Permafrost and Environmental Monitoring in 2023 and 2024 at the Teshekpuk Lake Observatory, Northern Alaska

This dataset consists of monitoring data of environmental parameters at two sites representing different stages of ice-wedge evolution and set up as Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) grid sites at the Teshekpuk Lake Observatory. One site was established in an area with low-centered polygons (LCP; CALM site U60a) and the other in an area with high-centered polygons (HCP; CALM site U60). The LCP site represents ice-wedge formation and is in a drained lake basin, the HCP represents partial degradation and is located in a primary early Holocene surface. Grids were 100 meter (m) by 100 m grids with data collected at every 10 m for a total of 120 measurement point locations. Measurements include thaw depths, ground temperatures at 12 centimeter (cm) depths, volumetric water content of the upper 12 cm of soil, water depth in areas with standing water, maximum vegetation height (within ~10 cm of the grid point), and snow depth. This data was collected at both sites in July 2023 and 2024 and is provided by four csv file for each measurement day. Two shapefiles are included to provide exact measurement locations within the grid. Furthermore, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) surveys were conducted in 2024 to measure micro-topography and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) near the timing of peak tundra greenness. These derived UAV products are included as tif files. These measurements were also extracted at each grid point location for analysis and those values are included in the csv files described previously. Finally, we monitored active layer (15 cm depth) and permafrost (100 cm depth) temperatures for specific geomorphic features at each site for a year. We also monitored base of pond water temperatures for a year. Ground temperature monitoring for geomorphic features at the LCP site consisted of a polygon center, a rim and a trough; for the HCP site geomorphic features consisted of a polygon center and two troughs of varying dimensions (note one trough was located outside the grid area). Water monitoring consisted of two polygon centers at the LCP site and a thaw pond at the HCP site. This data is included as another csv file.