Large stocks of soil organic carbon (SOC) have accumulated in the Northern Hemisphere permafrost region, but their current amounts and future fate remain uncertain. By analyzing dataset combining >2700 soil profiles with environmental variables in a geospatial framework, we generated spatially explicit estimates of permafrost-region SOC stocks, quantified spatial heterogeneity, and identified key environmental predictors. We estimated that Pg C are stored in the top 3 m of permafrost region soils. The greatest uncertainties occurred in circumpolar toe-slope positions and in flat areas of the Tibetan region. We found that soil wetness index and elevation are the dominant topographic controllers and surface air temperature (circumpolar region) and precipitation (Tibetan region) are significant climatic controllers of SOC stocks. Our results provide first high-resolution geospatial assessment of permafrost region SOC stocks and their relationships with environmental factors, which are crucial for modeling the response of permafrost affected soils to changing climate.

北半球多年冻土地区已经积累了大量的土壤有机碳（SOC），但目前的数量和未来的命运仍然不确定。通过分析在地理空间框架中结合了2700多个土壤剖面和环境变量的数据集，我们生成了多年冻土区SOC储量的空间显式估计，量化的空间异质性并确定了关键的环境预测因子。我们估计Pg C储存在永久冻土区顶部3 m的土壤中。最大的不确定性发生在圆极的脚趾坡位置和藏族地区的平坦地区。我们发现土壤湿度指数和海拔是主要的地形控制因素，地表气温（极地区域）和降水（藏族地区）是SOC储量的重要气候控制因素。