Antarctic Sea Ice Temperature and Snow Depth Measurements from McMurdo Sound

University of Otago and Antarctica New Zealand researchers deployed a semi-autonomous station on McMurdo Sound landfast sea ice to record temperature profiles and snow depths during the growth season. The dataset includes snow depth measurements from a Campbell Scientific ultrasonic sensor and temperature data from a custom 3-meter probe with twenty thermistors. Data collection occurred in 2017.

Use Cases

• Analyze snow_depth time series to model snow accumulation and its insulating effect on ice growth.
• Correlate ice temperature profile measurements with atmospheric conditions to study heat flux.
• Use the temperature probe data, despite noted quality issues, for methodological studies on sensor performance in extreme environments.
• Validate satellite-derived snow depth or surface temperature estimates for Antarctic coastal fast ice.

Strengths

• Snow depth measurements are noted as a high-quality data set from a Campbell Scientific SR50 sensor.
• Temperature profiles were captured by a custom probe with twenty thermistors over approximately 3 meters.

Limitations

• Temperature data and thermistor depths are considered low quality due to a technical fault and probe deformation.
• The dataset's temporal coverage is limited to a portion of a single sea ice growth season in 2017.

Provenance

Source

University of Otago and Antarctica New Zealand, via NASA Earthdata.

Collection Method

Deployed semi-autonomous sea ice mass balance station with custom temperature probe and ultrasonic snow depth sensor.

Time Range

2017 growth season.

Freshness

null

Geography

McMurdo Sound, Antarctica (S 77° 50.574', E 166° 29.1622').