Zuhr, Alexandra; Franke, Steven; Steinhage, Daniel; Helm, Veit: ANT 2023/24: AWI airborne ultra-wideband radar data over the plateau area in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica (SnACC DML Project) [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.981128 (dataset in review)
Abstract:
This dataset contains airborne radar data acquired using the AWI ultra-wideband radar (UWB) in the wideband (150 - 520 MHz) configuration during the Antarctic season of 2023/24. The data were acquired with the aim of reconstructing near-surface internal layering in western Dronning Maud Land on the East Antarctic Plateau. The internal layers will be used to estimate the surface mass balance of the region over the past millennium, providing a robust baseline for long-term surface mass balance and its recent changes. This, in turn, will contribute to improving future sea level projections. The radar survey lines start and/or end at the Norwegian station Troll or the German summer station Kohnen. All flight lines intersect the drilling site of firn core B52, which serves as a reference point for dating internal reflection horizons and linking individual flight lines. The data are available as netCDF files (including waveforms and metadata), KML files of the profile line locations, and quicklook images of the radargrams.
Keyword(s):
Related to:
Eisen, Olaf; Steinhage, Daniel; Franke, Steven; Helm, Veit; Binder, Tobias; Drews, Reinhard; Eagles, Graeme; Humbert, Angelika; Jansen, Daniela; Jokat, Wilfried; Lambrecht, Astrid; Mieth, Matthias; Riedel, Sven; Miller, Heinrich (2024): Collection of datasets from AWI's radio-echo sounding systems on ice sheets and glaciers [dataset bibliography]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.972094
Franke, Steven; Steinhage, Daniel; Helm, Veit; Zuhr, Alexandra; Bodart, Julien A; Eisen, Olaf; Bons, Paul D (2025): Age-depth distribution in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, and Antarctic-wide comparisons of internal reflection horizons. The Cryosphere, 19(3), 1153-1180, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1153-2025
Additional metadata:
O2A Registry: Metadata for radar system Ultra-wideband ice radar at current Version. Alfred Wegener Institut Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, https://registry.o2a-data.de/items/6809
Project(s):
Funding:
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven (AWI), grant/award no. AWI_PA_02146: QUASNO, SnAcc DML, P6-244_ANT_23_24
German Research Foundation (DFG), grant/award no. 522419679: Is Dronning Maud Land mitigating sea level rise in the 21st century? Quantifying the anthropogenically induced change in snow accumulation in East Antarctica
German Research Foundation (DFG), grant/award no. 5472008: Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas
Coverage:
Median Latitude: -72.970836 * Median Longitude: 1.670136 * South-bound Latitude: -75.001053 * West-bound Longitude: 0.060699 * North-bound Latitude: -71.955648 * East-bound Longitude: 2.474806
Date/Time Start: 2023-11-29T09:28:44 * Date/Time End: 2023-12-11T20:15:30
Event(s):
P6_244_ANT_23_24_2311290701 (Flight 7) * Latitude Start: -71.955823 * Longitude Start: 2.474283 * Latitude End: -71.955822 * Longitude End: 2.474345 * Date/Time Start: 2023-11-29T09:28:44 * Date/Time End: 2023-11-29T14:03:45 * Campaign: P6-244_ANT_23_24 * Basis: POLAR 6 * Method/Device: Aircraft (AC)
P6_244_ANT_23_24_2312111501 (Flight 15) * Latitude Start: -71.955671 * Longitude Start: 2.474806 * Latitude End: -75.001053 * Longitude End: 0.060699 * Date/Time Start: 2023-12-11T09:56:31 * Date/Time End: 2023-12-11T14:27:31 * Campaign: P6-244_ANT_23_24 * Basis: POLAR 6 * Method/Device: Aircraft (AC)
P6_244_ANT_23_24_2312111602 (Flight 16) * Latitude Start: -75.001001 * Longitude Start: 0.061876 * Latitude End: -71.955648 * Longitude End: 2.474805 * Date/Time Start: 2023-12-11T15:54:31 * Date/Time End: 2023-12-11T20:15:30 * Campaign: P6-244_ANT_23_24 * Basis: POLAR 6 * Method/Device: Aircraft (AC)
Comment:
Project PI: Alexandra Zuhr (University of Tübingen)
Contact persons for AWI Radio-echo sounding data: Daniel Steinhage (daniel.steinhage@awi.de), Veit Helm (veit.helm@awi.de), Olaf Eisen (olaf.eisen@awi.de)
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The netCDF files contain the following variables:
altitude: Platform altitude (WGS84) in meters
bed_elevation: Bed elevation for each trace (without applying a firn correction and permitivity of ice: 3.15) in meters
bed_pick: picked bed location for each trace, expressed as twt in seconds from time zero
data: Radar data (Values in dBm after DC conversion)
data_agc: Scaled radar data using automatic gain control (AGC)
distance: Along-track distance in meters
ice_thickness: Ice thickness for each trace (without applying a firn correction and permitivity of ice: 3.15) in meters
lat: Latitude in decimal degrees (WGS84)
lon: Longitude in decimal degrees (WGS84)
range: Range between sensor and surface in meters
spacing: Along-track trace to trace spacing in meters
surface: Surface elevation derived from radar (WGS84) in meters
surface_pick: Picked surface reflection in two-way travel time in seconds
time: Seconds of day
twt: Two-way travel time (twt) in seconds
Parameter(s):
| # | Name | Short Name | Unit | Principal Investigator | Method/Device | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Event label | Event | Zuhr, Alexandra | |||
| 2 | Season | Season | Zuhr, Alexandra | |||
| 3 | Profile ID | Profile ID | Zuhr, Alexandra | |||
| 4 | Instrument | Instrument | Zuhr, Alexandra | |||
| 5 | Radar product | Radar prod | Zuhr, Alexandra | |||
| 6 | netCDF file | netCDF | Zuhr, Alexandra | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | standard | |
| 7 | netCDF file (File Size) | netCDF (Size) | Bytes | Zuhr, Alexandra | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | standard |
| 8 | netCDF file | netCDF | Zuhr, Alexandra | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | qlook | |
| 9 | GIS file | GIS | Zuhr, Alexandra | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | KML Files, standard | |
| 10 | GIS file | GIS | Zuhr, Alexandra | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | KML Files, qlook | |
| 11 | Image | IMAGE | Zuhr, Alexandra | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | Quicklook, standard | |
| 12 | Image | IMAGE | Zuhr, Alexandra | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | Quicklook, qlook |
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0) (License comes into effect after moratorium ends)
Status:
Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)
Size:
680 data points