The dataset compiles water current velocities and direction measured by a platform-based upward looking Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler. Data was acquired in July/August 2015 during the Yukon Coast 2015 expedition to the Herschel Island – Qikiqtaruk coastal observatory, conducted by the Alfred Wegener Institute in Potsdam, Germany. Goal of this project was to find drivers that control nearshore currents and to map their spatio-temporal variation. These currents might play an important role in the transport process of sediments and organic matter in the nearshore zone of the Arctic Ocean. The sediments mainly originate from the rapidly eroding permafrost coasts. The columns of this data file include Date/Time, height above the seafloor of the respective measurement cell (bin), current velocity in east-west direction and current velocity in north-south direction.

This publication contains tabular summaries of the data management survey carried out at the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, as well as the diagrams of individual questions shown in Radosavljevic et al. (2019). The online survey was conducted from August 27 to September 27, 2019. The survey design leaned on similar surveys carried out at German universities and research institutions (e.g. Paul-Stüve et al., 2015; Simukovic et al., 2013) The survey queried aspects of the complete data life cycle - from the planning stage to reuse in 37 questions: 16 single response (SR); where only one answer was possible, and 20 multiple response (MR) where multiple answers could be selected, and one free text question. Research staff at all career levels was the target audience for the survey. Invitations to participate in the completely anonymous online survey were sent out over the general GFZ lists. The survey was carried out with the Questback EFS Survey platform. 226 attempts, out of 411, led to completed questionnaires corresponding to a 55% completion rate. Compared to the target audience at GFZ, the participation rate amounted to ca. 24%. However, less than 20% of employees classified as infrastructure support employees or bachelor’s and master’s students and student assistants completed the survey. Replies falling into these categories were grouped into “others” in the report as well as in the data presented here. Data summaries are given in two tab-separated tables corresponding to response counts or percentage for each question. These are grouped by department, role and employment length. Questions 5 and 34 were ranking questions and the corresponding responses in the percentages table represent arithmetic means of the replies for these questions – not percentages. The response counts for these question are presented in the “Counts” table. Free text replies are omitted from these results. In addition, the diagrams of individual questions are presented Radosavljevic et al. (2019) are also provided in png and pdf formats.

Permafrost landscapes are changing around the Arctic in response to climate warming, with coastal erosion being one of the most prominent and hazardous features. Using drone platforms, satellite images, and historic aerial photographs, we observed the rapid retreat of a permafrost coastline on Qikiqtaruk – Herschel Island, Yukon Territory, in the Canadian Beaufort Sea. This coastline is adjacent to a gravel spit accommodating several culturally significant sites and is the logistical base for the Qikiqtaruk – Herschel Island Territorial Park operations. In this study we sought to (i) assess short-term coastal erosion dynamics over fine temporal resolution, (ii) evaluate short-term shoreline change in the context of long-term observations, and (iii) demonstrate the potential of low-cost lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles (“drones”) to inform coastline studies and management decisions. We resurveyed a 500 m permafrost coastal reach at high temporal frequency (seven surveys over 40 d in 2017). Intra-seasonal shoreline changes were related to meteorological and oceanographic variables to understand controls on intra-seasonal erosion patterns. To put our short-term observations into historical context, we combined our analysis of shoreline positions in 2016 and 2017 with historical observations from 1952, 1970, 2000, and 2011. In just the summer of 2017, we observed coastal retreat of 14.5 m, more than 6 times faster than the long-term average rate of 2.2±0.1 m a−1 (1952–2017). Coastline retreat rates exceeded 1.0±0.1 m d−1 over a single 4 d period. Over 40 d, we estimated removal of ca. 0.96 m3 m−1 d−1. These findings highlight the episodic nature of shoreline change and the important role of storm events, which are poorly understood along permafrost coastlines. We found drone surveys combined with image-based modelling yield fine spatial resolution and accurately geolocated observations that are highly suitable to observe intra-seasonal erosion dynamics in rapidly changing Arctic landscapes.

