Note: This data set was first published on the 1998 CAPS CD.
The text for this document was taken unchanged from that CD.

See also Description of Data Files.

Welcome to the Salluit files

These ten files contain the data that were used to measure the thermal conditions for the cracking and the closing of ice wedges at the Salluit study site between July 1989 and August 1991. These files accompany the following paper in the proceedings volume of the Seventh International Permafrost Conference:

Temperature conditions for ice-wedge cracking :
Field measurements from Salluit, northern Quebec.

by Michel Allard and Jennifer N. Kasper

Location of the study site, layout of the instrumentation, methodology, interpretations and a discussion are to be found in the paper.

The data may be used for other purposes such as modelling and educational exercises. However permission of the authors shall be requested for partial or complete re-publication in any format or by any means. Please contact:

Michel Allard, Centre d'etudes nordiques, Universite Laval, Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada, G1K 7P4 tel: 418-656-5416 fax:418-656-2978 e-mail: m.allard@cen.ulaval.ca

After permission from the authors (Allard and Kaspar) is received, please cite any use of these data from the CAPS Version 1.0 CD-ROM as follows:

Allard, M., J. Kaspar, and J. Frydecki. 1998. Permafrost, palsa and frost-crack polygons, Salluit, Quebec, Canada. In: International Permafrost Association, Data and Information Working Group, comp. Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System (CAPS), version 1.0. CD-ROM available from National Snow and Ice Data Center, nsidc@kryos.colorado.edu. Boulder, Colorado: NSIDC, University of Colorado at Boulder.

Instrumentation used: CAMPBELL SCIENTIFIC CR-10

Explanation of the files

The data was compiled on a French version of Excel 7.0

T7N,T8N,T9N,T11N = temperatures at the specified depths along the thermisror cable in the ice wedge

T7R,T8R,T11R = temperatures at the specified depths along the thermistor cable in the center of the polygon

Contents of the files:

Salluit-one: Hourly readings of wind speed, wind direction and air temperature in a shelter 3m above ground and at soil surface in the center of the tundra polygon (some gaps in the wind speed data due to technical problems)

From 12 July 1989 to 31 December 1989

Salluit-two: Soil temperatures at depths, internal temperature of the datalogger and electrical resistance of the crack detection circuit

Readings every four hours
From 12 july 1989 to 31 December 1989

Salluit-three: Hourly readings of wind speed, wind direction and air temperature in a shelter 3m above ground and at soil surface in the center of the tundra polygon (some gaps in the wind speed data due to technical problems)

From 1 January 1990 to 1 July 1990

Salluit-four: Hourly readings of wind speed, wind direction and air temperature in a shelter 3m above ground and at soil surface in the center of the tundra polygon (some gaps in the wind speed data due to technical problems)

From July 1 1990 to 22 September 1990

Salluit-five: Soil temperatures at depths, internal temperature of the datalogger and electrical resistance of the crack detection circuit

Readings every four hours
From 1 January 1990 to 22 September 1990
Gap in the data from 22 September 1990 to 29 December 1990 at 18:00 due to equipment malfunction.

Salluit-six: Hourly readings of wind speed, wind direction and air temperature in a shelter 3m above ground and at soil surface in the center of the tundra polygon

From 18:00 on 29 December 1990 to 30 April 1991

Salluit-seven: Hourly readings of wind speed, wind direction and air temperature in a shelter 3m above ground and at soil surface in the center of the tundra polygon

From 1 May 1991 to 21 August 1991

Salluit-eight: Soil temperatures at depths, internal temperature of the datalogger and electrical resistance of the crack detection circuit

Readings every four hours
From 20:00 on 29 December 1990 to 21 August 1991

Salluit-nine: A table containing our analysis of the thermal conditions leading to cracking (or opening) and closing of ice-wedge cracks over the two winters. Table one of the paper contains data extracted from that file. The table in the paper was limited in size due to space restriction in the Proceedings volume.

Please cite these data from the CAPS Version 1.0 CD-ROM as follows:

Allard, M. 1998. Soil temperatures at Salluit, Quebec In: International Permafrost Association, Data and Information Working Group, comp. Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System (CAPS), version 1.0. CD-ROM available from National Snow and Ice Data Center, nsidc@kryos.colorado.edu. Boulder, Colorado: NSIDC, University of Colorado at Boulder.