Data sources used in the ALEX
The following dataset are used by the Arctic Landscape EXplorer (ALEX) as thematic datasets.
Pan-Arctic Visualization of Landscape Change, Arctic PASSION Permafrost Service (AWI)
This layer provides information on land surface changes at the pan-arctic scale. Multispectral Landsat-5 TM, Landsat-7 ETM+, and Landsat-8 OLI imagery (cloud-cover less than 80%, months July and August) was used for detecting disturbance trends (associated with abrupt permafrost degradation) between 2003 and 2022.
For more information see the full metadata description of this dataset in the PANGEA repository.
The dataset is available as an OGC Web Map Service (WMS) and can be accessed through: https://maps.awi.de/services/common/permafrost/wms (layer: tcvis). There are several styles available to display the data. Please contact us if you intend to use the service in a portal, application or alike.
Nitze I., Grosse G., Jones B.M., Romanovsky V.E., and Boike J. (2018): Remote sensing quantifies widespread abundance of permafrost region disturbances across the Arctic and Subarctic. Nature Communications, 9:1, 5423. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07663-3
Nitze I., and Grosse G. (2016): Detection of landscape dynamics in the Arctic Lena Delta with temporally dense Landsat time-series stacks. Remote Sensing of Environment, 181, 27–41. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2016.03.038
Fraser R.H., Olthof I., Kokelj S.V., Lantz T.C., Lacelle D., Brooker A., Wolfe S., and Schwarz S. (2014): Detecting Landscape Changes in High Latitude Environments Using Landsat Trend Analysis: 1. Visualization. Remote Sensing. DOI: 10.3390/rs61111533
Nitze I., Lübker T., and Grosse G. (2024): Pan-Arctic Visualization of Landscape Change (2003-2022), Arctic PASSION Permafrost Service. PANGAEA. DOI: 10.1594/PANGAEA.964814
Global Surface Water (EU JRC / Google)
The European Commission Joint Research Centre »Global Surface Water Datasets« contain maps of the location and temporal distribution of surface water from 1984 to 2020 and provides statistics on the extent and change of those water surfaces. These data were generated using 4,453,989 scenes from Landsat 5, 7 and 8 acquired between 16 March 1984 and December 2020.
For more information see the data description website for this dataset, the Data User Guide (PDF) as well as entry at the maps.arcgis.com website.
The dataset is available as an OGC Web Map Tile Service (WMTS) and can be accessed through the links provided above.
Pekel J.F., Cottam A., Gorelick N., and Belward A.S. (2016): High-resolution mapping of global surface water and its long-term changes. Nature, 540, 418–422. DOI: 10.1038/nature20584
Stations of the INTERACT network
The International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic (INTERACT) is an infrastructure project under the auspices of SCANNET, an arctic network of terrestrial field bases in northern Europe, US, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Scotland as well as stations in northern alpine areas. Additional research stations in Russia are on pause. INTERACT GIS provides information on the research stations that are members of the INTERACT network.
For more information see the INTERACT website and the INTERACT GIS website.
The station dataset is available via a JSON API and can be accessed via the INTERACT GIS website. Please contact the data provider for further information. For use in ALEX, the information is filtered and stored locally.
Thierfelder T. et al. (2019): INTERACT GIS.
Modular Aerial Camera System (MACS) image data (AWI / DLR)
Aerial imagery datasets of permafrost landscapes in Alaska and northwestern Canada acquired by the Modular Aerial Camera System: During three airborne campaigns conducted between 2018 and 2021 and led by the Alfred Wegener Institute, we collected very high resolution multispectral imagery of permafrost landscapes using the Modular Aerial Camera System (MACS) developed by the German Aerospace Center. The images, covering regions in northwestern Canada and Alaska, were processed into four-band orthophotos (blue, green, red, near infrared), digital surface models, and photogrammetric point clouds with spatial resolutions ranging from 7 to 20 cm.
For more information see the full metadata description of this dataset in the PANGEA repository.
The dataset (*) is available as an OGC Web Map Service (WMS) and can be accessed through: https://maps.awi.de/services/common/permafrost/wms (layer: all layers prefixed "macs_"). Two styles are available to display the data as true-color (RGB-321) and as false-color (NIR-432). Please contact us if you intend to use the service in a portal, application or alike.
