AIR AND SOIL TEMPERATURE RELATIONS ALONG AN ECOLOGICAL TRANSECT THROUGH THE PERMAFROST ZONES OF NORTHWESTERN CANADA

Summary air and soil temperatures are presented for six sites along a transect covering scattered discontinuous permafrost near Whitehorse, Y.T., to continuous permafrost north of Inuvik, N.W.T. Data were collected over 12 months from screen-height air temperatures and soil temperatures at 20, 50, 100, and 150 cm depths. Annual and monthly mean temperatures, accumulated freezing and thawing degree-days and n-factors have been calculated. Annual mean air temperatures at the sites range from -2.4iC in southern Yukon to -8.6iC north of Inuvik, while annual mean ground temperatures at 50 cm depth decrease from -0.6iC to -5.8iC over the transect. The thaw season n-factor (Nt) is relatively constant along the transect. The freezing season n-factors (Nf) are considerably higher (>0.50) in tundra soils than forested soils.