Description: About 50 locations ('cold spots') where permafrost (Arctic and Antarctic) in situ monitoring has been taking place for many years or where field stations are currently established (through, for example the Canadian ADAPT program) have been identified. These sites have been proposed to WMO Polar Space Task Group as focus areas for future monitoring by satellite data. Seven monitoring transects spanning different permafrost types have been proposed in addition.

Description: During 2007 we launched a geodetic campaign on the Svalbard ice cap Vestfonna in order to estimate the velocity field of the ice cap. This was done within the frame of the IPY project KINNVIKA. We present here the velocity measurements derived from our campaigns 2007-2010 and compare the geodetic measurements against InSAR velocity fields from satellite platforms from 1995/96 and 2008. We find the spatial distribution of ice speeds from the InSAR is in good agreement within the uncertainty limits with our geodetic measurements. We observe no clear indication of seasonal ice speed differences, but we find a speed-up of the outlet glacier Franklinbreen between the InSAR campaigns, and speculate the outlet is having a surge phase.

Description: Nearly complete mosaics of winter ice surface velocities for the 1990's over the Eastern Arctic (Novaya Zemlya, Franz-Josef-Land, Severnaya Zemlya and Svalbard) were compiled based on historical SAR data. Offset-tracking to JERS-1 SAR data of the time period 1992-1998 was mainly applied. Data gaps were complemented using SAR interferometry and offset-tracking of ERS-1/2 SAR data of the time period 1991-1997. Knowledge on ice surface velocity of glaciers and ice caps contributes to a better understanding of a wide range of processes related to glacier dynamics, mass change and response to climate. In order to study long-term variability of winter ice surface velocity from the 1990's to present, velocity maps computed with offset-tracking from 2008-2011 ALOS-1 PALSAR-1 and 2020-2021 Sentinel-1 data are also provided.

Description: This dataset collates data of continuously acquired kinematic observations obtained through in-situ Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) instruments that have been designed and implemented in a large-scale multi field-site monitoring campaign across the whole Swiss Alps. The landforms covered include rock glaciers, high-alpine steep bedrock bedrock as well as landslide sites, most of which are situated in permafrost areas. The dataset was acquired at 54 different stations situated at locations from 2304 to 4003 meter a.s.l and comprises 209'948 daily positions derived through double-differential GNSS post-processing. Apart from these, the dataset contains down-sampled and cleaned time series of weather station and inclinometer data as well as the full set of GNSS observables in RINEX format. Furthermore the dataset is accompanied by tools for processing and data management in order to facilitate reuse, open alternate usage opportunities and support the life-long living data process with updates.

Description: This dataset collates data of continuously acquired kinematic observations obtained through in-situ Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) instruments that have been designed and implemented in a large-scale multi field-site monitoring campaign across the whole Swiss Alps. The landforms covered include rock glaciers, high-alpine steep bedrock bedrock as well as landslide sites, most of which are situated in permafrost areas. The dataset was acquired at 54 different stations situated at locations from 2304 to 4003 meter a.s.l and comprises 229'669 daily positions derived through double-differential GNSS post-processing. Apart from these, the dataset contains down-sampled and cleaned time series of weather station and inclinometer data as well as the full set of GNSS observables in RINEX format. Furthermore the dataset is accompanied by tools for processing and data management in order to facilitate reuse, open alternate usage opportunities and support the life-long living data process with updates. All data contained in this data set including updates to newer data can also be retrieved using the toolset available at https://git.uibk.ac.at/informatik/neslab/public/permasense/permasense_datamgr from the online PermaSense data repository at http://data.permasense.ch.

