Ablation Rates of Taylor Glacier, Antarctica

Summary

This data set provides glacier surface ablation rates for a network of approximately 250 sites on Taylor Glacier, for the year 2003. Here sublimation is the dominant ablation mechanism, though a few sites have accumulation. Data are available in space-delimited ASCII format and are available via FTP.

Citing These Data

These data are offered free of charge. You may use these data freely, provided that you cite NSIDC as the source, and provide an acknowledgment in any published papers.

Cuffey, Kurt, Andrew Bliss, and Jeffrey Kavanaugh. 2007. Ablation Rates of Taylor Glacier, Antarctica. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital media.

Overview Table

Category	Description
Data format	space-delimited ASCII
Spatial coverage and resolution	Southernmost Latitude: 78 ° S Northernmost Latitude: 77.5° S Westernmost Longitude: 160 ° E Easternmost Longitude: 163 ° E
Temporal coverage and resolution	collection period start: 2003-01-01 collection period end: 2004-01-01
File naming convention	taylor_ablation0304.txt
File size	Approximately 11 KB.
Parameter(s)	Glacier Surface Ablation Rate
Procedures for obtaining data	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)

Kurt Cuffey
Department of Geography
University of California Berkeley
507 McCone Hall
Berkeley, California 94720-4740 USA 

Andrew Bliss
Department of Geography
University of California Berkeley
507 McCone Hall
Berkeley, California 94720-4740 USA 

Jeffrey Kavanaugh
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
University of Alberta
1-26 Earth Sciences Building
Edmonton Alberta Canada T6G 2E1 

Technical Contact

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs (OPP) grant 0125579 awarded to K. Cuffey.

2. Detailed Data Description

Format

Data files are in space-delimited ASCII format viewable with spreadsheet software.

File Naming Convention

Files are named according to the following convention.

File name	File Size	Description
taylor_ablation0304.txt	11 KB	Space-Delimited ASCII format

Spatial Coverage

Southernmost Latitude: 78 ° S
Northernmost Latitude: 77.5 ° S
Westernmost Longitude: 160 ° E
Easternmost Longitude: 163 ° E

Parameter or Variable

Parameter Description

Glacier Surface Ablation Rate

Sample Data Record

Numbers are locations (northing, easting in UTM) and ablation rate (m/yr), with ablation taken as positive and accumulation as negative.The data below are the first 10 data samples.

northing (UTM)	easting (UTM)	ablation rate (m/yr)
1360365.000000	548873.900000	0.334092
1360528.000000	548111.600000	0.271800
1360704.000000	547964.000000	0.249332
1363815.000000	541033.900000	0.144668
1363711.000000	541839.500000	0.164456
1364066.000000	541582.100000	0.158306
1364449.000000	541254.500000	0.121007
1369732.000000	529356.300000	0.042223
1369973.000000	528800.80000	0 0.107429
1370192.000000	528392.700000	0.000334

Data Access

Available via FTP

Volume

The data set is approximately 150 KB.

Related Data Collections

• Stable isotopes of ice on the surface of Taylor Glacier, Antarctica
• Surface velocities of Taylor Glacier, Antarctica

4. Data Acquisition and Processing

Sensor or Instrument Description

Aluminum conduit measurement poles

Data Acquisition Methods

Data were acquired using the traditional pole-height measurement technique. Aluminum conduit poles were initially emplaced 2m into the ice. Ablation rate is the difference between initial exposure and exposure approximately one year later, divided by the time interval between measurements. Initial measurements were in December 2002 and January 2003; final measurements were one year later.

5. References and Related Publications

Aciego, Sarah, Kurt Cuffey, Jeffrey Kavanaugh, David Morse, and Jeffrey Severinghaus, 2007. Pleistocene ice and paleo-strain rates at Taylor Glacier, Antarctica. Quaternary Research 68, 303-313.

6. Document Information

Acronyms and Abbreviations

The following acronyms and abbreviations are used in this document.

FTP	File Transfer Protocol
NSIDC	National Snow and Ice Data Center
URL	Uniform Resource Locator

Document Creation Date

November 2007

Document URL

http://nsidc.org/data/docs/agdc/nsidc0326_cuffey/index.html