Pre-ABoVE: Remotely Sensed Active Layer Thickness, Barrow, Alaska, 2006-2011

Active layer thickness (ALT) is a critical parameter for monitoring the status of permafrost that is typically measured at specific locations using probing, in situ temperature sensors, or other ground-based observations. The thickness of the active layer is the average annual thaw depth, in permafrost areas, due to solar heating of the surface. This data set includes the mean Remotely Sensed Active Layer Thickness (ReSALT) over years 2006 to 2011 for the region near Barrow, Alaska. The data were produced by an Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technique that measures seasonal surface subsidence and infers ALT. ReSALT estimates were validated by comparison with ground-based ALT obtained using probing and Ground Penetrating Radar at multiple sites. These results indicate remote sensing techniques based on InSAR could be an effective way to measure and monitor ALT over large areas on the Arctic coastal plain.

These data provide gridded (30-m) estimates of active layer thickness (cm; ALT) and seasonal subsidence (cm), as well as calculated uncertainty in each of these parameters. This data set was developed in support of NASA's Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) field campaign.

The data are presented in one netCDF (*.nc) file.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Maintainer Earthdata Forum
Last Updated August 24, 2026, 23:32 (UTC)
Created April 1, 2025, 18:26 (UTC)
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id 5ae278e1-5782-4a55-b130-859e0df5faa0
harvest_source_id b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title Science Discovery Engine
identifier 10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1266
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-08-17T22:16:02Z
programCode {026:000}
publisher ORNL_DAAC
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 394763fafbec8b7f576f420b83784fc96113217d12ffd750482f5df3e0ca6a6b
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial ["CARTESIAN", [{"WestBoundingCoordinate": -156.89, "NorthBoundingCoordinate": 71.35, "EastBoundingCoordinate": -156.39, "SouthBoundingCoordinate": 71.2}]]
temporal 2006-01-01/2011-12-31
theme {"Earth Science"}