Abstract
Abstract. Seasonal snow covers Arctic lands 6 to 10 months of the year and is therefore an essential element of the Arctic geosphere and biosphere. Yet, even the most sophisticated snow physics models are not able to simulate fundamental physical properties of Arctic snowpacks such as density, thermal conductivity and specific surface area. The development of improved snow models is in progress, but testing requires detailed driving and validation data for high Arctic herb tundra sites, which are presently not available. We present 6 years of such data for an ice-wedge polygonal site in the Canadian high Arctic, in Qarlikturvik valley on Bylot Island at 73.15∘ N. The site is on herb tundra with no erect vegetation and thick permafrost. Detailed soil properties are provided. Driving data are comprised of air temperature, air relative and specific humidity, wind speed, shortwave and longwave downwelling radiation, atmospheric pressure, and precipitation. Validation data include time series of snow depth, shortwave and longwave upwelling radiation, surface temperature, snow temperature profiles, soil temperature and water content profiles at five depths, snow thermal conductivity at three heights, and soil thermal conductivity at 10 cm depth. Field campaigns in mid-May for 5 of the 6 years of interest provided spatially averaged snow depths and vertical profiles of snow density and specific surface area in the polygon of interest and at other spots in the valley. Data are available at https://doi.org/10.5885/45693CE-02685A5200DD4C38 (Domine et al., 2021). Data files will be updated as more years of data become available.
Highlights
The seasonal snowpack covers high-latitude regions at low elevation 6 to 10 months of the year (Connolly et al, 2019)
Data from future years will be added to the set as they become available. Field campaigns at this site were possible in May 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019, and we present snow pit observations of snow stratigraphy and measurements of vertical profiles of snow density and specific surface area (SSA) for those years
We propose that frost sublimated on the south side of the hemispherical pyranometer window, allowing direct radiation to reach the pyranometer, while it remained on its north side, scattering extra radiation into the pyranometer
Summary
The seasonal snowpack covers high-latitude regions at low elevation 6 to 10 months of the year (Connolly et al, 2019). Boike et al (2018) have provided a 20-year data set of permafrost, active layer and meteorological data for a site near Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (78.5◦ N, 11.6◦ E), suitable for driving land surface and snow models While this data set can be used for numerous valuable applications, the snow validating data are limited to snow depth and to snow pit observations in late April or early May. The snow physical data are comprised of density at several heights and of the vertical temperature profile when the pit was dug. We provide standard meteorological data for driving models: air temperature and relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, shortwave (SW↓) and longwave (LW↓) incoming radiation, and precipitation Detailed soil properties such as density, granulometry, organic carbon content and thermal conductivity at several depths are provided. In May 2016, logistical difficulties prevented access to the site
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