1985 to present rock samples collected by Italian PNRA geologists in Antarctica. This Geographic Information System supports the distribution of information for a museum collection, integrating digitized field maps, GPS data, and textual location descriptions. The GIS was created and is maintained by the organization SCIOPS.
Use Cases
- Map sample distribution and geological features using point geographical positions and GIS topographic data.
- Verify and correct sampling locations by comparing GPS-derived positions against textual descriptions with documented error thresholds.
- Enrich sample metadata by linking GIS positional descriptions to attributes from the source Access database.
- Support research on collection provenance by analyzing data integrated from the SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica.
Strengths
- Data collection spans from 1985 to the present, providing a long-term record.
- Location verification was performed with defined maximum error thresholds of 20 km (automatic) and 5 km (manual).
- Integrates multiple authoritative data sources including field maps, GPS, an Access database, and the SCAR Gazetteer.
Limitations
- The exact sample count (rows) and dataset size are unknown.
- Potential positional inaccuracies remain, with errors up to 5 km even for manually checked points.
- Data may have geographic bias limited to areas explored by Italian PNRA missions.
Provenance
- Source
- Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) geologists and the organization SCIOPS.
- Collection Method
- Point geographical positions digitized from field maps (mainly USGS); locations checked against textual descriptions; attributes derived from an Access database.
- Time Range
- 1985 - present
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Antarctica