Description: Permafrost is an important component of the Cryosphere, which is affected by rapid warming of the Arctic. The degradation and thaw of permafrost in vertical as well as lateral directions results in a reduction of permafrost in high latitudes and high altitudes. Since permafrost affects the ecosystem conditions of the about 23 million square kilometer large permafrost region, its loss has strong effects on hydrology, geomorphology, biogeochemistry, and biota. In addition, permafrost soils store about 1500 Gt of organic carbon, about twice the amount currently in the atmosphere and hence changes in permafrost will likely have impacts well beyond local scales. Remote sensing has become an essential tool for quantitatively detecting and monitoring changes in permafrost and associated landscapes. The European Space Agency (ESA) has supported permafrost-focused remote sensing activities in two recent projects, ESA DUE Permafrost (2009-2012) and the ESA GlobPermafrost (2016-2019; http://www.globpermafrost.info). The first ESA DUE Permafrost project with spatial overage of the Northern Hemisphere developed, validated and implemented Earth Observation to support research communities and international organizations in their work on better understanding permafrost characteristics and dynamics. Now, the GlobPermafrost project expands on this successful approach by including both polar hemispheres as well as mountain permafrost regions. Products in the new project will cover different aspects of permafrost by integrating in situ measurements of subsurface properties and surface properties, Earth Observation, and modelling. Currently, the GlobPermafrost team is creating prototype remote sensing derived datasets for defined product and user groups. Selected users will be able to access the usability and validity of the products and provide feedback back to the GlobPermafrost team. The feedback from the Users Groups will be integrated into optimized remote sensing products until they have achieved a final state. To bring the resulting data products closer to the permafrost user communities, the Permafrost Information System (PerSys) has been conceptualized as an Open Access geospatial data dissemination and visualization portal for Earth Observation, i.e. remote sensing derived datasets produced within the GlobPermafrost project. The prototype and final remote sensing products and their metadata will be visualized in the PerSys WebGIS, described and searchable via the PerSys Data Catalogue. The WebGIS visualization is managed via the AWI WebGIS Infrastructure maps@awi (http://maps.awi.de) relying on OGC-standardized Web Mapping Service (WMS) and Web Feature Service (WFS) technologies for data display and visualization. The PerSys WebGIS projects allow visualisation of raster and vector products such as land cover classification, Landsat multispectral index trend datasets, lake and wetland extents, InSAR-based land surface deformation maps, rock glacier velocity fields, spatially distributed permafrost model outputs, and land surface temperature datasets. Each of these WebGIS projects is adapted to the spatial scale of the specific products, ranging from local to hemispherical coverage. The PerSys Data Catalogue will provide the metadata and the access to all mature-state and final-state GlobPermafrost products. PerSys can be accessed through the GlobPermafrost project webpage. PerSys is also a core component of the Arctic Permafrost Geospatial Centre (APGC), a geodata portal for permafrost launched within the framework of the ERC PETA-CARB project at the Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz Zentrum für Polar and Meeresforschung. The APGC framework features a range of permafrost-specific geospatial data projects, including PerSys, and will allow searching for project-specific geospatial data by tags, keywords, data type and format, licence type, or by location. PerSys will be launched within APGC in early 2017. In addition, the Open Access data library PANGAEA as a certified ICSU member will serve as permanent archive for the GlobPermafrost final products, providing permanent Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for each dataset archived. The ESA DUE Permafrost final product data set is already published under DOI doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.780111. The final GlobPermafrost remote sensing products published in PANGAEA will remain visualised in the PerSys WebGIS and catalogued and made searchable and accessible via the PerSys Data Catalogue.

