The Northern Circumpolar Soil Carbon Database: spatially distributed datasets of soil coverage and soil carbon storage in the northern permafrost regions

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-5-3-2013

Language of the publication
English
Date
2013-01-15
Type
Article
Author(s)
  • Hugelius, Gustaf
  • Tarnocai, Charles
  • Broll, Gabriele
  • Canadell, Josep G.
  • Kuhry, Peter
  • Swanson, D. K.
Publisher
Copernicus Publications

Abstract

High-latitude terrestrial ecosystems are key components in the global carbon (C) cycle. Estimates of global soil organic carbon (SOC), however, do not include updated estimates of SOC storage in permafrost-affected soils or representation of the unique pedogenic processes that affect these soils. The Northern Circumpolar Soil Carbon Database (NCSCD) was developed to quantify the SOC stocks in the circumpolar permafrost region (18.7 × 106 km2). The NCSCD is a polygon-based digital database compiled from harmonized regional soil classification maps in which data on soil order coverage have been linked to pedon data (n = 1778) from the northern permafrost regions to calculate SOC content and mass. In addition, new gridded datasets at different spatial resolutions have been generated to facilitate research applications using the NCSCD (standard raster formats for use in geographic information systems and Network Common Data Form files common for applications in numerical models). This paper describes the compilation of the NCSCD spatial framework, the soil sampling and soil analytical procedures used to derive SOC content in pedons from North America and Eurasia and the formatting of the digital files that are available online. The potential applications and limitations of the NCSCD in spatial analyses are also discussed. The database has the doi:10.5879/ecds/00000001. An open access data portal with all the described GIS-datasets is available online at: http://www.bbcc.su.se/data/ncscd/.

Description

This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Subject

  • Agriculture

Rights

Pagination

3-13

Peer review

Yes

Open access level

Gold

Identifiers

ISSN
1866-3516

Article

Journal title
Earth System Science Data
Journal volume
5
Journal issue
1
Accepted date
2012-12-18
Submitted date
2012-06-07

Citation(s)

Hugelius, G., Tarnocai, C., Broll, G., Canadell, J. G., Kuhry, P., & Swanson, D. K. (2013). The Northern Circumpolar Soil Carbon Database: Spatially distributed datasets of soil coverage and soil carbon storage in the northern permafrost  regions. Earth System Science Data, 5(1), 3–13. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-5-3-2013

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