Antarctic Sea-Ice Drifter Positions from 2012 SIPEX II Voyage

Nine Lagrangian drifting buoys collected in situ GPS positions off East Antarctica during the austral spring of 2012. Data was transmitted via the CLS Argos satellite system and processed as described in Heil et al. [2008]. The dataset was created by the Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AU_AADC).

Use Cases

• Analyze sea-ice deformation by calculating drift vectors and divergence from the time-stamped latitude and longitude columns.
• Model Lagrangian particle trajectories in the Antarctic marginal ice zone using buoy ID, time, and position data.
• Validate satellite-derived ice motion products by comparing them with the in-situ hourly position records.
• Study diurnal signal gaps in polar data transmission by examining records around the noted local noon data blackspot.

Strengths

• Data from nine distinct buoy platforms provides multiple simultaneous observation points.
• Hourly temporal resolution for most buoys allows for detailed motion analysis.

Limitations

• The dataset is limited to a single austral spring season (2012), restricting long-term trend analysis.
• Known data transmission gaps occur daily around local noon, creating regular missing intervals.
• The planned meso-scale buoy arrays were not deployed, reducing the intended spatial coverage for deformation studies.

Provenance

Source

Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AU_AADC)

Collection Method

In situ positions collected by GPS receivers on nine expendable sea-ice buoys and relayed via the CLS Argos satellite system.

Time Range

Austral spring of 2012

Freshness

null

Geography

Off East Antarctica, within the wider SIPEX 2012 experimental region.