Description: The Arctic Permafrost Geospatial Centre (APGC) is designed as a web interface showcasing high level projects with permafrost focus and providing an entry point for their geospatial product dissemination needs. At the core of APGC we will establish two services for data discovery: an Open Access Data Catalogue and an Open Access WebGIS Application (Fig. 1). The APGC Data Catalogue will allow searching for project-specific geospatial data by tags, keywords, data type and format, licence type, or geographically, provides a data preview figure, localizes the dataset on a zoom- and pan-capable basemap, displays a variety of metadata, and links to a permanent DOI-based archival link at the PANGAEA data repository (Figs. 2 and 3). The APGC Data Catalogue will be based on the open source CKAN data catalogue architecture, allowing geospatial data categorization associated with defined projects based on metadata standards. The Data Catalogue will contain all final products of projects that will be featured here, for example the ERC PETA-CARB project and the IPA Action Group on Yedoma ice-rich permafrost. The WebGIS Application will rely on OGC-standardized Web Mapping Services (WMS) and Web Feature Service (WFS) technologies for data display and visualization. The WMS/WFS services are provided through the Data Catalogue. We are further evaluating the possibility to load external WMS/WFS services in the WebGIS Application. Legends will provide information on data attributes, and pop-up menus will provide information on metadata and a link to the archive location for a dataset. The WebGIS Application will provide a platform independent and visually interactive platform for displaying both raster and vector geospatial data from the project. Independently, we will provide an Access-Restricted FTP Service at AWI which will be available to project team members and defined users for rapid and easy sharing of validation data and for testing new versions of project datasets.

Description: Permafrost regions are highly sensitive to climate changes. To monitor key variables and to identify environmentally relevant-processes is of topmost importance in these environments. Beside data analysis and map creation capabilities, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) also comprise functionalities for mobile data acquisition in the field, data transfer, data monitoring, data description, as well as data sharing and publication of data as WebGIS Services (Web Map/Feature Services (WMS, WFS)). Due to their excellent usability GIS technology and services are very common in many scientific disciplines all over the world, and since most data formats are standardized data re-use and data interchangeability are guaranteed. We visualize field-derived and remote sensing derived research data, collected within Russian and German cooperation projects in the Lena River Delta, Laptev Sea Region (Siberia) on a Web GIS Platform. We visualize the locations of long-term discharge measurements and of soil sampling for organic Carbon and Nutrients. Geormorphological feature classes derived from satellite data and publicly available environmental data layers (e.g. vegetation, soils, and digital elevation models) display the broader regional and thematic context. AWI offers WebGIS services published under http://maps.awi.de/awimaps/. The WebGIS core components are ArcGIS for Server 10.3 and PostgreSQL databases 9.3 including Spatial Database Engine (SDE).

Description: DASHBOARD.awi.de is a component of our data flow framework designed to enable a semi-automated flow of sensor observations to archives (acronym O2A). The dramatic increase in the number and type of platforms and respective sensors operated by Alfred Wegener Institute along with complex project-driven requirements in terms of satellite communication, sensor monitoring, quality control and validation, processing pipelines, visualization, and archival under FAIR principles, led us to build a generic and cost-effective data flow framework. Most important, all components and services which make up this framework are extensible and exchangeble, were built using open access technologies (e.g. elastic search) and vocabularies (SeaVox NERC 2.0 vocabulary) and are compliant with various interoperability standards recommended by the international community. In this poster we illustrate the DASHBOARD.awi.de component which is a web-based monitoring environment for supporting scientists in the graphing, mapping and simple analysis of time series. With a set of fit-for-purpose widgets including data download, scientists are able to identify gaps and outliers in the streamed data. Morover, we are in the process of building alerting solutions for individual parameters using the parameter properties available from SENSOR.awi.de (e.g. min/max parameter range). The streaming services attached to this component are using the near real-time data transfered from remote field sites to local databases and storage systems. For this sake, we are participating in the RDA "Array Database Assessment" Working Group and "Big Data" Interest Group. The graphing solutions built within DASHBOARD.awi.de can be easily re-used in other context (e.g. project web pages) . Our solutions support the OGC standard Observations and Measurements (O&M), JSON and CSV as exchange data format. To date, ~ 150 individual parameters are being transfered in near real-time from remote sites to our onshore storage systems and monitored by scientists. In the week of the 11th RDA Plenary Berlin, we will be able to interact with live data from Polarstern crossing the Drake Passage, on its way to Antarctica. Scientific Discipline/Research Area: Data flow, standardized vocabulary, Visualisation, Streaming. Relevance/Link to RDA: The streaming services attached to this component are using the near real-time data transfered from remote field sites to local databases and storage systems. For this sake, we are participating in the RDA "Array DB Assesment" Working Group and "Big Data" Interest Group.

