Articles | Volume 18, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-3147-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-3147-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Data description article
| 
12 May 2026
Data description article |
| 12 May 2026
| 12 May 2026
A comprehensive database of thawing permafrost locations across Alaska: version 2.0.0
Hailey Webb
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80303, USA
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80302, USA
Ethan Pierce
Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
Benjamin W. Abbott
Department of Plant & Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
William B. Bowden
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401, USA
Yaping Chen
School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
Yating Chen
College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China
Thomas A. Douglas
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Fort Wainwright, AK 99703, USA
Joel F. Eklof
Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA 98416, USA
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Eugénie S. Euskirchen
Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
Moritz Langer
Department of Earth Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Permafrost Research Section, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Isla H. Myers-Smith
Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Canada
Irina Overeem
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80303, USA
Jens Strauss
Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Permafrost Research Section, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Katey Walter Anthony
Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
Kang Wang
School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, People's Republic of China
Matthew A. Whitley
Little Place Labs Ltd, 128 City Road, London EC1V 2NX, United Kingdom
Merritt R. Turetsky
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80303, USA
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80302, USA
Data sets
The Alaska Permafrost Thaw Database (Version 2.0.0) Hailey Webb, Ethan Pierce, Benjamin W. Abbott, William B. Bowden, Yaping Chen, Yating Chen, Thomas A. Douglas, Joel F. Eklof, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Moritz Langer, Isla H. Myers-Smith, Irina Overeem Jens Strauss, Katey Walter Anthony, Kang Wang, Matthew A. Whitley, Merritt R. Turetsky https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16996415
Short summary
We created a database of 19,540 thawing permafrost sites across Alaska, including both abrupt and non-abrupt thaw features and explored relationships with elevation, slope, and incoming solar radiation. We use the database to show that existing ground ice maps are too coarse to predict abrupt thaw risk. This database can enhance predictions of future thaw and guide planning and adaptation strategies.
We created a database of 19,540 thawing permafrost sites across Alaska, including both abrupt...
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