Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System (CAPS)

Data Contributors

BARRY, R. G.
BROWN, JERRY
CLARK, MICHAEL J.
LEIBMAN, MARINA O.
AKERMAN, H. JONAS
VONDER MUEHLL, DANIEL S.
NELSON, FREDERICK E. (FRITZ)
CHRISTIANSEN, HANNE HVIDTFELDT
MELNIKOV, E.S.
BOELHOUWERS, JAN
BURGESS, MARGO
SMITH, SHARON
BRANSON, JULIA
ZHANG, TINGJUN

Parameters

ACTIVE LAYER
CRYOSOLS
FREEZE/THAW
FROST
GLACIATION
GROUND ICE
LAND SURFACE TEMPERATURE
PERIGLACIAL PROCESSES
PERMAFROST
ROCK GLACIERS
SEASONALLY FROZEN GROUND
SEDIMENTS
SOIL CLASSIFICATION
SOIL TEMPERATURE
SURFACE AIR TEMPERATURE
TALIK

Instruments

ANEMOMETERS
BAROMETERS
HYGROMETERS
RAIN GAUGES
SNOW MEASURING ROD
SNOWPACK TEMPERATURE PROBE
SOIL MOISTURE PROBE
SOIL TEMPERATURE PROBE
THERMISTORS
THERMOMETERS

The Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System (CAPS) CD-ROM contains data sets and information products pertaining to permafrost and frozen ground topics. CAPS was originally compiled by the International Permafrost Association's (IPA) Standing Committee on Data Information and Communication (SCDIC)in 1998, and was updated by NSIDC and the IPA's SCDIC in 2003. CAPS contains over 100 data sets and information products pertaining to permafrost and frozen ground topics. It also contains detailed metadata records describing over 100 additional data sets available at other GGD nodes around the world. Dozens of contributors submitted data collections representing global sites.

CAPS is organized for use within an HTML browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape. Most data files are in ASCII text format, and in a few cases data are also provided in Microsoft Excel. Maps are typically available in the ESRI Shapefile GIS format. Some of the larger data files have been compressed with gzip. Images are in JPG, GIF, and PNG format.

This compilation of data and information products is intended for a broad audience including the scientific and engineering communities, educators, and policy makers.

The data published on CAPS is also available through NSIDC's Frozen Ground Data Center web site. The Frozen Ground Data Center holds the most current permafrost and frozen ground data and information. Permafrost, or permanently frozen ground, is ground (soil, sediment or rock) that remains at or below 0°C for at least two years (Permafrost Subcommittee, 1988). It occurs both on land and beneath offshore arctic continental shelves, and underlies approximately 15% of the exposed land surface in the Northern Hemisphere. Permafrost thickness ranges from less than 1 m to greater than 1000 m.

Data Citation

International Permafrost Association Standing Committee on Data Information and Communication (comp.). 2003. Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System, Version 2.0. Edited by M. Parsons and T. Zhang. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center/World Data Center for Glaciology. CD-ROM.