Description: Permafrost regions are highly sensitive to climate changes. The monitoring of key variables and identification of relevant-processes is of topmost importance in these environments. ESA DUE GlobPermafrost (www.globpermafrost.info) provides a remote sensing data service for permafrost research and applications. This service was extended by permafrost modelling (time series), implemented in the new ESA CCI+ Permafrost project (2018-2021). The service comprises of the generation of remote sensing products for various regions and spatial scales as well as the specific infrastructures for visualisation, dissemination and access to datasets - PerSys. PerSys is the ESA GlobPermafrost geospatial information service for publishing and visualisation of information and data products to the public. Data products are described and searchable in the PerSys data catalogue (apgc.awi.de), and data visualisation employs the AWI WebGIS-infrastructure maps@awi (http://maps.awi.de), a highly scalable data visualisation unit within the AWI data-workflow framework O2A, from Observation to Archive. maps@awi WebGIS technology supports the project-specific visualisation of raster and vector data products of any spatial resolution and remote sensing origin. This is a prerequisite for the visualisation of the wide range of GlobPermafrost remote sensing products like: Landsat multispectral index trends (Tasseled Cap Brightness, Greeness, Wetness; Normalized Vegetation Index NDVI), Arctic land cover (e.g. shrub height, vegetation composition), lake ice grounding, InSAR-based land surface deformation, rock glacier velocities and a spatially distributed permafrost model output with permafrost probability and ground temperature per pixel. We established several WebGIS projects for the adaption to products specific spatial scales. For example, the WebGIS ‘Arctic’ visualises the Circum-Artic products. Highly resolved data products for rock glacier movements are visualised on regional scales in the WebGIS projects ‘Alps’, ‘Andes’ or ‘Central Asia’. The PerSYS WebGIS also visualises the stations of the WMO GCOS ground monitoring networks of the permafrost community: the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost GTN-P managed by the International Permafrost Association IPA. The PerSYS WebGIS has been continuously adapted in close co-operation with user at user workshops and at conferences and the International Permafrost Association (IPA).

Description: GIS server and desktop GIS technologies support scientific work at all levels, from data collection and data processing to data management and data visualisation. Here we present how the development and publication of scalable WebGIS data services supports the ESA DUE Globpermafrost (2016-2018), and the ESA CCI+ Permafrost (2018-2021) projects, specifically in the interaction with the permafrost community. Within ESA DUE programs, user feedback is essential to improve the remote sensing products. This is why ESA GlobPermafrost had to focus on methods and infrastructure for data presentation, and established PerSYS (Permafrost Information System). PerSYS became the ESA GlobPermafrost geospatial information service for publishing and visualisation of information and data products to the public. Data products are described and searchable in the PerSYS Data Catalogue, a core component of the Arctic Permafrost Geospatial Centre (APGC), established within the framework of ERC PETA-CARB at AWI. All GlobPermafrost data products will be DOI-registered and archived in the data archive PANGAEA provided by AWI. The data visualisation employs AWI’s WebGIS-infrastructure maps@awi (http://maps.awi.de), a highly scalable data visualisation unit within AWI’s data workflow framework O2A (from Observation to Archive). GIS services have been created and designed using ArcGIS for Desktop (latest Version) and finally published as a Web Map Service (WMS), an internationally standardized format (Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)), using ArcGIS for Server. The project-specific data WMS as well as a resolution-specific background map WMS are embedded into a GIS viewer application based on Leaflet, an open-source JavaScript library. The GIS viewer application was adapted to interlink all GlobPermafrost WebGIS projects, and especially to enable their direct accessibility via the GlobPermafrost Overview WebGIS. The PerSys WebGIS is accessible via the GlobPermafrost project webpage and linked to the respective product groups as well as to maps@awi. WebGIS technology within maps@awi supports the project-specific visualisation of raster and vector data products of diverse spatial resolutions and remote sensing sources. This is a prerequisite for the visualisation of the wide range of GlobPermafrost remote sensing products like: Landsat multispectral index trends (Tasseled Cap Brightness, Greeness, Wetness; Normalized Vegetation Index NDVI), Arctic land cover (e.g., shrub height, vegetation composition), lake ice grounding, InSAR-based land surface deformation, rock glacier velocities and a spatially distributed permafrost model output with permafrost probability and ground temperature per pixel. All WebGIS projects are adapted to the products’ specific spatial scales. For example, the WebGIS ‘Arctic’ visualises the Circum-Artic products. Higher spatial resolution products for rock glacier movements are visualised on regional scales in the WebGIS projects ‘Alps’, ‘Andes’ or ‘Central Asia’. The PerSYS WebGIS also visualises the locations of the WMO GCOS ground monitoring networks of the permafrost community: the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost GTN-P managed by the International Permafrost Association IPA. The PerSYS WebGIS has been presented on several User workshops and at conferences, and is being continuously adapted in close interaction with the IPA.

