Data and R Script for "Alpine surface temperature amplification in summer is horizontally heterogeneous at small scales and intensified with wind and sun" by MacDonald et al. (2025)

The files included were used in the analyses for "Alpine surface temperature amplification in summer is horizontally heterogeneous at small scales and intensified with wind and sun" by MacDonald et al. (2025). Data were collected at Cardinal Divide in Whitehorse Wildlands Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. 

The data contained in the file "MainWS.csv" were collected by a weather station at Cardinal Divide located at (52.896777, -117.250102). Only free air temperature (°C), wind speed (m/s), and solar radiation (W/m²) were used in analyses; free air temperature was measured using a Hobo temperature sensor (E348-S-THB-M002), with a solar radiation shield (E348-RS3-B); wind speed was measured using a Davis Wind Speed and Direction Smart Sensor (E348-S-WCF-M003); solar radiation was measured using a silicon pyranometer sensor (E348-S-LIB-M003). The sampling frequency was 15 minutes. 

The data contained in files labeled as " P#T_24HR.csv" or P#O_24HR.csv" were recorded by thermocouple (Perfect Prime TC0520) units using K-type fibreglass coated wires. 

The data in "rel_point_temp_master.csv" were recorded using an 8-channel thermocouple (Huato S220-T8) with K-type fibreglass coated wires attached to a PVC pole at 0 cm, 10 cm, 25 cm, 50 cm, 75 cm, 100 cm, 150 cm, and 200 cm. 

The data in "WS_TC_#.csv" files were recorded by a thermocouple (Perfect Prime TC0520) unit using K-type fibreglass coated wires at our weather station location. The column titled "ROCK" contains the data collected by a thermocouple wire located at the surface on a rock; the column titled "SHRUB" contains the data collected by a thermocouple wire located at the surface under a small shrub; the column titled "SHIELD" contains the data collected by a thermocouple wire located at 2 m height on the weather station within a solar radiation shield (E348-RS3-B); the column titled "OPEN" contains the data collected by a thermocouple wire located at 2 m height on the weather station which was not shielded.

The data in "CoverData.csv" are recordings of percentage species cover (species are listed as column names). The quadrat sizes represent nested quadrats, where the small (25 cm by 25 cm) was contained by the large (50 cm by 50 cm), both centred around the measurement point. Species names are listed as abbreviations, showing the first three letters of the genus followed by the first three letters of the specific epithet. Note that for unknown species, they are listed as UNK#. Additional data in this file are densiometer (canopy cover) recordings; vegetation height at the centre of the quadrat and the maximum vegetation height within the quadrat (any height above 200 cm is listed as 201); aspect; slope; soil depth (cm). 

The data in the .csv files were used to perform the analyses in the given R script. 

This analysis is part of Chapter 1 of the MSc thesis of Alexa A.C. MacDonald, being completed at the Applied Conservation Ecology Lab at the University of Alberta, under the supervision of Dr Scott E. Nielsen.