Field measurements from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica and Barrow, Alaska over five seasons derive thermal conductivity from ice microstructure, temperature, and salinity. Data includes temperature profiles recorded at 10-minute intervals, ice core analyses, and laboratory measurements. The dataset was created by SCIOPS and last updated in November 2003.
Use Cases
- Calibrate thermal conductivity parameterizations in sea ice models using in-situ measurements of ice temperature, salinity, and brine volume fraction.
- Analyze the relationship between ice microstructure features, derived from core samples, and measured thermal conductivity values.
- Validate satellite-derived sea ice property estimates by comparing Radarsat SAR backscatter signatures with concurrent surface measurements of ice density and salinity.
Strengths
- Data collected over five field seasons provides seasonal and inter-annual context.
- Multi-method approach combines in-situ thermistor arrays, ice core analysis, laboratory measurements, and satellite imagery.
- Measurements cover eleven distinct sites in both Antarctic and Alaskan fast ice environments.
Limitations
- Data is temporally stale, with last updates in 2003, limiting relevance to contemporary rapid climate change studies.
- Spatial coverage is limited to two specific locations (McMurdo Sound and Barrow), not representative of all sea ice regimes.
- Specific sample sizes (e.g., number of cores, rows of data) are unknown, making statistical power unclear.
Provenance
- Source
- nasa_earthdata
- Collection Method
- Field measurements using thermistor arrays, dielectric probes, ice coring, laboratory apparatus, and analysis of Radarsat SAR imagery.
- Time Range
- Data collected over five seasons; specific years unknown.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- McMurdo Sound, Antarctica and Barrow, Alaska.