imageryBaseMapsEarthCover
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The RAN Australian Hydrographic Service conducted hydrographic survey HI514 at Mawson, February to March 2012. The areas surveyed were the entrance to Horseshoe Harbour and the western side of West Arm. There is also a single line of soundings east of Evans Island. The survey dataset, which includes the Report of Survey, was provided to the Australian Antarctic Data Centre by the Australian Hydrographic Office and is available for download (see a Related URL). The vertical datum of the soundings is Lowest Astronomical Tide, 0.83 metres below Mean Sea Level. The survey was lead by LT C.E.Diplock. The data are not suitable for navigation.
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A high resolution bathymetric grid of the nearshore area at Casey station, Antarctica was produced by Geoscience Australia by combining data from two multibeam hydrographic surveys: 1) A survey conducted by the Royal Australian Navy in 2013/14. Refer to the metadata record 'Hydrographic survey HI545 by the RAN Australian Hydrographic Service at Casey, December 2013 to January 2014' with ID HI545_hydrographic_survey. 2) A survey conducted by Geoscience Australia and the Royal Australian Navy in 2014/15. Refer to the metadata record 'Hydrographic survey HI560 by the RAN Australian Hydrographic Service at Casey, December 2014 to February 2015' with ID HI560_hydrographic_survey and the metadata record 'Seafloor Mapping Survey, Windmill Islands and Casey region, Antarctica, December 2014 - February 2015' with ID AAS_3326_seafloor_mapping_casey_2014_15. The grid has a cell size of one metre and is stored in a UTM Zone 49S projection, based on WGS84. Further information is available from the Geoscience Australia website (see a Related URL).
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Imagery of Aurora Australis and sea ice captured by a 'quadcopter' (Inspire) drone launched from the ship
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This dataset (provided as a series of CF-compatible netcdf file) consists of 432 consecutive maps of Antarctic landfast sea ice, derived from NASA MODIS imagery. There are 24 maps per year, spanning the 18 year period from March 2000 to Feb 2018. The data are provided in a polar stereographic projection with a latitude of true scale at 70 S (i.e., to maintain compatibility with the NSIDC polar stereographic projection).
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In January 2005 a multi-parametric international experiment was conducted that encompassed both Deception Island and its surrounding waters. This experiment used as main platforms the Spanish Oceanographic vessel 'Hesperides', the Spanish Scientific Antarctic base 'Gabriel de Castilla' at Deception Island and four temporary camps deployed on the volcanic island. This experiment allowed us to record active seismic signals on a large network of seismic stations that were deployed both on land and on the seafloor. In addition other geophysical data were acquired, such as: bathymetric high precision multi-beam data, and gravimetric and magnetic profiles. During the whole period of the experiment a multi-beam sounding EM120 was used to perform bathymetric surveys. The characteristic of this sensor permitted to reach up to 11.000 m b.s.l. In table 2 we provide some of its main characteristics. During the experiment different bathymetric profiles were performed with this equipment outside of Port Foster. Some of these images already have provide an accurate vision of the region, and were used to estimate the real size of the water column locate below each shoot. Additional information of these data could be found in the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at IEDA Marine Geoscience Data System (http://www.marine-geo.org/). It is possible to access the summary of downloads that were made of these data and documents at http://www.marine-geo.org/about/downloadreport/person/Ibanez_Jesus/2016A.