Shallow reflective seismic surveys were carried out in the vicinity of Herschel Island in 2013. These data were collected to investigate the depositional dynamics to the west, north and east of the island. A portion of the Herschel Basin was also surveyed. The surveys were carried out in nearshore waters ca. 3-45 m deep and to about 5 km offshore, with a total line length of about 80 km.The data were recorded using an Innomar SES-2000 compact sub-bottom profiler. The primary frequency for this instrument is approximately 100 kHz. The secondary frequency was varied between 5 and 15 kHz. Gain was applied during acquisitition (24-50 dB) depending on conditions. Positional data was recorded using a Trimble R4 Global Positioning System (GPS) where the antenna was mounted directly over the transducer without offset. Survey speed was generally <5 knots.Data are provided as several SEG-Y files in a zip archive. The data were converted from the manufacturer's SES format using the proprietary SES Convert software. The 16 bit Integer SEG-Y files have little endian (PC) byte order. Navigational data was recorded in UTM Zone 7 N, in meters. Navigational data is also provided in tab separated files containing trace number, northing, easting and survey line ID. In addition, a zip file containing a shape file (polylines) is also provided.

This dataset contains isobaths of Workboat Passage near Herschel Island, Yukon, Canada. The map is intended for display purposes only. It represents a compilation of three very different datasets. The majority of information stems from from a georeferenced scanned image of the insert pertaining to Workboat Passage included in Canadian Hydrographic Service map #7661 Demarcation Bay to Phillips Bay (1986). Soundings and isobaths were digitized. Single point sonar soundings obtained with the onboard GPS and sonar system (Garmin) in 2013 were added to the dataset. Lastly, a coastline was digitized based on a Geoeye satellite image at 1:1000 scale to provide the 0 m contour. The data (i.e. points and contours) were gridded at 40 m using the "topo to raster" tool in ArcMap. This dataset resulted from contouring the raster surface with 1m contours. No corrections for sea level elevation were carried out.

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This dataset contains the results of granulometric and bulk geochemical analyses of Van Veen surface samples obtained by the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in the course of the 2012 and 2013 summer field seasons.The sampling was performed along transects in depths generally <13 m, to a distance of about <5 km off Herschel Island. In 2012, 75 samples in Pauline Cove and in the vicinity of Simpson Point were obtained. Sample collection was expanded in 2013, on transects established the previous year, with additional locations in Tetris Bay and Workboat Passage. Samples consisted of approximately 100 g of the top 3-6 cm of sediment, and were frozen in the field and freeze dried at the AWI before undergoing analytical procedures. Sample locations were recorded with the onboard global positioning system (GPS) unit.Grain size distributions in our study were obtained using laser diffractometry at the AWI (Beckman Coulter LS200) on the <1 mm fraction of samples oxidized with 30% H2O2 until effervescence ceased to remove organics. Some samples were also sieved using a sieve stack with 1 phi intervals. GRADISTAT (Blott and Pye, 2001) was used to calculate graphical grain size statistics (Folk and Ward, 1957). Grain diameters were logarithmically transformed to phi values, calculated as phi=-log2d, where d is the grain diameter in millimeters (Blott and Pye, 2001; Krumbein, 1934).Freeze dried samples were ground and ground using an Elemetar Vario EL III carbon-nitrogen-sulphur analyzer at the AWI to measure total carbon (TC) and total nitrogen (TN). Tungsten oxide was added to the samples as a catalyst to the pyrolysis. Following this analysis, total organic carbon (TOC) was determined using an Elementar VarioMax.Stable carbon isotope ratios of 13C/12C of 118 samples were determined on a DELTAplusXL mass spectrometer (ThermoFisher Scientific, Bremen) at the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) in Potsdam, Germany . An additional analysis on 69 samples was carried out at the University of Hamburg with an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (Delta V, Thermo Scientific, Germany) coupled to an elemental analyzer (Flash 2000, Thermo Scientific, Germany). Prior to analysis, soil samples were treated with phosphoric acid (43%) to release inorganic carbon. Values are expressed relative to Vienna Peedee belemnite (VPDB) using external standards (USGS40, -26.4 per mil VPDB and IVA soil 33802153, -27.5 per mil VPDB).