Description: Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) images (L1 Single Look Complex data from ESA/Copernicus Sentinel-1) were acquired between May and September during the thawing seasons from 2015 to 2019, over the area of Ilulissat, West Greenland. Rasters of thaw-season ground surface displacements were obtained from the interferometric processing of the SAR scenes. The 2015-2019 average seasonal displacement (S) and long-term deformation rate (R) were derived by least-squares inversion from the surface displacement rasters. In addition, active layer thicknesses (ALT) probed in Ilulissat at the end of the summers of 2020 and 2021 were extrapolated using a vegetation map derived from a Random Forest classification of multi-temporal Sentinel-2 optical images. The average seasonal displacement and extrapolated ALT were finally used to estimate the amount of ice present in the active layer, indicating the frost susceptibility of the ground. This dataset first contains the yearly thaw-season surface displacement rasters in the radar line-of-sight (LOS) direction, and the derived average seasonal and long-term deformation rasters. Secondly, the ALT measurements and floristic data used as inputs and validation in the study are provided along with the land cover classification, extrapolated ALT and frost susceptibility index rasters.

Description: Permafrost cannot be directly detected from space, but many surface features of permafrost terrains and typical periglacial landforms are observable with a variety of EO sensors ranging from very high to medium resolution at various wavelengths. In addition, landscape dynamics associated with permafrost changes and geophysical variables relevant for characterizing the state of permafrost, such as land surface temperature or freeze-thaw state can be observed with space-based Earth Observation. Suitable regions to examine environmental gradients across the Arctic have been defined in a community white paper (Bartsch et al. 2014). These transects have been revised and adjusted within the DUE GlobPermafrost initiative of the European Space Agency. The ESA DUE GlobPermafrost project develops, validates and implements Earth Observation (EO) products to support research communities and international organisations in their work on better understanding permafrost characteristics and dynamics. Prototype product cases will cover different aspects of permafrost by integrating in situ measurements of subsurface properties and surface properties, Earth Observation, and modelling to provide a better understanding of permafrost today. The project will extend local process and permafrost monitoring to broader spatial domains, support permafrost distribution modelling, and help to implement permafrost landscape and feature mapping in a GIS framework. It will also complement active layer and thermal observing networks. Both lowland (latitudinal) and mountain (altitudinal) permafrost issues are addressed. The status of the Permafrost Information System and first results will be presented. Prototypes of GlobPermafrost datasets include: - Modelled mean annual ground temperature by use of land surface temperature and snow water equivalent from satellites - Land surface characterization including shrub height, land cover and parameters related to surface roughness - Trends from Landsat Time series over selected transects - For selected sites: subsidence, ground fast lake ice, land surface features and rock glacier monitoring

Description: Permafrost cannot be directly detected from space, but many surface features of permafrost terrains and typical periglacial landforms are observable with a variety of EO sensors ranging from very high to medium resolution at various wavelengths. In addition, landscape dynamics associated with permafrost changes and geophysical variables relevant for characterizing the state of permafrost, such as land surface temperature or freeze-thaw state can be observed with spaceborne Earth Observation. Suitable regions to examine environmental gradients across the Arctic have been defined in a community white paper (Bartsch et al. 2014, hdl:10013/epic.45648.d001). These transects have been revised and adjusted within the DUE GlobPermafrost initiative of the European Space Agency. The ESA DUE GlobPermafrost project develops, validates and implements Earth Observation (EO) products to support research communities and international organisations in their work on better understanding permafrost characteristics and dynamics. Prototype product cases will cover different aspects of permafrost by integrating in situ measurements of subsurface and surface properties, Earth Observation, and modelling to provide a better understanding of permafrost today. The project will extend local process and permafrost monitoring to broader spatial domains, support permafrost distribution modelling, and help to implement permafrost landscape and feature mapping in a GIS framework. It will also complement active layer and thermal observing networks. Both lowland (latitudinal) and mountain (altitudinal) permafrost issues are addressed. The status of the Permafrost Information System and first results will be presented. Prototypes of GlobPermafrost datasets include: Modelled mean annual ground temperature by use of land surface temperature and snow water equivalent from satellites Land surface characterization including shrub height, land cover and parameters related to surface roughness Trends from Landsat time-series over selected transects For selected sites: subsidence, ground fast lake ice, land surface features and rock glacier monitoring