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Taken from sections of the report: Introduction This report describes aspects of the fieldwork completed for the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) mapping program during the Austral summer 2003-04. The mapping program was undertaken in harmony and collaboration with the Geoscience Australia geodesy program in Antarctica, between 16th November 2003 and 2nd February 2004. Surveyors from both organisations, including Henk Brolsma (Mapping Officer, AAD) and A. Corvino (author), teamed up to successfully complete a wide range of goals. The principal objective of the Geoscience Australia geodesy program was to install three remotely located continuous GPS stations in the southern Prince Charles Mountains (PCM) and Grove Mountains (Corvino, 2004). That project is not discussed further in this report. The main objectives of the AAD mapping program were to survey ground control points (GCPs) for geo-referencing new satellite imagery and to complete terrestrial survey work in the vicinity of Davis station. The following tasks were completed: - Downloading of the tide gauges at the Larsemann Hills and Davis station; - Transfer of local sea level at the Davis tide gauge to an absolute height datum using GPS; - Establishing a new survey mark at Beaver Lake and connecting it to the existing survey marks; - Conducting GPS surveys of selected ground features for geo-referencing satellite imagery at Beaver Lake, Marine Plain, the Grove Mountains and Wilson Bluff; - Establishing new survey marks at Marine Plain in the Vestfold Hills; - Computing the alignment of the UWOSCR instrument in the Space and Atmospheric Sciences (SAS) building at Davis station; - Surveying lake levels in the Vestfold Hills; and - Various local surveying tasks at Davis station. A few aspects of the fieldwork that were completed exclusively by surveyor Brolsma are not included in this report. In particular the report is concerned with the tasks that were undertaken using GPS survey methods, which includes the tide gauge surveys, image control surveys and the fieldwork at Beaver Lake and Marine Plain. Photographs that document the fieldwork and support the text are included throughout. GPS processing reports and photographs showing the locations of the GCPs are provided as Appendices.
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This indicator is no longer maintained, and is considered OBSOLETE. INDICATOR DEFINITION A count of visits and visitor numbers to Australian Antarctic Territory sites and Australia's sub-Antarctic islands by Australian and overseas tour operators and private vessels. Data are also available for Australian tour operators that visit other (non-AAT) areas of the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands. 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: PRESSURE RATIONALE FOR INDICATOR SELECTION Shipborne Antarctic tourist numbers have quadrupled in the past fifteen years. Antarctic tourism is expected to continue to exhibit high growth, particularly if more large cruise ships begin operating there. Antarctic tourism is currently concentrated around the Antarctic Peninsula area and associated sub-Antarctic islands. Apart from visits to Australia's sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island (which is managed by the State of Tasmania), there are currently only limited tourist visits to the AAT and other Australian sub-Antarctic islands. It is, however, important to track these activities due to the potential risk of cumulative environmental impact: the areas of most interest to tourists are those with concentrations of wildlife, with unique physical or biotic characteristics, or with heritage sites. Increased visits by tourist ships in Antarctic waters also increase the potential for oil spills, wildlife disturbance, effluent/waste discharges and introduced diseases. DESIGN AND STRATEGY FOR INDICATOR MONITORING PROGRAM Spatial scale: Australian Antarctic Territory and Australian sub-Antarctic islands visited by tour operators. Data from the Antarctic Peninsula (not Australian territory) is also included, from 2001-02 onwards, based on the reports of Australian tour operators who operate on the Peninsula. Note that Australian operators typically carry fewer than 10% of the total number of tourists in the Peninsula region, so the data does not reflect the overall pressure on that region. Frequency: Collected/reported annually, based on austral summer season for tour activities. Measurement technique: Data collected via initial environmental impacts assessments (EIAs) provided by operators/owners and via post visit reports. These data can be collated as required. Data on tourist visits/activities are also collected by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), although this information is predominantly about operators who are members of IAATO. Australia must provide information on private vessel activities in the Antarctic Treaty Area as part of Antarctic Treaty reporting obligations. Information from operators is also sought, and provided in the EIAs, on the type of operation and tourist activities and measures taken to minimise environmental impacts, e.g. oil spills contingencies. RESEARCH ISSUES Several issues are of concern with regard to increased tourism activity in the Antarctic region. The potential for cumulative impacts needs to be explored and methods developed to identify and quantify impacts at specific sites. Increased tourist and ship activity has the potential to cause pollution. Implications for increased pollutant loads in Antarctic ecosystems need to be addressed and acceptable levels of pollutants need to be identified. The introduction of exotic pests and/or diseases due to tourist activities has the potential to considerably affect Antarctic ecosystems. Work needs to be done to assess introductions that may occur and that have already occurred, and the impacts of these introductions.
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Satellite image map of Amanda Bay, Antarctica. This map was produced for the Australian Antarctic Division by AUSLIG (now Geoscience Australia) Commercial, in Australia, in 1991. The map is at a scale of 1:100 000, and was produced from Landsat 4 TM imagery (124-108, 124-109). It is projected on a Transverse Mercator projection, and shows traverses/routes/foot track charts, glaciers/ice shelves, penguin colonies, stations/bases, runways/helipads, and gives some historical text information. The map has both geographical and UTM co-ordinates.
