Antarctic Mean Annual Temperature Map

Summary

The Mean Annual Temperature map was calculated by creating a contour map using compiled 10 meter firn temperature data from NSIDC and other mean annual temperature data from both cores and stations.

The 10 meter data contains temperature measurements dating back to 1957 and the International Geophysical Year, including measurements from several major recent surveys. Data cover the entire continental ice sheet and several ice shelves, but coverage density is generally low.

Data are stored in Microsoft Excel and Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), and are available sporadically from 1957 to 2003 via FTP.

Citing These Data

The following example shows how to cite the use of this data set in a publication. For more information, see our Use and Copyright Web page.

The following example shows how to cite the use of this data set in a publication. List the principal investigators, year of data set release, data set title and version number, dates of the data you used (for example, December 2000 to March 2001), publisher: NSIDC, and digital media.

Dixon, Daniel A . 2008. Antarctic Mean Annual Temperature Map. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.7265/N51C1TTV.

Overview Table

Category	Description
Data format	Microsoft Excel, Tagged Image File Format (TIFF)
Spatial coverage and resolution	Southernmost Latitude: 90° S Northernmost Latitude: 65° S Westernmost Longitude: 180° W Easternmost Longitude: 180° E
Temporal coverage and resolution	1957-2003 Coverage is variable.
File naming convention	10m_temps_MORE_Dixon.xls 10m_temps_NSIDC_Dixon.xls Antarctic_Mean_Annual_Temp_Data_Dixon.tif
File size	Two Excel files are 42 KB and 376 KB. The map TIFF file is 3071 KB.
Parameter(s)	Firn Temperature
Procedures for obtaining data	Data are available via FTP.

Table of Contents

1. Contacts and Acknowledgments
2. Detailed Data Description
3. Data Access and Tools
4. Data Acquisition and Processing
5. References and Related Publications
6. Document Information

1. Contacts and Acknowledgments

Investigator(s)

Daniel Dixon
5790 Bryand Global Sciences Center
University of Maine
Orono, ME 04469

Technical Contact

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by NSF OPP grant number 229573.

2. Detailed Data Description

Format

Data files are in Microsoft Excel (.xls) format viewable with spreadsheet software. A map is available in TIFF format.

File and Directory Structure

Data are available on the FTP site in the /pub/DATASETS/AGDC/dixon_nsidc_0318/ directory.

File Naming Convention

This data set contains three files. The 10m_temps_NSIDC_dixon.xls file contains ten-meter temperature data housed at NSIDC and compiled by Daniel Dixon. The 10m_temps_MORE_dixon.xls file contains temperature data that is not maintained by NSIDC. Daniel Dixon compiled this data. The Antarctic_Mean_Annual_Temp_Data_Dixon.tif file is a map image showing the locations of data in both Excel files.

File Size

File sizes range from 46 KB to 3071 KB.

Spatial Coverage

This data set spans the entire continent of Antarctica.

Southernmost Latitude: 90° S
Northernmost Latitude: 65° S
Westernmost Longitude: 180° W
Easternmost Longitude: 180° E

Spatial Coverage Map

The thumbnail image below shows the map TIFF file available via FTP.

Temporal Coverage

Data were collected periodically between 1957 and 2003.

Parameter or Variable

Parameters include location of measurement stations as geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) and polar stereographic (km), measurement type and depth, and temperature.

The following table describes the columns in the data files.
Note: Not all data records contain all columns.

Table 1. Description of Columns in Ten Meter Temperature Excel Files

Column	Description
Site	Station Name or Code
Lat/Lon	Measurement location in geographic coordinates
Polar X/Polar Y	Measurement location in polar stereographic coordinates (km)
Elev	Elevation at measurement site
Depth	Measurement depth
Flag	Represents how temperature was derived: D: measurements corrected for thermal decay, but not for annual thermal cycle S: single point measurement, not corrected for short-term thermal decay or annual thermal cycle E: extrapolated measurement A: mean annual temperature measurement Note: Accuracy of temperature values is questionable because temperature measurements were not taken at the bottom of the hole.
Temp	Recorded Temperature
Temp. Data Type	Type of temperature data, such as 10-meter temperature, or mean annual air temperature

Sample Data Record

The following example shows sample data from the 10m_temps_NSIDC_dixon.xls file

St#	Date	Lat(S)	Lon(W)	Elev	Temp	Flag*	Depth (m)
1	15 11 70	-78.6	-13.233	1660	-34.2	A	10

 

3. Data Access and Tools

Data Access

Data are available via FTP.

