Observations of the sea ice cover at Wilkes base in Autumn-Winter 1963. Includes water temperature, air temperature, wind speed and direction, cloud cover, relative humidity, and general notes. These documents have been archived at the Australian Antarctic Division.

Environmental descriptors that are available for the study area (-180 degrees W/+180 degrees E; -45 degrees/-78 degrees S) and for the following periods: 1955-1964, 1965-1974, 1975-1984, 1985-1994, 1995-2012. They were compiled from different sources and transformed to the same grid resolution of 0.1 degree pixel. We also provide future projections for environmental descriptors established based on the Bio-Orable database (Tyberghein et al. 2012). They come from IPCC scenarii (B1, AIB, A2) for years 2100 and 2200 (IPCC, 4th report).

This data set provides the organochlorine content found in four sea-ice samples collected in the vicinity of Davis station over a three week period in 2014/15. Sea-ice is thought to serve as a reservoir for organochlorine pesticides during the winter. The aim of the study was to investigate the movement of organochlorine pesticides in the seasonal sea-ice during ice melt. A custom made, closed-system, ice melting unit, coupled to an in-situ water filter, was implemented for sampling. Minimal ice-melt or change in organchlorine content was found over the three week period. Changes were attributed to high ventilation of the sea-ice surface caused by high wind speeds found in the Antarctic compared to the Arctic. 4 sea-ice samples were collected in the vicinity of Davis station and contaminant profiles extracted and analysed. Caution should be taken in interpretation of data as the ice/water extraction unit failed during operation.

Metadata record for data expected from ASAC Project 2767 See the link below for public details on this project. A multidisciplinary survey of the processes linking sea ice with biological elements of Antarctic marine ecosystems was conducted in winter 2007. The survey provided large-scale information on sea ice biological and physical parameters in the 100-130 degree East sector off East Antarctica. The distribution of sea ice algae and krill were measured using various methods including ice coring surveys and trawls. These measurements were complemented by shipborne measurements and an intensive sea ice sampling program. Use of an ROV was attempted but did not result in quantitative/geo-referenced data. Under-ice video files are available from the Chief-Investigator. Individual word documents are available from this metadata record for each ice station. These contain information on the ice station number, date and time of record and the parameters/ samples.

DC Electrical: In order to relate the fluid permeability to the electrical properties of sea ice, we also took measurements of the vertical component of the DC electrical conductivity tensor of sea ice. Cores extending to the bottom of an ice floe were taken and laid out holder. With the exception of sites 7 and 8 where we encountered a slush layer below the hard ice and could not core down to the ocean. The core bottom was determined at sites 7 and 8 to be the ice slush interface. Immediately upon extraction, holes that fit our thermistor probes were drilled every ten centimetres and a temperature profile was taken. Subsequently, slightly larger holes were drilled which fit our electrical probes (stainless steel nails). An AEMC Earth Resistivity Meter was then used to measure the resistance over 10 cm sections of the core (usually offset by 5 cm so that the measured temperature was in the centre of the section where electrical resistance was measured). The cores used in resistance measurements were taken very close to where the crystallographic cores were taken. In almost all cases the cores extracted for electrical measurements were also used for crystallographic analysis, so that there was an exact match of electrical properties with crystal structure. In such cases the DC electrical cores were then moved to a -20 degree C cold room for further processing immediately after measurements in the field. A thin vertical section, approximately 3mm thick, was taken from each of the cores stored for analysis. These sections were placed between a pair of cross polarized plates and photographed. Each photo was labelled with the core and date it was taken, and was photographed with a meter stick alongside for scale. After the thin sections were photographed, the remaining samples were melted to measure salinity. Some of the melted sea ice was saved for later O18 analysis to distinguish samples containing snow ice from those containing marine granular ice. The temperature and salinities we are then used to calculate brine volume fractions along the 10 cm sections of the core. The DC conductivity data collected can be found in the Electrical tab of the Master_Core_List.xls Excel file. The raw data can be found in the scans of our field note books located in the folder named notebooks. In the spread sheet the measured resistances of the 10 cm sections, temperatures, salinities and corresponding brine volume fractions are listed per core. For each core the supporting crystallography core number can be found in the crystallography column of the spread sheet. The photos of the crystallography cores can be found in the crystallography folder, separated into subfolders labelled with the site and core number, Each photo also contains a tag indicating the core number , site taken , date, and what depth range this covers. Tags may not contain a depth range for cores less than 1 meter. Please see the meter stick in each photo for scale.

A numerical model of ocean wave interactions with Antarctic sea ice cover, including: (i) attenuation of wave energy due to the ice cover (based on the empirical model of Meylan, Bennetts, Kohout, 2014, Geophys Res Lett, doi:10.1002/2014GL060809); and (ii) breakup of the ice cover into smaller floes due to strains imposed by wave motion (based on the theory of Williams et al, 2013, Ocean Model., doi:10.1016/j.ocemod.2013.05.010). The model is coded in FORTRAN90 for use as a module in a standalone version of the CICEv4.1 sea ice model (http://oceans11.lanl.gov/trac/CICE). It requires incident wave forcing to be specified at some constant latitude outside the ice cover, which can be user chosen or imported from data files (e.g. data given by Wavewatch III hindcasts, see http://doi.org/10.4225/08/523168703DCC5). Modifications to the existing CICE routines are given to allow integration of the broken floe sizes into its lateral melting scheme, and for incorporation of a floe bonding scheme. Bennetts, O'Farrell and Uotila (submitted) use the model to study the impact of wave-induced ice breakup on model predictions of the concentration and volume of Antarctic sea ice.

