Antarctic Tide Gauge Pressure Measurements from Davis Station

Over 24 years of absolute seawater pressure data were collected from submerged tide gauges at Australia's Davis Station in Antarctica, spanning from 1993 to 2017. The dataset consists of hexadecimal files from multiple gauge deployments, including TG003, TG006, and TG012, which require conversion to decimal mbar values. Records are largely complete since deployment, with only a few days of data loss in late 1995 due to a software fault.

Use Cases

• Calibrating satellite altimetry sea level data by comparing in-situ pressure measurements from TG003 and TG006.
• Analyzing long-term tidal patterns and storm surge events in Antarctica using the 24-year record of seawater pressure.
• Assessing sensor performance and drift over time by comparing records from multiple gauges like TG012 and TG012i.
• Validating hydrodynamic models of Prydz Bay using the high-accuracy (+/- 3 mm) pressure transducer data.

Strengths

• 24-year temporal coverage from 1993 to 2017 provides a long-term climate record.
• High-accuracy measurements with system accuracy better than +/- 3 mm for known water density.
• Multiple gauge deployments (TG003, TG006, TG012) allow for cross-validation.

Limitations

• Data requires conversion from ASCII hexadecimal format to decimal pressure values, adding preprocessing steps.
• Contains a known data gap of a few days in late 1995 due to a software memory fault.
• Geographic coverage is limited to a single station (Davis Station) in Antarctica.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Data retrieved via serial connection from submerged Paroscientific Digiquartz Pressure Transducers deployed at Davis Station.

Time Range

1993 to 2017

Freshness

Data collection ended in 2017; more recent data is described in separate records.

Geography

Davis Station, Antarctica, specifically Prydz Bay.