A standardized permafrost ground temperature collection for Canada 2025

Abstract. Ground temperature is an essential variable for monitoring the thermal state of permafrost, developing models, and conducting fundamental research. However, the usability of GT data in Canada is often hampered by inconsistent file formats, a lack of metadata standardization between organizations, and varied temporal resolutions. This fragmentation has prevented the development of a comprehensive benchmark dataset, leaving researchers reliant on small, ad-hoc data subsets for model evaluation. To address this gap, we present a new, standardized collection of ground temperature (GT) and ground surface temperature (GST) data from across Canada, designed to serve as a benchmark for synthesis and model evaluation. The collection integrates data from 29 published datasets and 13 unpublished contributions, encompassing 427 GT and 491 GST sites across British Columbia, Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Québec, and Yukon. All included time series feature at least one year of measurements at daily resolution. We performed quality control and standardization using tempcf — a newly-developed python software tool — to document and remove anomalies, outliers, and drilling disturbances. Then we aggregated sub-daily data to daily means. The dataset is standardized into NetCDF files adhering to CF, ACDD, and IOOS metadata standards as well as a compatible permafrost-specific metadata profile. Data are provided as both individual NetCDF files and text files. They are fully accessible at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18022925 (Meier-Legault et al., 2025) and via an ERDDAP server (data.permafrostnet.ca/erddap), following FAIR principles. Several limitations remain, including time zone uncertainty in some datasets, and the lack of a standardized methodology for harmonizing site description metadata. Nevertheless, this collection improves the accessibility and usability of Canadian ground temperature data for national-scale permafrost research.

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Journal
Earth system science data
Published
2026-10-15
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-7515-2026
Primary Topic
Climate change and permafrost
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

A standardized permafrost ground temperature collection for Canada 2025

E. Godin, Hannah Macdonell, William Cable, Ashley C. A. Rudy et al.
Earth system science data
Climate change and permafrost
article

A standardized permafrost ground temperature collection for Canada 2025

E. Godin, Hannah Macdonell, William Cable, Ashley C. A. Rudy, Francis Gauthier, Mason Dominico, Derek Cronmiller, Olivia Carpino, Steven V. Kokelj, Alexandre Chiasson, Denis Sarrazin, Emilie Stewart-Jones, Timothy Ensom, Michel Allard, Stephan Gruber, Panya Lipovsky, Victor Pozsgay, Dmitry J. Nicolsky, A Castagner, Nicholas Brown, Ryan Connon, Lin Chen, Vanessa N. Foord, Stéphanie Coulombe, Marten Geertsema, V. E. Romanovsky, Daniel Fortier, Philippe Fortier, Gautier Davesne, Louise Farquharson, Alexandre Bevington, Galina Jonat, Samuel Gagnon, Alejandro Alvarez, Marc-André Ducharme, Maude Auclair, Olivia Meier-Legault, Larry Adjun, Joseph M Young, Duane G. Froese, Donald Walker, Moya Painter, Leesee Papatsie, Lancelot Massé, Antoni Lewkowicz, Emmanual L’Hérault, Thomas Wright, Samuel Bilodeau, Michelle Landry, Jeffrey Crompton, William Quinton
article en

Abstract

Abstract. Ground temperature is an essential variable for monitoring the thermal state of permafrost, developing models, and conducting fundamental research. However, the usability of GT data in Canada is often hampered by inconsistent file formats, a lack of metadata standardization between organizations, and varied temporal resolutions. This fragmentation has prevented the development of a comprehensive benchmark dataset, leaving researchers reliant on small, ad-hoc data subsets for model evaluation. To address this gap, we present a new, standardized collection of ground temperature (GT) and ground surface temperature (GST) data from across Canada, designed to serve as a benchmark for synthesis and model evaluation. The collection integrates data from 29 published datasets and 13 unpublished contributions, encompassing 427 GT and 491 GST sites across British Columbia, Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Québec, and Yukon. All included time series feature at least one year of measurements at daily resolution. We performed quality control and standardization using tempcf — a newly-developed python software tool — to document and remove anomalies, outliers, and drilling disturbances. Then we aggregated sub-daily data to daily means. The dataset is standardized into NetCDF files adhering to CF, ACDD, and IOOS metadata standards as well as a compatible permafrost-specific metadata profile. Data are provided as both individual NetCDF files and text files. They are fully accessible at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18022925 (Meier-Legault et al., 2025) and via an ERDDAP server (data.permafrostnet.ca/erddap), following FAIR principles. Several limitations remain, including time zone uncertainty in some datasets, and the lack of a standardized methodology for harmonizing site description metadata. Nevertheless, this collection improves the accessibility and usability of Canadian ground temperature data for national-scale permafrost research.

Earth system science dataVol. 18(10)
Parks Canada (CA), Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (DE), Geological Survey of Canada (CA), Environment and Climate Change Canada (CA), University of Alaska Fairbanks (US), University of Northern British Columbia (CA), University of Ottawa (CA), University of Alberta (CA), Université du Québec à Rimouski (CA), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Government of Canada (CA), Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (CN), Center for Northern Studies (CA), Ministry of Forests (CA), Government of Nunavut (CA), Government of Northwest Territories (CA), Université Laval (CA), Polar Knowledge Canada, Yukon Geological Survey (CA), Trent University (CA), Carleton University (CA), Université de Montréal (CA), Wilfrid Laurier University (CA), WSP (Canada) (CA)
National Science Foundation, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Newmont Corporation, Parks Canada, ArcticNet, Government of Canada, Simon Fraser University, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Alliance de recherche numérique du Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Natural Resources Canada
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 84%
Climate change and permafrost
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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