GPR and GPS Data: Characteristics of Snow Megadunes and their Potential Effects on Ice Core Interpretation  View Catalog Page Entry ID
NSIDC-0282
Summary
The Antarctic megadune research was conducted during two field seasons, one in November 2002 and the other in December 2003 through January 2004. The megadune field site is located on the East Antarctic Plateau, southeast of Vostok station. The objectives of this multi-facetted research are to determine the physical characteristics of the firn across the dunes including typical climate indicators such as stable isotopes and major chemical species and to install instruments to measure the time variation of near-surface wind and temperature with depth, to test and refine hypotheses for megadune formation. It is important to improve our current understanding of the megadunes because of their extreme nature, their broad extent, and their potential impact on the climate record. Megadunes are a manifestation of an extreme terrestrial climate and may provide insight on past terrestrial climate or on processes active on other planets.
Snow megadunes are undulating variations in accumulation and surface texture with wavelengths of 2 to 5 km and amplitudes up to 5 meters. The features cover 500,000 km2 of the East Antarctic plateau, occurring in areas of moderate regional slope and low accumulation on the flanks of the ice sheet between 2500 and 3800 meters elevation. Landsat images and aerial photography indicate the dunes consist of alternating surfaces of glaze and rough sastrugi, with gradational boundaries. This pattern is oriented perpendicular to the mean wind direction, as modeled in katabatic wind studies. Glaze surfaces cover the leeward faces and troughs; rough sastrugi cover the windward faces and crests. The megadune pattern is crossed by smooth to eroded wind-parallel longitudinal dunes. Wind-eroded longitudinal dunes form spectacular 1-meter-high sastrugi in nearby areas.
This data set contains ground penetrating radar (GPR) data showing surface morphology and internal layering structure along with global positioning system (GPS) data collected within an area of 60 km2. GPS data are provided in space-delimited ASCII text Microsoft Excel formats, while GPR data are in JPEG format. Data are available via FTP.
Geographic Coverage
Spatial Coordinates:
N: -80.5304°
S: -80.7802°
E: 126.0302°
W: 124.0218°
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Data Set Citation
Dataset Creator: Ted Scambos
Dataset Title: GPR and GPS Data: Characteristics of Snow Megadunes and their Potential Effects on Ice Core Interpretation
Dataset Release Date: 2006-06-10
Dataset Release Place: Boulder, Colorado USA
Dataset Publisher: NSIDC: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Online Resource: http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0282.html
Dataset DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7265/N5Q23X5F
Temporal Coverage
Start Date: 2002-12-05
Stop Date: 2002-12-05
Start Date: 2004-01-03
Stop Date: 2004-01-07
Paleo Temporal Coverage
Paleo Stop Date: 2000 ybp
Location Keywords
- CONTINENT ANTARCTICA EAST ANTARCTIC PLATEAU
Science Keywords
- Cryosphere Glaciers/Ice Sheets Firn
- Cryosphere Glaciers/Ice Sheets Ice Sheets
- Cryosphere Snow/Ice Snow Stratigraphy Internal Layering
- Land Surface Geomorphology Glacial Landforms/Processes
- Terrestrial Hydrosphere Snow/Ice Snow Stratigraphy
Ancillary Keywords
- AGDC
- Antarctica
- East Antarctic Plateau
- Glaciology
- GPS
- GPS data
- internal layering
- Megadunes
- Paleoenvironments
- Radar
- Surface Morphology
- Surface Winds
- Climatology/Meteorology/Atmosphere
Platform
- GPS Global Positioning System Satellites
- GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS
Instrument
- GPR Ground Penetrating Radar
- GPS Global Positioning System
Data Set Progress
complete
Originating Center
NSIDC_AGDC
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 Antarctic Glaciological Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/agdc/
Data Center Personnel
Name: NSIDC AGDC 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 U.S. Antarctic Data Coordination Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/usadcc/
Data Center Personnel
Name: NSIDC USADCC 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 Size: 0.17 - 15.7 MB
Distribution Format: JPEG
Distribution Media: FTP
Distribution Size: 28.5 KB
Distribution Format: ASCII Text
Distribution Media: FTP
Distribution Size: 89.5 KB
Distribution Format: Microsoft Excel
Personnel
Ted Scambos
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Email: scambos@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
- University of Colorado
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science
- National Snow and Ice Data Center
- CIRES, 449 UCB
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Rob Bauer
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Phone: 1 303 492 2378
Email: bauerr@kryos.colorado.edu
Contact Address:
- University of Colorado
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
- University of Colorado
- CIRES 449 UCB
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309
Country: USA
NSIDC User Services
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Phone: 1 303 492-6199 x
Fax: 1 303 492-2468 x
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
Related URL
VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
Antarctic Megadunes: Research at the Edge of the Earth
VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
AWS Data: Characteristics of Snow Megadunes and Their Potential Effect on Ice Core Interpretation
Reference
Fahnestock, M. A., T. A. Scambos, C. A. Shuman, et. al. 2000. Snow megadune fields on the East Antarctic Plateau: extreme atmosphere-ice interaction. Geophysical Research Letters 27(22): 3719-3722.
Metadata Name and Version
Metadata Name: CEOS IDN DIF
Metadata Version: 9.7
Creation and Review Dates
DIF Creation Date: 2006-06-10
Last DIF Revision Date: 2013-03-18
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