave radiation.

Snow parameters include snow depth.

Soil parameters include soil temperature and soil moisture.

Please refer to the ATLAS web site for a complete description of the sites, the instrumentation used, and images of each site. In general, the types of data collected for each site are as follows:

Meteorological Data

The column headings in the data files for meteorological data are as follows:

Year
Date/Time (m/d/yy h:mm)
Air Temperature (degrees C) at varying heights
Relative Humidity (%) at varying heights
Wind Speed (m/s) at varying heights
Wind Direction (degrees from true North) at varying heights
Standard Deviation of Wind Direction
Rainfall (mm)

Note: Sites K2 and C2 have additional columns for temperature and relative humidity at 10 m. Not all files contain each parameter listed above.

Radiation Data

The column headings in the data files for radiation data are as follows:

Date/Time
Net Radiation (W/m²)
Outgoing Short Wave Radiation (W/m²)
Incoming Short Wave Radiation (W/m²)
Outgoing Long Wave Radiation (W/m²)
Incoming Long Wave Radiation (W/m²)

Note: Some data files contain only a net radiation column. Many values are erroneous or missing. NCAR does not have the data file for C1 radiation measurements collected in 1999.

Snow Data

The column headings in the data files for snow data are as follows:

Date/Time
Snow Depth (m or cm)

Note: The temporal coverage for each data file is the snow year (approximately September through June), not the calendar year. Snow data exist only for C3 and the two Ivotuk sites, Met site 1 and Met site 2.

Soil Data

The column headings in the data files for soil data are as follows:

Date/Time
Soil Temperature (degrees C) at varying heights
Soil Moisture (%) at varying depths

Note: Note: Columns vary from site to site depending on depth of measurements. Not all files contain each parameter listed above. NCAR does not have data for Met site 2, ivotuk_shrub 2001.

Sample Data Record:

Sample Meteorological Data for Kougarok site 2 (K2):

Error Sources:

Missing and bad data codes are indicated in each data file.

3. Document Information:

Document Creation Date:

2003-05-09

Document URL:

http://data.eol.ucar.edu/codiac/dss/id=106.ARCSS901