Ponds and lakes affect high-latitude carbon, water, and energy budgets, however, there is no good observationally-constrained characterization of waterbodies for high-latitude systems. The Permafrost Region Pond and Lake (PeRL) database addresses this problem. PeRL includes 69 maps covering a wide range of environmental conditions. 

The ability to map snow depth in high resolution and over a large areas permits for the first time a dataset that can be used to quantify the impact of heterogeneous snow distribution on hydrology and carbon exchange.

Observationally-constrained photosynthetic traits for land models

Rapid warming in the Arctic is leading to the thawing of carbon-rich soils that have been permanently frozen for millennia. The release of greenhouse gases from thawed permafrost could increase the rate of global warming, but this depends on the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere, and whether carbon is released as carbon dioxide or the more potent greenhouse gas methane.