Seasonal frost and soil temperature data, Western Cape Mountains, South Africa  View Catalog Page Entry ID
GGD482
Summary
Micro-climatic monitoring of air and ground was started in 1990 to evaluate climatic controls on the present-day diurnal soil frost environment in the Western Cape mountains of South Africa. To this effect two data logger stations were established in the summit region of the Waaihoek mountains. Two sites were established at Waaihoek Peak and Mount Superior, respectively.
Waaihoek Peak - The Waaihoek Peak monitoring site is positioned on the southeast extension of a small summit plateau at 1900m elevation where it changes into a southeast trending ridge flanked by two small valleys. The station stands on a 4 to 5 degree slope with an aspect of 140 degrees and is underlain by steeply dipping quartzitic sandstone of the Peninsula Formation. A shallow sandy soil here reaches a thickness of 0.35m and supports a sparse vegetation cover of Restio (Cape reeds) species up to 0.2m high with a total cover of around 30%. Initially both daily and hourly records were kept which necessitated frequent visits to replace the data storage tapes. As from 29-11-1992 only daily records were kept, including maximum and minimum temperature and 24 hour precipitation totals. Average daily soil moisture levels were recorded only as the range between daily maximum and minium values proved to be minimal.
Mount Superior - Field observations established the presence of active soil frost features near Mount Superior during December 1991. A second data logger site was consequently established by 1-5-1993 to provide microclimatic data from a site with a different substrate and currently active soil-frost processes. The Mount Superior station is positioned 5km SSE of the Waaihoek Peak site on a flat summit plateau of Cedarberg shale at 1860m elevation. The surface cover is comprised of fractured bedrock and bare shallow soil with tussocks of Restio spp. up to 0.5m high. Daily maximum and minimum temperature were recorded for each sensor as well as daily average relative soil moisture levels and daily precipitation totals.
These data are presented on the CAPS Version 1.0 CD-ROM, June 1998.
Geographic Coverage
Spatial Coordinates:
N: -33.417°
S: -33.533°
E: 19.5°
W: 19.25°
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Data Set Citation
Dataset Creator: Boelhouwers, J
Dataset Title: Seasonal frost and soil temperature data, Western Cape Mountains, South Africa
Dataset Release Date: 1998-01-01
Dataset Release Place: Boulder, Colorado USA
Dataset Publisher: NSIDC: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Online Resource: http://nsidc.org/data/ggd482.html
Temporal Coverage
Start Date: 1990-02-01
Location Keywords
- CONTINENT AFRICA SOUTHERN AFRICA SOUTH AFRICA WAAIHOEK PEAK AND MOUNT SUPERIOR, WESTERN CAPE MOUNTAINS,
Science Keywords
- Agriculture Soils Soil Moisture/Water Content
- Agriculture Soils Soil Structure
- Agriculture Soils Soil Temperature
- Cryosphere Frozen Ground Seasonally Frozen Ground
- Cryosphere Frozen Ground Soil Temperature
- Cryosphere Snow/Ice Freeze/Thaw
- Land Surface Frozen Ground Seasonally Frozen Ground
- Land Surface Frozen Ground Soil Temperature
- Land Surface Soils Soil Moisture/Water Content
- Land Surface Soils Soil Structure
- Land Surface Soils Soil Temperature
- Terrestrial Hydrosphere Snow/Ice Freeze/Thaw
Ancillary Keywords
- Active Layer
- Diurnal Freeze/thaw
- Meteorology
- Monitoring
- Soil Properties
- Soil Temperature
Data Center
National Snow and Ice Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org
Data Center Personnel
Name: NSIDC User Services
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Fax: 1 303 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
- National Snow and Ice Data Center
- CIRES, 449 UCB
- University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA
NSIDC Frozen Ground Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/fgdc/
Data Center Personnel
Name: NSIDC FGDC User Services
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Fax: 1 303 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
- National Snow and Ice Data Center
- CIRES, 449 UCB
- University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA
Distribution
Distribution Media: FTP
Distribution Format: ASCII Text
Personnel
Jan Boelhouwers
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Phone: 46 18 4712524
Fax: 46 18 555920
Email: jan.boelhouwers@natgeog.uu.se
Contact Address:
- Uppsala University
- Physical Geography, Department of Earth Sciences
- Villavgen 16
City: Uppsala
Postal Code: 7535
Country: Sweden
Reference
Boelhouwers, J.,1995b, Present-day soil frost activity at Mt Superior, Hex River mountains, South Africa. Zeitschrift fuer Geomorphologie, 39(2), 237-248. Boelhouwers, J.C., 1996: The present-day frost action environment and its geomorphological significance in the Western Cape mountains, South Africa, unpublished PhD thesis, Department of Earth Sciences, University of the Western Cape. Boelhouwers, J., 1997a, Sediment movement by frost in the Hex River Mountains, South Africa, South African Geographical Journal, 97(2), 129-135. Boelhouwers, J., 1997b, Environmental controls on diurnal soil frost activity in the Hex River Mountains, South Africa, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, in press.
Metadata Name and Version
Metadata Name: CEOS IDN DIF
Metadata Version: 9.7
Creation and Review Dates
DIF Creation Date: 1998-01-01
Last DIF Revision Date: 2012-08-30
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