The GTN-P data management system represents a comprehensive database for permafrost monitoring parameters where permafrost researchers and other stakeholders can access data and detailed metadata for a specific site or region in the terrestrial permafrost zone.
The GTN-P Data Management System (DMS) is hosted at the Arctic Portal in Akureyri, Iceland. It is managed in close cooperation with the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Potsdam, Germany. The GTN-P DMS strives for standardization and interoperability for in situ data on permafrost temperature (PT) and active layer thickness (ALT) and the related metadata. To ensure interoperability and enable inter-database searching, metadata field names are based on a controlled vocabulary registry. . PT and ALT are both defined as Products for the GCOS Essential Climate Variable (ECV) Permafrost. The third variable Rock Glacier Velocity (RGV) is currently under revision in GCOS and is not implemented into the GTN-P DMS, yet.
The GTN-P DMS contains time series for permafrost temperatures and grids of active layer thickness. These are international monitoring networks which were managed by the IPA since their establishment, and originally based at the Geological Survey of Canada in Ottawa (GSC), Canada for the PT component, and at University of Cincinnati (UC) and now at George Washington University (GWU), USA for ALT and Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) data, respectively. The GTN-P database additionally contains air and surface temperature and moisture (DUE Permafrost, MODIS) measured in the terrestrial Panarctic, Antarctic and Mountainous realms.
GTN-P follows an open-access policy in line with the IPY data policy, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) data-sharing principles and the FAIR guiding principles (Wilkinson et al., 2016). In order to give data users the opportunity to use new GTN-P data in a timely manner, the SC decided to lift the original data embargo which was previously set to one year and make it an optional choice. This means that the data providers will have to choose whether they want their data to be online and accessible immediately, or one year after they submit them. For special cases, e.g., doctoral dissertations, this embargo may be extended on request.
The data are made freely available to the public and the scientific community with the belief that their wide dissemination will lead to a greater understanding of our Earth System and new scientific insights into climate change effects on permafrost temperatures and the active layer thickness. Before being able to download published data, users must accept the terms and conditions of the data use policy. Therein, the user is asked to contact the site PI’s prior to publication to prevent potential misuse or misinterpretation of the data.
The help section provides tutorials and template files for upload and download of borehole temperature and active layer grid data as well as GTN-P maps and fact sheets.
Designed and developed by Arctic Portal (technical) and AWI (science and project management). Co-hosted by Arctic Portal and AWI 
