Blei, Torben; Fuchs, Niels; Birnbaum, Gerit; Neckel, Niklas (2026): Drone-based ice station orthomosaics in local coordinate systems from the PS149/CONTRASTS expedition in the Arctic Ocean [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.996057 (DOI registration in progress)
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Published: 2026-07-17
Abstract:
This dataset consists of high-resolution airborne orthomosaics of the working areas surrounding the 11 ice stations visited during the PS149/CONTRASTS expedition in the Arctic Ocean between 2nd of July and 1st of September 2025. Mentioned ice stations are comprised of a visit to one of three floes. These floes were located in first-, second-, or multi-year ice respectively. The orthomosaics were generated through photogrammetric processing of airborne RGB imagery using Agisoft Metashape. No brightness corrections were applied. The imagery was acquired during drone surveys conducted in a chessboard-like flight pattern using a DJI Matrice 350 RTK equipped with a DJI Zenmuse H20T camera. A DJI Mavic 3 was used exclusively during the fourth visit to ice station 2 (2d) due to adverse weather conditions. The chessboard-like survey pattern generally consisted of at least two image blocks flown at different altitudes. The first visit to ice station 2 (2a) represents an exception, with observations restricted to a single altitude. Survey parameters, including flight altitude, speed, and image overlap, varied depending on weather conditions and floe drift speed. The orthomosaics are referenced in local coordinate systems defined by black-and-white ground targets deployed on the ice and, where possible, scaled using tachymeter measurements. These coordinate systems were maintained as consistently as possible throughout repeated visits to the ice stations. For surveys in which no ground targets were deployed, target locations were approximated based on their positions during previous visits. Orthomosaics generated under these conditions are marked accordingly.
Related to:
Nicolaus, Marcel (2026): The Expedition PS149 of the Research Vessel POLARSTERN to the Arctic Ocean in 2025. Berichte zur Polar- und Meeresforschung = Reports on Polar and Marine Research, 808, 382 pp, https://doi.org/10.57738/BZPM_0808_2026
Funding:
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven (AWI), grant/award no. AWI_PS149_01: Sea Ice Physics (CONTRASTS)
Coverage:
Median Latitude: 83.631727 * Median Longitude: 9.462055 * South-bound Latitude: 82.389250 * West-bound Longitude: -17.901930 * North-bound Latitude: 84.780320 * East-bound Longitude: 33.731230
Date/Time Start: 2025-07-09T07:10:00 * Date/Time End: 2025-08-27T15:24:00
Minimum Elevation: 130.0 m * Maximum Elevation: 130.0 m
Event(s):
PS149_13-1-Mavic3-01 * Latitude: 83.802983 * Longitude: 20.754333 * Date/Time Start: 2025-07-09T07:10:00 * Date/Time End: 2025-07-09T07:22:00 * O2A Registry URI: https://registry.o2a-data.de/items/11883 * Campaign: PS149 (CONTRASTS; ArcWatch 3) * Basis: Polarstern * Method/Device: DJI Mavic 3; equipped with a 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad camera; DJI Enterprise (Mavic3) * Comment: Not logged in DShip
PS149_16-1-M350-01 * Latitude: 84.780317 * Longitude: 14.208250 * Date/Time Start: 2025-07-16T14:59:00 * Date/Time End: 2025-07-16T15:06:00 * O2A Registry URI: https://registry.o2a-data.de/items/11894 * Campaign: PS149 (CONTRASTS; ArcWatch 3) * Basis: Polarstern * Method/Device: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), DJI Technology Co, Matrice 350 RTK; coupled with Zenmuse L2 Lidar System, XT thermal sensor, optical Camera system, RTK base station (M350_RTK) * Comment: Not logged in DShip. nan
PS149_18-1-M350-01 * Latitude: 84.404983 * Longitude: -17.901933 * Date/Time Start: 2025-07-21T15:31:00 * Date/Time End: 2025-07-21T15:37:00 * O2A Registry URI: https://registry.o2a-data.de/items/11894 * Campaign: PS149 (CONTRASTS; ArcWatch 3) * Basis: Polarstern * Method/Device: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), DJI Technology Co, Matrice 350 RTK; coupled with Zenmuse L2 Lidar System, XT thermal sensor, optical Camera system, RTK base station (M350_RTK) * Comment: Not logged in DShip. nan
Parameter(s):
| # | Name | Short Name | Unit | Principal Investigator | Method/Device | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Event label | Event | ||||
| 2 | LATITUDE | Latitude | Geocode | |||
| 3 | LONGITUDE | Longitude | Geocode | |||
| 4 | DATE/TIME | Date/Time | Geocode | |||
| 5 | Flight altitude | Flight altitude | m | Survey altitude 1 | ||
| 6 | Flight altitude | Flight altitude | m | Survey altitude 2 | ||
| 7 | Flight altitude | Flight altitude | m | Survey altitude 3 | ||
| 8 | Instrument | Instrument | Drone | |||
| 9 | Resolution | Resolution | cm/pixel | |||
| 10 | Comment | Comment | ||||
| 11 | Raster graphic, GeoTIFF format | GeoTIFF | ||||
| 12 | Raster graphic, GeoTIFF format (File Size) | GeoTIFF (Size) | Bytes |
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0)
Status:
Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)
Size:
59 data points
Data
All files referred to in data matrix can be downloaded in one go as ZIP or TAR. Be careful: This download can be very large! To protect our systems from misuse, we require to sign up for an user account before downloading.
