Entry_ID: NSIDC-0282
Entry_Title: GPR and GPS Data: Characteristics of Snow Megadunes and their Potential Effects on Ice Core Interpretation
Group: 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
End_Group
Group: Personnel
Role: Investigator
First_Name: Ted
Last_Name: Scambos
Email: scambos@nsidc.org
Group: Contact_Address
Address: University of Colorado
Address: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science
Address: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Address: CIRES, 449 UCB
City: Boulder
Province_or_State: CO
Postal_Code: 80309-0449
End_Group
End_Group
Group: Personnel
Role: Investigator
First_Name: Rob
Last_Name: Bauer
Email: bauerr@kryos.colorado.edu
Phone: 1 303 492 2378
Group: Contact_Address
Address: University of Colorado
Address: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
Address: University of Colorado
Address: CIRES 449 UCB
City: Boulder
Province_or_State: CO
Postal_Code: 80309
Country: USA
End_Group
End_Group
Group: Personnel
Role: Technical Contact
First_Name: NSIDC
Last_Name: User Services
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Phone: 1 303 492-6199 x
Fax: 1 303 492-2468 x
Group: Contact_Address
Address: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Address: CIRES, 449 UCB
Address: University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province_or_State: CO
Postal_Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA
End_Group
End_Group
Group: Parameters
Category: EARTH SCIENCE
Topic: Cryosphere
Term: Glaciers/Ice Sheets
Variable_Level_1: Firn
End_Group
Group: Parameters
Category: EARTH SCIENCE
Topic: Cryosphere
Term: Glaciers/Ice Sheets
Variable_Level_1: Ice Sheets
End_Group
Group: Parameters
Category: EARTH SCIENCE
Topic: Cryosphere
Term: Snow/Ice
Variable_Level_1: Snow Stratigraphy
Detailed_Variable: Internal Layering
End_Group
Group: Parameters
Category: EARTH SCIENCE
Topic: Land Surface
Term: Geomorphology
Variable_Level_1: Glacial Landforms/Processes
End_Group
Group: Parameters
Category: EARTH SCIENCE
Topic: Terrestrial Hydrosphere
Term: Snow/Ice
Variable_Level_1: Snow Stratigraphy
End_Group
ISO_Topic_Category: Climatology/Meteorology/Atmosphere
Keyword: AGDC
Keyword: Antarctica
Keyword: East Antarctic Plateau
Keyword: Glaciology
Keyword: GPS
Keyword: GPS data
Keyword: internal layering
Keyword: Megadunes
Keyword: Paleoenvironments
Keyword: Radar
Keyword: Surface Morphology
Keyword: Surface Winds
Sensor_Name: GPR > Ground Penetrating Radar
Sensor_Name: GPS > Global Positioning System
Source_Name: GPS > Global Positioning System Satellites
Source_Name: GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS
Group: Temporal_Coverage
Start_Date: 2002-12-05
Stop_Date: 2002-12-05
End_Group
Group: Temporal_Coverage
Start_Date: 2004-01-03
Stop_Date: 2004-01-07
End_Group
Group: Paleo_Temporal_Coverage
Paleo_Stop_Date: 2000 ybp
End_Group
Data_Set_Progress: complete
Group: Spatial_Coverage
Southernmost_Latitude: -80.7802
Northernmost_Latitude: -80.5304
Westernmost_Longitude: 124.0218
Easternmost_Longitude: 126.0302
End_Group
Group: Location
Location_Category: CONTINENT
Location_Type: ANTARCTICA
Detailed_Location: EAST ANTARCTIC PLATEAU
End_Group
Data_Set_Language: English
Originating_Center: NSIDC_AGDC
Group: Data_Center
Data_Center_Name: NSIDC > National Snow and Ice Data Center
Data_Center_URL: http://nsidc.org
Group: Personnel
Role: Data Center Contact
First_Name: NSIDC
Last_Name: User Services
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Fax: 1 303 492-2468
Group: Contact_Address
Address: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Address: CIRES, 449 UCB
Address: University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province_or_State: CO
Postal_Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA
End_Group
End_Group
End_Group
Group: Data_Center
Data_Center_Name: NSIDC_AGDC > NSIDC Antarctic Glaciological Data Center
Data_Center_URL: http://nsidc.org/agdc/
Group: Personnel
Role: Data Center Contact
First_Name: NSIDC AGDC
Last_Name: User Services
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Fax: 1 303 492-2468
Group: Contact_Address
Address: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Address: CIRES, 449 UCB
Address: University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province_or_State: CO
Postal_Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA
End_Group
End_Group
End_Group
Group: Data_Center
Data_Center_Name: NSIDC_USADCC > NSIDC U.S. Antarctic Data Coordination Center
Data_Center_URL: http://nsidc.org/usadcc/
Group: Personnel
Role: Data Center Contact
First_Name: NSIDC USADCC
Last_Name: User Services
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Fax: 1 303 492-2468
Group: Contact_Address
Address: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Address: CIRES, 449 UCB
Address: University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province_or_State: CO
Postal_Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA
End_Group
End_Group
End_Group
Group: Distribution
Distribution_Media: FTP
Distribution_Size: 0.17 - 15.7 MB
Distribution_Format: JPEG
End_Group
Group: Distribution
Distribution_Media: FTP
Distribution_Size: 28.5 KB
Distribution_Format: ASCII Text
End_Group
Group: Distribution
Distribution_Media: FTP
Distribution_Size: 89.5 KB
Distribution_Format: Microsoft Excel
End_Group
Group: 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.
End_Group
Group: 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.
End_Group
Group: Related_URL
Group: URL_Content_Type
Type: VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
End_Group
URL: http://nsidc.org/antarctica/megadunes/
Description: Antarctic Megadunes: Research at the Edge of the Earth
End_Group
Group: Related_URL
Group: URL_Content_Type
Type: VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
End_Group
URL: http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0283.html
Group: Description
AWS Data: Characteristics of Snow Megadunes and Their Potential Effect on Ice
Core Interpretation
End_Group
End_Group
IDN_Node: AMD/US
Metadata_Name: CEOS IDN DIF
Metadata_Version: 9.7
DIF_Creation_Date: 2006-06-10
Last_DIF_Revision_Date: 2013-03-18
DIF_Revision_History: Added DOI