Fast ice thickness at Davis, Mawson and Casey

This indicator is no longer maintained, and is considered OBSOLETE.

INDICATOR DEFINITION

Regular measurements of the thickness of the fast ice, and of the snow cover that forms on it, are made through drilled holes at several sites near both Mawson and Davis.

TYPE OF INDICATOR

There are three types of indicators used in this report:

1.Describes the CONDITION of important elements of a system;

2.Show the extent of the major PRESSURES exerted on a system;

3.Determine RESPONSES to either condition or changes in the condition of a system.

This indicator is one of: CONDITION

RATIONALE FOR INDICATOR SELECTION

Each season around the end of March, the ocean surface around Antarctica freezes to form sea ice. Close to the coast in some regions (e.g. near Mawson and Davis stations) this ice remains fastened to the land throughout the winter and is called fast ice.

The thickness and growth rate of fast ice are determined purely by energy exchanges at the air-ice and ice-water interfaces. This contrasts with moving pack ice where deformational processes of rafting and ridging also determine the ice thickness. The maximum thickness that the fast ice reaches, and the date on which it reaches that maximum, represent an integration of the atmospheric and oceanic conditions.

Changes in ice thickness represent changes in either oceanic or atmospheric heat transfer. Thicker fast ice reflects either a decrease in air temperature or decreasing oceanic heat flux. These effects can be extrapolated to encompass large-scale ocean-atmosphere processes and potentially, global climate change.

DESIGN AND STRATEGY FOR INDICATOR MONITORING PROGRAM

Spatial Scale: At sites near Australian Antarctic continental stations: Davis; Mawson.

Frequency: at least weekly, reported annually

Measurement Technique: Tape measurements through freshly drilled 5 cm diameter holes in the ice at marked sites.

RESEARCH ISSUES

To more effectively analyse the changes in Antarctic fast ice a detailed long-term dataset of sea ice conditions needs to be established. This would provide a baseline for future comparisons and contribute important data for climate modelling and aid the detection of changes that may occur due to climate or environmental change.

LINKS TO OTHER INDICATORS

SOE Indicator 1 - Monthly mean air temperatures at Australian Antarctic stations

SOE Indicator 40 - Average sea surface temperatures in latitude bands 40-50oS, 50-60oS, 60oS-continent

SOE Indicator 41 - Average sea surface salinity in latitude bands: 40-50oS, 50-60oS, 60oS-continent

SOE Indicator 42 - Antarctic sea ice extent and concentration

The fast ice data are also available as a direct download via the url given below. The data are in word documents, and are divided up by year and site (there are three sites (a,b,c) at each station). Snow thickness data have also been included. A pdf document detailing how the observations are collected is also available for download.

Simple

Identification info

Alternate title
Fast ice thickness at Davis, Mawson and Casey
Date (Publication)
2005-03-29
Edition
1
Citation identifier
Dataset DOI

Title
Information and documentation - Digital object identifier system
Date (Publication)
2012-04-23
Citation identifier
ISO 26324:2012

Citation identifier
doi:10.26179/5d2e855e90de7

Originator

Allison, I.

Publisher

Australian Antarctic Data Centre

Principal investigator

ALLISON, IAN
Australian Antarctic Division
203 Channel Highway
Kingston
Tasmania
7050
Australia
Name
CAASM Metadata
Website
https://data.aad.gov.au/metadata/records/SOE_fast_ice_thickness

Status
Completed

Custodian

AU/AADC > Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia - AADC, DATA OFFICER (DATA CENTER CONTACT)
Australian Antarctic Division
203 Channel Highway
Kingston
Tasmania
7050
Australia
Topic category
  • Oceans

Extent

N
S
E
W


N
S
E
W


N
S
E
W


Extent

Description
Temporal Coverage

Temporal extent

TimePeriod
1954-01-01 1992-10-21
Title
Sea level, ice and climate change
Date (Publication)
1981
Citation identifier
131

Author

Allison, I.

Publisher

IAHS Publication
Page
161-170
Title
Characteristics of sea ice in the Casey region.
Date (Publication)
1985
Citation identifier
28

Author

Allison, I. and Qian, S.L.
Name
ANARE Research Notes
Page
47-56
Other citation details
In: T.H. Jacka (Ed.). Australian Glaciological Research; 1982-83.
Title
Sea ice thickness observations at Australian coastal antarctic stations.
Date (Publication)
1986

Author

Allison, I.
Name
Glaciology Section Internal Report
Page
64
Title
Seasonal and interannual variations of the oceanic heat flux under a landfast Antarctic sea ice cover.
Date (Publication)
1996
Citation identifier
101

Author

Heil, P., I. Allison, and V.I. Lytle
Name
J. Geophys. Res.
Issue identification
C11
Page
25,741-25,752
Title
Atmospheric conditions and fast ice at Davis, East Antarctica: A case study.
Date (Publication)
2006
Citation identifier
111

Citation identifier
doi:10.1029/2005JC002904

Author

Heil, P.
Name
Journal of Geophysical Research
Issue identification
C05009
Title
Sea ice measurements at Mawson and Davis, 1954-58
Date (Publication)
1960
Citation identifier
19