(*) Currently, the following sub-datasets are available in the Web Service: northern Teshekpuk Lake, southern Baldwin Peninsula.
Rettelbach T., Nitze I., Grünberg I., Hammar J., Schäffler S., Hein D., Gessner M., Bucher T., Brauchle J., Hartmann J., Sachs T., Boike J., and Grosse G. (in review): Very high resolution aerial imagery datasets of permafrost landscapes in Alaska and northwestern Canada. DOI: 10.5194/essd-2023-193
Rettelbach T., Nitze I., Grünberg I., Hammar J., Schäffler S., Hein D., Gessner M., Bucher T., Brauchle J., Hartmann J., Sachs T., Boike J., and Grosse G. (dataset in review): Aerial imagery datasets of permafrost landscapes in Alaska and northwestern Canada acquired by the Modular Aerial Camera System. PANGAEA. DOI: 10.1594/PANGAEA.961577
The following dataset are used by the Arctic Landscape EXplorer (ALEX) as background datasets.
World Imagery (ESRI)
World Imagery provides one meter or better satellite and aerial imagery in many parts of the world and lower resolution satellite imagery worldwide.
The map includes 15m TerraColor imagery at small and mid-scales (~1:591M down to ~1:288k) for the world. The map features Maxar imagery at 0.3m resolution
for select metropolitan areas around the world, 0.5m resolution across the United States and parts of Western Europe, and 1m resolution imagery across the
rest of the world.
Sources: Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics, and the GIS User Community.
For more information see the entry at the maps.arcgis.com website.
The dataset is available as a XYZ tile layer and can be accessed through: https://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer. Constraints might apply when using the service, please contact the data provider for assistance.
World Topo Map (ESRI)
World Topographic Map is designed to be used as a basemap by GIS professionals and as a reference map by anyone. The map includes cities, water features,
physiographic features, contours, parks, landmarks, highways, roads, railways, airports, and administrative boundaries, overlaid on shaded relief imagery
for added context.
Sources: Esri, HERE, Garmin, Intermap, increment P Corp., GEBCO, USGS, FAO, NPS, NRCAN, GeoBase, IGN, Kadaster NL, Ordnance Survey, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community.
For more information see the entry at the maps.arcgis.com website.
The dataset is available as a XYZ tile layer and can be accessed through: https://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Topo_Map/MapServer. Constraints might apply when using the service, please contact the data provider for assistance.
Alaska High Resolution Imagery 50 cm
Alaska High Resolution Imagery (AHRI) ~50cm Data Statewide Basemap.
Sources: © 2020 Maxar Technologies Inc., Alaska Geospatial Office, USGS.
For more information see the entry at the maps.arcgis.com website.
The dataset is available as an OGC Web Map Service (WMS) and can be accessed through: https://geoportal.alaska.gov/arcgis/services/ahri_2020_rgb_cache/MapServer/WMSServer. Constraints might apply when using the service, please contact the data provider for assistance.
ESA-CCI Land-Ocean Map
A static map with the distinction between ocean and inland water is available at 150 m spatial resolution. Legend: 0-Ocean, 1-Land. It is fully consistent with the CCI Global Water Bodies Map v4.0 at 150 m.
For more information on this dataset see the ESA Climate Office website and the product description on the ESA Landcover CCI website.
The dataset is available as an OGC Web Map Service (WMS), provided by the Geoservice of the Earth Observation Center (EOC) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and can be accessed through: https://geoservice.dlr.de/eoc/land/ows (layer: ESA_LAND_OCEAN_MAP). Constraints might apply when using the service, please contact the data provider for assistance.
Lamarche C., Santoro M., Bontemps S., D’Andrimont R., Radoux J., Giustarini L., Brockmann C., Wevers J., Defourny P., and Arino O. (2017): Compilation and Validation of SAR and Optical Data Products for a Complete and Global Map of Inland/Ocean Water Tailored to the Climate Modeling Community. Remote Sensing, 9(1):36. DOI: 10.3390/rs9010036
