wiki:in_depth_information_about_the_inventory_of_permafrost_evidence [WIKIAlps

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**PermaNET: Inventory of permafrost evidence**\\

__Target groups__\\
Civil servants / administration; specific institutions; scientists.\\

__Area of application__\\
The database is composed by 2 sub-inventories: 
  * the first one contains a total number of 408 points of evidence covering all Alpine countries except Monaco, Liechtenstein and Slovenia; 
  * the second one is the rock glacier inventory and it includes 7 regional inventories from Italy (Valle d'Aosta. Piemonte, Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige), Austria (central and eastern), Switzerland (Ticino) and France (Massif de Combeynot), thus it doesn't cover the entire Alps.\\

__Time frame__\\
The inventory was developed during the project timeframe. Contributors (researchers and national or regional monitoring programmes) provided information about their own research areas, consisting of existing knowledge and data collected before the project start. The collection was realised using "calls for evidence" accompanied by a spread sheet and details instructions. New data were also collected during the project timeframe through specific investigations made in collaboration with different stakeholders. Data were then adapted to the common data format used for the inventory. 
The inventory is conceived as a work-in-progress tool and larger data sets can be added to the existing data  in a database on the internet. The main goal of the database is to provide periodic, consistent and homogenized datasets on permafrost state and evolution. The files available for downloading are updated once per year with a Versioning Number (VN) that univocally identifying the dataset and the Release Notes (RN) used for describing the main characteristics of the dataset and provide warnings on known. Once a year, a mail is sent to all the data providers asking for yearly updates.\\ 

__Keywords__\\
Related to the type of result: inventory; database; dataset.\\ 
Related to the thematic of the result: permafrost; rock glacier.\\ 

__Accessibility__\\
The link to the inventory does not work. It is thus not possible to have access to the data.  
However, the inventory (the Alpine permafrost data) is still online and accessible from this link: http://www.alpine-permafrostdata.eu. 
The dataset download is allowed only to registered users.
It is possible to download only the whole datasets (punctual evidence or rock glacier inventory), neither subset nor specific evidence types. 
Also the insertion of a new permafrost evidence is allowed only after registration and login.
Users (researchers, technicians) can put their evidence data into the database and add permafrost observations and evidence data also even if the project is closed. 

Since the rationale is data sharing, point of evidence publication policy is classified in 2 categories: "usage without restriction" (data can be downloaded without any feedback) and "inform before publication" (an automatic email reporting the contact person and the intended use of the data is sent to the owner when the download occurs).\\

__Transferability and re-usability__\\
The output is transferrable to other alpine regions/areas still not covered. Transferability is enabled by the characteristics of the inventory (common and standardized data format with few variables) that make the output easy to be extended and implemented with new data. 
In the case of future gathering of evidence no adaptation seems to be needed. In the case of insertion of existing data not yet present in the inventory, adaptation (re-interpretation) will be needed.  

Expansion of the inventory has an inestimable value because the synopsis of data over a larger region additionally enables analyses that were previous not possible, as larger environmental gradients are covered and more data points available.\\ 

__Sector policies addressed__\\
Spatial development; land use planning and managing; territorial planning & infrastructure; natural risk management; socio-economic activities (tourism; ski resorts, ...) in high mountain areas and also in valleys at long distance from the source area.