Ground Temperatures in Ice-Cemented Ground at Linnaeus Terrace, Antarctica

From 6 January 1994 to 16 January 1995, this dataset records environmental conditions in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. It contains half-hourly measurements of air temperature, relative humidity, sunlight, and soil temperatures at multiple depths near ice-cemented permafrost. The data were collected using calibrated thermistors and other sensors, with documented measurement errors.

Use Cases

• Modeling permafrost thermal stability based on soil temperature profiles at 0, 17, 23, and 40 cm depths.
• Analyzing diurnal and seasonal temperature cycles in Antarctic soils from half-hourly time-series data.
• Calibrating remote sensing data for surface temperature using in-situ soil surface and air temperature measurements.
• Studying microclimate conditions using concurrent air temperature, relative humidity, and sunlight (W/m2) recordings.

Strengths

• High temporal resolution with data recorded every 30 minutes, yielding 48 recordings per day.
• Detailed sensor calibration and error estimation documented, with temperature error estimated at less than 0.2°C.
• Data collection spans a full annual cycle, from January 1994 to January 1995.

Limitations

• Key metadata conflicts: last_updated date differs significantly between sources (1994 vs. 2026), and row/size information is absent.
• Relative humidity sensor has high errors (systematic overestimation >10%) for values below 15%.
• Data storage began over a year after sensor deployment due to initial equipment failure.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Field deployment of Campbell 107 soil thermistors, a Campbell 207 air probe, a T-type thermocouple, and a LiCor 200 pyranometer, with post-collection laboratory calibration.

Time Range

1994-01-06 to 1995-01-16

Freshness

2026-04-10 02:18:45.122185 (from datagov, but conflicts with nasa_earthdata's 1994 date)

Geography

Linnaeus Terrace, Dry Valleys, Antarctica