Northern Places: A Circumpolar Human-dimensions Data Framework

The Arctic Observing Network-Social Indicators (AON-SI) and Humans and Hydrology at High Latitudes (H3L) projects have published a framework for time series of human-dimensions data, covering the 197 regions of the circumpolar North. This includes all of Alaska, Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, along with northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

Key features of this data framework are the list of region names, a system of identification codes, and region-year organization. Each row in the data represents one region-year, such as Alaska's North Slope Borough in 1990, the North Slope in 1991, and so forth. Each column is a variable such as the population of the North Slope, in that year. There are many region-year combinations for which data are missing, but some of these could eventually be filled in. The data framework remains open-ended, so that new years or new regions can be added. In selecting the initial set of variables, we followed recommendations from the Health and Population chapter of the Arctic Social Indicators report (2009). Many other socioeconomic, health and environmental measures that might be incorporated in the future.

We approximated the geographical area of each region as a set of 25 km2 grid cells, following the Equal Area Scalable Earth Grid (EASE-Grid) scheme, widely used in natural science. This opens possibilities for analyses integrating variables from socioeconomic and climate domains.

Information on the Northern Places data framework is being archived through CADIS. A Carsey Institute Web page at UNH contains links to download the most recent version of the database (in Excel or Stata format) during its current development stage.