| 1 Event | 2 Latitude | 3 Longitude | 4 Date/Time | 5 Flight altitude [m] (Survey altitude 1) | 6 Flight altitude [m] (Survey altitude 2) | 7 Flight altitude [m] (Survey altitude 3) | 8 Instrument (Drone) | 9 Resolution [cm/pixel] | 10 Comment | 11 GeoTIFF | 12 GeoTIFF (Size) [Bytes] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS149_13-1-Mavic3-01 | 83.80298 | 20.75433 | 2025-07-09T07:10:00 | 40 | 50 | 70 | DJI Mavic 3 | 1.43 | approximated local system; bad camera positioning accuracy | 11.tif | 1.2 GBytes |
| PS149_21-1-M350-01 | 82.54000 | 26.92435 | 2025-07-27T12:14:00 | 120 | 140 | DJI Matrice 350 RTK | 3.37 | reduced local system accuracy | 12.tif | 692.3 MBytes | |
| PS149_32-1-M350-01 | 83.22788 | 33.73123 | 2025-08-09T16:18:00 | 100 | 110 | 140 | DJI Matrice 350 RTK | 3.04 | approximated local system | 13.tif | 863.9 MBytes |
| PS149_16-1-M350-01 | 84.78032 | 14.20825 | 2025-07-16T14:59:00 | DJI Matrice 350 RTK | 2.42 | 21.tif | 1.3 GBytes | ||||
| PS149_25-1-M350-01 | 83.75742 | 15.82422 | 2025-07-30T21:22:00 | 100 | 120 | DJI Matrice 350 RTK | 3.25 | 22.tif | 601.2 MBytes | ||
| PS149_36-1-M350-01 | 84.50282 | 21.98458 | 2025-08-13T12:51:00 | 100 | 150 | DJI Matrice 350 RTK | 2.87 | 23.tif | 1 GBytes | ||
| PS149_46-1-Mavic3-01 | 84.17852 | 17.78522 | 2025-08-24T14:17:01 | 20 | 45 | DJI Mavic 3 | 7.51 | approximated local system | 24.tif | 2.1 GBytes | |
| PS149_18-1-M350-01 | 84.40498 | -17.90193 | 2025-07-21T15:31:00 | 120 | 140 | DJI Matrice 350 RTK | 3.41 | 31.tif | 624.7 MBytes | ||
| PS149_30-1-M350-01 | 83.61858 | -11.81608 | 2025-07-30T21:38:00 | 100 | 115 | DJI Matrice 350 RTK | 2.91 | 32.tif | 984.8 MBytes | ||
| PS149_41-1-M350-01 | 82.74625 | -12.83023 | 2025-08-18T16:49:00 | 140 | 170 | DJI Matrice 350 RTK | 4.13 | 33.tif | 1.2 GBytes | ||
| PS149_47-1-M350-01 | 82.38925 | -4.58133 | 2025-08-27T15:24:00 | 190 | 220 | DJI Matrice 350 RTK | 5.95 | 34.tif | 948.8 MBytes |