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 2518 See the link below for public details on this project. Global climate change will lead to a reduction in the duration and thickness of sea ice in coastal areas. We will determine whether this will lead to a decrease in primary production and food value to higher predators. Project objectives: Our primary objective is to determine what effect will declining sea ice cover have on Antarctic coastal primary production? Hypotheses to be tested - A decrease in sea ice algal production will lead to a net reduction in total primary production. - A decrease in sea ice will result in less water column stratification which will reduce the significance of phytoplankton blooms. - Less sea ice will lead to a change in phytoplankton bloom composition away from diatoms towards un-nutritious nuisance blooms such as Phaeocystis - Benthic microalgal production will increase - Seaweed production will increase slightly - A decrease in sea ice thickness will increase ice algal production (as they are generally light limited) - Ice algae, benthic microalgae, and phytoplankton will acclimate to an elevated light climates by changing their photosynthetic efficiency and capacity - Ice algae, benthic microalgae, and phytoplankton will acclimate to an altered light quality. To answer these questions we will also need to determine: - What is the total annual primary production at coastal Antarctic sites; this consists of the contributions from the sea ice algal mats, benthic microalgal, seaweed and phytoplankton? - What is the effect of major environmental variables, such as UV, salinity, currents oxygen toxicity, cloud cover, nutrient availability and temperature on production. - What is the inter-annual variability in primary production? A broader scale issue that our data will contribute to providing answers to is the question - What effect will changing primary production have on higher trophic levels? Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report: Progress against objectives: The 2009/10 field and laboratory season focused on the second of our primary questions, i.e. 'What is the effect of major environmental variables, such as UV, salinity, currents oxygen toxicity, cloud cover, nutrient availability and temperature on production'. In particular we focused on light and light transmission though the sea ice. The science program AAS2518 was executed at Casey station from 11 Nov to 5 Dec 2009. The project was split into a field and a lab-based component. In situ spectral light transmission data were collected on first year sea ice within the vicinity of Jack's Hut. Ice cores were collected and transported to the laboratory at Casey station for spectral attenuation profiles within sea ice, and for measurements of spectral absorption by particulate and dissolved organic matter. Overall, the program was successful: in situ sea-ice spectral transmission data was collected in combination with vertical profiles of absorption coefficients of particulate (algae and detritus) and dissolved organic matter. Samples for analysis of photosynthetic pigments were collected and shipped to Sydney. Their analysis is underway. Due to logistical issues associated with the collection and transport of sea ice cores, the protocol for vertical profiling of spectral attenuation was modified (see below) and analysis of the data is currently underway. The field component of the program was successful as spectral transmission data was collected for first year sea-ice, and the chosen site contained a thriving sea ice algal community for bio-optical measurements. It was initially planned to sample multiple sites offering a range of varying sea-ice thickness, but this was not possible during this campaign. Many sites in the vicinity of Casey station had already started to melt and break up, so that for logistical and safety reasons the area around Jack's hut was the only workable option. The field period instead spanned ~ 20 days during the melt period at Jack's, during which the porosity of sea ice increased but thickness remained constant. Ice cores destined for spectral transmission profiles were to be collected whole and intact, but due to the presence of fractures in the sea ice, drilling (manual as well as motor powered) resulted in fractured core samples. The protocol was therefore modified: cores were sectioned in 20 cm sections and spectral transmission measured for each section. Spectral transmission profiles across the entire thickness of sea ice are to be re-constructed from the discrete data points. The accuracy of the approach will be assessed against the in situ spectral transmission data. The download file contains three spreadsheets (two of them are csv files), and a readme document which provides detailed information about the three spreadsheets.

Four ice monitoring stations were set up at Davis in 1993 (a fifth station was added after the first two months), with regular recordings of ice depth, snow cover and ablation made for each station by taking a sea ice core. Observations of the general condition of the drilled cores were also recorded. Observations were made at irregular intervals (roughly every 1-2 weeks). The observations for each individual day are listed, along with a summary table. These records are stored as handwritten files, and are archived at the Australian Antarctic Division.

Observations of the sea ice near Mawson were carried out in 1980, concentrating on the thickness of the ice at several points, and the accumulation and ablation of snow/ice cover on the ice. The ablation measurements were carried out by laying 23 ablation stakes out in two fields - a set of eight stakes in a straight line, and a set of 15 in a triangle. Results from both sets of observations were recorded in a log book, currently archived at the Australian Antarctic Division.

The ASPeCt - Bio dataset is a compilation of currently available sea ice chlorophyll a (chl-a) data from pack ice (i.e., excluding fast ice) cores collected during 32 cruises to the Southern Ocean sea ice zone from 1983 to 2008 (Table S1). Data come from peer-reviewed publications, cruise reports, data repositories and direct contributions by field-research teams. During all cruises the chl-a concentration (in micrograms per litre) was measured from melted ice core sections, using standard procedures, e.g., by melting the ice at less than 5 degrees C in the dark; filtering samples onto glassfibre filters; and fluorometric analysis according to standard protocols [Holm-Hansen et al., 1965; Evans et al., 1987]. Ice samples were melted either directly or in filtered sea water, which does not yield significant differences in chl-a concentration [Dieckmann et al., 1998]. The dataset consists of 1300 geo-referenced ice cores, consisting of 8247 individual ice core sections, and including 990 vertical profiles with a minimum of three sections. An updated dataset was provided in 2017-12-15, which included a compilation Net CDF file.