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The TOMO-DEC experiment was organized in three main legs: (1) a search for sites to deploy seismic stations and for temporary camps to accommodate the researchers (austral summer 2003-2004); (2) the field phase of data collection during the austral summer 2004-2005; and finally (3) a laboratory phase of data gathering, organization and analysis, that still ongoing as papers continue to be published. The preliminary analysis of data involved an initial phase of data gathering from instruments of different types, their organization in a joint database, their conversion to a common format and, finally, the determination of the first P-wave arrival times. Leg 1 was performed during two summer field expeditions (2002-2003 and 2003-2004). The whole island was surveyed (including glacial areas) in order to identify potential sites for seismic stations and camps. Leg 2 took place between December 2004 and March 2005 with most of the activity focused in the deployment of seismic stations (on land and OBSs), air-gun shooting, data collection and final recovery of the majority of the seismic stations. This experiment took place between January 4 and January 24, 2005. Ninety-five on-land seismic stations and 14 OBSs were deployed. They included 7 Lennartz Marslite seismic stations (covering 14 positions), four M24 instruments (covering 7 positions) and 11 seismic arrays (with 84 short period sensors, occupying a total of 101 different positions), all of them working in continuous recording mode. Active seismic sources were generated using an array of air-guns with a maximum capacity of 3520 cubic inches. Together with the seismic waveforms, a final dataset consisting of travel times for more than 70000 crustal P-wave first arrivals was collected. Bathymetric data were recorded using both EM120 and EM-1002 multi-beam sounders and a SIMRAD EA-600 single-beam sounder. Magnetic profiles were obtained using the MarineMagnetics SEASPY marine magnetometer on the base of an Overhauser sensor. Finally gravimetric data were acquired using the marine gravimeter BELL AEROSPACE-TEXTRON BGM-3. In total more than 1000 km of profiles were acquired with all types of data. The experiment at Deception Island was organized in collaboration with several research institutions. For the field work and data collection the following institutions (with number of researchers and provided instruments) participated: Instituto Andaluz De Geofisica, Spain (12, 10 land seismic arrays of malIAG type); Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, USA (4, 14 OBS); INGV-Osservatorio Vesuviano, Italy (1, 7 land stations of Marslite type); INGV-Catania, Italy (1, 4 land stations of M24 type); CENAPRED, Mexico (1); Universidad De Cadiz, Spain (2); Universidad De Colima, Mexico (1); University College Dublin, Ireland (1); Universidad Complutense De Madrid, Spain (1); Universidad De La Plata, Argentina (1); University Of Washington, USA (3); USGS Volcanic Hazard Team, USA (2).
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The Davis Coastal Seabed Mapping Survey, Antarctica (GA-4301 / AAS2201 / HI468) was conducted on the Australian Antarctic Division workboat Howard Burton during February-March 2010 as a component of Australian Antarctic Science (AAS) Project 2201 - Natural Variability and Human Induced Change on Antarctic Nearshore Marine Benthic Communities. The survey was undertaken as a collaboration between Geoscience Australia, the Australian Antarctic Division and the Australian Hydrographic Service (Royal Australian Navy). The survey acquired multibeam bathymetry and backscatter datasets from the nearshore region of the Vestfold Hills around Davis Station, Antarctica. These datasets are described by the metadata record with ID Davis_multibeam_grids. This dataset comprises an interpreted geomorphic map produced for the central survey area using multibeam bathymetry and backscatter grids and their derivatives (e.g. slope, contours). Six geomorphic units; basin, valley, embayment, pediment, bedrock outcrop and scarp were identified and mapped using definitions suitable for interpretation at the local scale (nominally 1:10 000). Polygons were created using a combination of automatic extraction and manual digitisation in ArcGIS. For further information on the geomorphic mapping methods and a description of each unit, please refer to OBrien P.E., Smith J., Stark J.S., Johnstone G., Riddle M., Franklin D. (2015) Submarine geomorphology and sea floor processes along the coast of Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, from multibeam bathymetry and video data. Antarctic Science 27:566-586. This metadata record was created using information in Geoscience Australia's metadata record at http://www.ga.gov.au/metadata-gateway/metadata/record/89984/