Amery Ice Shelf Borehole Temperature Record 2011-2012

Thermistor data from the AM02 hot water drill borehole on the Amery Ice Shelf, capturing temperature profiles within the ice. The 2011-2012 data likely represents the final measurements from the unit due to battery failure. Data was collected by the Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AU_AADC) under project AAS 4096, with the last update in June 2012.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal temperature trends within the ice column using time-series thermistor readings.
• Model heat flux and basal melting by correlating borehole temperature profiles with external climate data.
• Calibrate remote sensing data of ice shelf surface temperature with in-situ subsurface measurements from the thermistor string.
• Investigate the impact of seasonal ocean forcing on ice shelf internal temperature using the 2011-2012 record.

Strengths

• Provides in-situ temperature data from a specific borehole (AM02) on a major Antarctic ice shelf.
• Data represents a continuous time-series record for the 2011-2012 period.

Limitations

• Dataset is likely incomplete or truncated due to noted battery failure of the monitoring unit.
• Limited temporal coverage to approximately one year, restricting long-term trend analysis.
• Unknown spatial resolution and depth coverage of the thermistor string within the borehole.

Provenance

Source

Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AU_AADC), sourced from NASA Earthdata.

Collection Method

Data collected via thermistor sensors installed in a hot water drill borehole (AM02).

Time Range

2011-2012

Freshness

Final update was in 2012; dataset is historical and not actively updated.

Geography

Amery Ice Shelf, Antarctica.