ACE Antarctic Expedition: Stable Water Isotope Measurements in Southern Ocean Water Vapour

Calibrated stable water vapour isotope (δ¹⁸O, δ²H, deuterium excess) and water vapour mixing ratio measurements were taken at approximately 13.5 meters above sea level during the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition from November 2016 to April 2017. The data provides continuous timelines of atmospheric water vapour properties in the marine boundary layer for studies of the atmospheric water cycle. The dataset was collected by Iris Thurnherr of ETH Zurich using a Picarro laser spectrometer L2130.

Use Cases

• Modeling atmospheric water cycle dynamics based on continuous water vapour isotope timelines.
• Analyzing deuterium excess variations in marine boundary layer water vapour.
• Studying Southern Ocean water vapour mixing ratios and their seasonal evolution.
• Calibrating or validating remote sensing or climate model outputs with in-situ isotope measurements.

Strengths

• Data covers a continuous circumnavigation of Antarctica over the 2016/2017 austral summer.
• Includes calibrated measurements of three key isotope variables (δ¹⁸O, δ²H, deuterium excess) and mixing ratio.
• Data is provided at two temporal resolutions (1-hour and 5-minute).
• Raw data and two other calibrated datasets from the same expedition are published separately, enabling cross-validation.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Missing values (NaN) occur due to maintenance, calibration, or large cavity variations.

Provenance

Source

Iris Thurnherr, ETH Zurich

Collection Method

Measurements made using a Picarro laser spectrometer L2130.

Time Range

November 2016 to April 2017

Geography

Southern Ocean, circumnavigating Antarctica