RV Investigator Voyage IN2026_V01: Gravity Measurements from Antarctic COOKIES Expedition

RV Investigator voyage IN2026_V01 collected 863 MB of raw gravity data over 55 days in early 2026. The data were gathered using a MicroG Lacoste Air-Sea II gravity meter during the Cook Ice Ecosystems and Sediments (COOKIES) expedition, departing from and returning to Hobart. No processing has been conducted on this dataset, which is stored in .ENV and .DAT files at CSIRO.

Use Cases

• Modeling regional gravity anomalies based on ship-track measurements.
• Studying seafloor topography and crustal thickness variations in the Antarctic region.
• Calibrating satellite-derived gravity data with in-situ shipborne observations.
• Investigating glacial isostatic adjustment and ice sheet mass changes from gravity signals.

Strengths

• Data collection spanned 55 days from January 02 to February 25, 2026, providing a continuous time series.
• Raw data volume is precisely quantified at 863 MB across 53 files.
• Instrument specification is provided: a MicroG Lacoste Air-Sea II gravity meter.

Limitations

• No processing has been conducted on the dataset, requiring significant user effort for analysis.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for certain statistical methods.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network via data_gov_au.

Collection Method

Collected via a shipborne gravity meter on the RV Investigator research vessel.

Time Range

January 02, 2026 to February 25, 2026 (AEST).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-22 23:55:28.931351; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Voyage departed from and returned to Hobart; the Cook Ice Ecosystems and Sediments (COOKIES) expedition suggests a focus on Antarctic waters.