Author

Mellor, M.
Name
ANARE Interim Report
NASA/GCMD Earth Science Keywords
  • EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SEA ICE > ICE DEPTH/THICKNESS
Keywords
  • FAST ICE
  • FAST ICE THICKNESS
  • OCEANIC HEAT FLUX
  • SNOW THICKNESS
  • SEA ICE
  • SNOW
  • STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT
NASA/GCMD Earth Science Keywords
  • STEEL MEASURING TAPE
NASA/GCMD Earth Science Keywords
  • FIELD SURVEYS
NASA/GCMD Earth Science Keywords
  • AMD/AU
  • CEOS
  • AMD
  • ACE/CRC
NASA/GCMD Earth Science Keywords
  • OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN
  • CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA > Davis
  • CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA > Mawson
  • CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA > Casey
  • GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

Resource constraints

Use limitation
This metadata record is publicly available.

Resource constraints

Access constraints
licence
Other constraints
These data are publicly available for download from the URL given below. A pdf document detailing how the data are collected is also available for download from the provided URL.

Resource constraints

File type
Portable Network Graphic
Linkage
Creative Commons by Attribution logo

Title
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Website
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

Legal code for Creative Commons by Attribution 4.0 International license

Use constraints
licence
Other constraints
This data set conforms to the CCBY Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=SOE_fast_ice_thickness when using these data.
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distribution Information

Distributor

Distributor

AU/AADC > Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia - AADC, DATA OFFICER (DATA CENTER CONTACT)
Australian Antarctic Division
203 Channel Highway
Kingston
Tasmania
7050
Australia

Distributor

Fees
free
Planned available datetime
2005-03-29T00:00:00

Distributor

Fees
free
Planned available datetime
2005-03-29T00:00:00
Units of distribution
kb
Transfer size
407
Distribution format
  • word documents

Units of distribution
kb
Transfer size
2511
Distribution format
  • pdf

OnLine resource
GET DATA

Download page for Australian Antarctic Data Centre - Fast Ice Data

OnLine resource
GET DATA

Display Antarctic State of Environment Indicator 43

OnLine resource
VIEW RELATED INFORMATION

Download page for Australian Antarctic Data Centre - PDF instructions

OnLine resource
VIEW RELATED INFORMATION

Citation reference for this metadata record and dataset

Resource lineage

Statement
This indicator is now OBSOLETE. These data are no longer archived in this location, and are therefore not up-to-date. At Davis, where the water depth near the station is relatively shallow, there is little heat transfer from the ocean to the ice, and the thickness is largely determined by atmospheric conditions, predominantly temperature and snow cover. At Mawson, where ocean depths are over 200 m, interannual variability of ice thickness is also influenced by changes in oceanic heat flux. Long-term statistics are maintained for each site of the date of ice formation, maximum thickness, date of maximum thickness, date of any mid-season breakouts, and date of final breakout of the fast ice. Incomplete historical records exist for Mawson back to 1954 and for Davis back to 1958. Simple (e.g. Allison, 1981) or more complex (Heil et al., 1996) thermodynamic modelling of the growth of the ice cover can be used to estimate seasonal and interannual variations in the oceanic heat flux.
Hierarchy level
Dataset
Maintenance and update frequency
As needed
Maintenance note
2001-10-18, NH edited summary. 2001-12-05, summary edit CJD 2002-12-06, JWH moved analysis of indicator data to quality section. 2005-03-29, DJC added direct data link at Ian Allison's request. 2007-02-19, DJC added link to instructional pdf 2010-07-27 - record updated by Dave Connell to change URL Content Type. 2013-07-25 - record updated by Dave Connell to note that the indicator is now obsolete. 2019-07-17 - record updated by Dave Connell - basic updates.

Metadata

Metadata identifier
string/SOE_fast_ice_thickness

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Author

DAVIS, COLIN JOHN
Australian Antarctic Division
203 Channel Highway
Kingston
Tasmania
7050
Australia

Sponsor

Australian Antarctic Division

Owner

AADC

Type of resource

Resource scope
Dataset

Alternative metadata reference

Title
gov.nasa.gsfc.gcmd
Citation identifier
31c84c28-5caa-4f84-a3fb-e90eaf575759

Alternative metadata reference

Title
gov.nasa.gsfc.gcmd
Date (Last Revision)
2019-07-17T12:13:10

Identifier

Description
metadata.extraction_date

Alternative metadata reference

Title
gov.nasa.gsfc.gcmd
Citation identifier
8.6

Metadata linkage
http://data.aad.gov.au/metadata/records/SOE_fast_ice_thickness

Point of truth for the metadata record

Date info (Creation)
2001-08-27T00:00:00
Date info (Last Update)
2019-07-17

Metadata standard

Title
ISO 19115-3
Edition
2014
Other citation details
Version 1
Title
DIF to ISO 19115-1 Profile
 
 

Overviews

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


N
S
E
W


N
S
E
W


Keywords


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