Description: Thematic Open Access data portals foster and support an open data culture in order to reduce knowledge gaps and data uncertainty. Here we present the Arctic Permafrost Geospatial Center (APGC), which provides open access, high quality spatial data in the field of permafrost research. The distribution and easy access of a wide range of permafrost-related data products supports multi-scale and interdisciplinary analysis of combined field, remote sensing and modelling data. The APGC mission is to provide data that is of high usability, significance and impact, and to facilitate data discovery, data view and supports metadata documentation and exchange via the APGC data catalogue at https://apgc.awi.de/. The catalogue structure can host data models of varying themes, formats, and spatial and temporal extents. Data can be searched by interactively selecting locations on a base map and by many predefined metadata filters. Data can be downloaded directly through a link to the publishing data repository such as PANGAEA. The Catalogue is based on the open source CKAN catalogue architecture, which allows on-the-fly access to catalogued data in QGIS. The APGC currently features over 200 selected datasets from projects such as ERC PETA-CARB, ESA GlobPermafrost, and others. Data products provide information about surface and subsurface permafrost characteristics in the Arctic, Antarctica, or mountain permafrost areas, e.g., soil temperatures, soil carbon, ground ice, land cover, vegetation, periglacial landforms, subsidence and more. Collections of datasets allow users to easily get an overview of the spatial distributions of datasets or their availability in different formats. An additional WebGIS application allows users to explore most of the data interactively (https://maps.awi.de). Data submissions are evaluated according to the following access criteria: permafrost focus, broader significance and impact, open access, high quality, and available metadata.

Description: Thematic Open Access data portals foster and support an open data culture in order to reduce knowledge gaps and data uncertainty. We here present the Arctic Permafrost Geospatial Center (APGC), which provides open access, high quality geospatial data in the field of permafrost research. The APGC mission is (i) to provide data that is of high usability, significance and impact, and (ii) to facilitate data discovery, data view and supports metadata documentation and exchange via a data catalogue (http://apgc.awi.de/). The Data Catalogue is based on the open source CKAN data catalogue architecture, which uses the metadata standard DCAT. The catalogue structure can host a variety of data models of varying themes, format, spatial and temporal extents. Data is documented according to the fair data principles. Each catalogue entry has a data abstract, data preview and extensive metadata that can be downloaded in RDF/XML-, JSON- or Turtle-format. Data can be searched by location – using spatial keywords or by interactively selection locations on a base map. Data can further be searched by product type, project, tags, keywords, license type, or data format. Data can be downloaded directly via link to the publishing data repository such as PANGAEA. APGC, initially supported by the ERC PETA-CARB and the ESA GlobPermafrost projects currently features over 100 selected datasets mainly from these projects. A WebGIS application is available for most of these data sets, which allows users to explore the data interactively (http://maps.awi.de). Data provide information about surface and subsurface permafrost characteristics in the Arctic, Antarctica, or mountain permafrost areas, e.g., soil temperatures, soil carbon, ground ice, land cover, vegetation, periglacial landforms, subsidence and more. Data include in-situ measurements, earth observation, and modelling and are provided in vector or raster format. New data submissions to the catalogue are evaluated according to the following access criteria: permafrost focus, significance and impact, access, quality, and metadata. APGC invites submissions from both individual users as well as project consortiums.