Volume

The entire data set is approximately 3500 KB.

Software and Tools

Data are accessible using standard image processing and spreadsheet software.

Related Data Collections

• THERMAP: Ice Temperature Measurements of the Antarctic Ice Sheet
• Antarctic Ten Meter Temperature Data

4. Data Acquisition and Processing

Data Acquisition Methods

The Antarctic Mean Annual Temperature Map was compiled from ten-meter temperature measurements dating back to 1957. Since the data were collected by different expeditions, acquisition methods varied. For more information on the ten-meter data held by NSIDC, see the notes and sources in the table below. The Antarctic mean annual temperature map also contains data points compiled from sources outside NSIDC. For more information on those data sets, please see the publications cited in the 10m_temps_MORE_Dixon.xls file.

Table 2. Ten Meter Temperature Data Traverses

Date	Traverse	Notes/Sources	Maps
British Traverses (map)
1974	Glaciology of the Antarctic Peninsula Program	notes/sources	traverse image
1970	Inland from Halley Bay	notes/sources	traverse image
1957-1958	Trans-Antarctic Expedition	notes/sources	traverse image
Japanese Traverses (map)
1969-1970	Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) 10 and 11	notes/sources	traverse image
1972-1973	Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) 12 and 13	notes/sources	traverse image
1974-1975	Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) 15	notes/sources	traverse image
1968-1969	Syowa-South Pole Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
Norwegian Traverses (map)
1996-1997	Norwegian Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
United States West Antarctic Traverses (map)
1961-1962	Antarctic Peninsula Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
1960-1961	Byrd Station to South Pole Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
1958-1959	Ellsworth-Byrd Station Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
1960-1961	Ellsworth Highland (Byrd Station to Bellingshausen Sea) Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
1957-1958	Filchner Ice Shelf (Ellsworth) Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
1957-1958	Little America-Byrd Station Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
1958-1959	Marie Byrd Land-Horlick Mountains Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
1959-1960	Marie Byrd Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
1957-1958	Sentinel Range (Marie Byrd Land) Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
1962-1963	South Pole Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
United States McMurdo Area Traverses (map)
1958-1959	Little America-Victoria Land Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
1960-1961	McMurdo-Pole Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
1959-1960	Victoria Land Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image
United States Queen Maud Land Traverses (map)
1964-1965	South Pole-Queen Maud Land Traverse I	notes/sources	traverse image
1965-1966	South Pole-Queen Maud Land Traverse II	notes/sources	traverse image
1967-1968	South Pole-Queen Maud Land Traverse III	notes/sources	traverse image
United States Ross Ice Shelf Traverses (map)
1974-1978	Ross Ice Shelf Geophysical and Glaciological Survey (RIGGS)	notes/sources	traverse image
1957-1958	Ross Ice Shelf Traverse	notes/sources	traverse image

 

5. References and Related Publications

Schneider, D. P., E. J. Steig, T. D. van Ommen, D. A. Dixon, P. A. Mayewski, J. M. Jones, and C. M. Bitz (2006), Antarctic temperatures over the past two centuries from ice cores, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L16707, doi:10.1029/2006GL027057.

The following related documents are available on NSIDC's Web site.

Table 3. Related Documents

Document	Description	URL
THERMAP Ice Temperature Measurements of the Antarctic Ice Sheet	Project Web site	http://nsidc.org/data/thermap/
THERMAP Documentation	Related data documentation	http://nsidc.org/data/docs/agdc/thermap/documentation.html
THERMAP 10 meter Temperature Data	Related data	http://nsidc.org/data/thermap/antarctic_10m_temps/

6. Document Information

Acronyms

The following acronyms and abbreviations are used in this document.

Table 4. Acronyms and Abbreviations

FTP	File Transfer Protocol
ITASE	International Trans Antarctic Scientific Expedition
NSIDC	National Snow and Ice Data Center
THERMAP	Ice Temperature Measurements of the Antarctic Ice Sheet
URL	Uniform Resource Locator

Document Creation Date

27 January, 2009

Document URL

http://nsidc.org/data/docs/agdc/nsidc0318_dixon/index.html