Amery Ice Shelf Borehole Temperature Data 2011-2012

Thermistor data from the AM03 hot water drill borehole on the Amery Ice Shelf, collected during the 2011-2012 austral summer. The dataset likely represents the final readings from the unit due to battery failure. It was managed by the Australian Antarctic Data Centre under project codes ASAC 1164 and AAS 4096.

Use Cases

• Analyzing temporal temperature trends within the ice column using thermistor time-series data.
• Calibrating ice shelf thermodynamic models with in-situ borehole temperature profiles.
• Investigating basal melt rates by examining temperature gradients near the ice-ocean interface.
• Assessing sensor performance and data continuity issues related to the documented battery failure event.

Strengths

• Data originates from a specific, instrumented borehole (AM03) providing direct in-situ measurements.
• Covers a defined operational period during the 2011-2012 austral summer.

Limitations

• Dataset is incomplete as it represents the final data before a battery failure terminated collection.
• Limited temporal coverage to a single season, restricting analysis of long-term trends.
• Specific data format, resolution, and column schema are not described in the provided metadata.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Collected via thermistor sensors deployed in a hot water drill borehole (AM03).

Time Range

2011-2012 austral summer.

Freshness

Data is from 2011-2012, with a last updated timestamp of 2012-06-30, indicating it is a static historical snapshot.

Geography

Amery Ice Shelf, Antarctica.