VERTICAL PROFILE OF PHOTOSYNTHETIC ACTIVE RADIATION IN MCMURDO DRY VALLEY LAKES


Acceptance and utilization of LTER data requires that:


VERTICAL PROFILE OF PHOTOSYNTHETIC ACTIVE RADIATION IN MCMURDO DRY VALLEY LAKES

FILE NAME: parpro.datData File (Comma Delimited Ascii Format).
parpro.txtData File (MS-DOS Text Format - Table Layout).

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: John Priscu
Address:Department of Biology, Montana State University, Bozeman MT, 59717
Phone:(406)994-3250
E-Mail:ubijp@gemini.oscs.montana.edu or JPriscu@LTERnet.edu

OTHERS: Craig Wolf
Address:Department of Biology, Montana State University, Bozeman MT, 59717
Phone:(406)994-2360

KEYWORDS: photosynthetic active radiation, light, extinction coefficient, lake, limnology, Antarctica

ABSTRACT: As part of the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, lakes were monitored for photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) levels. This data set exemplifies the vertical profile of underwater PAR profiles in perennial ice covered lakes and ambient PAR measured at the air-ice interface. Profile data can be used to calculate extinction coefficients for the water column and ice layer.

VARIABLES: location name, location code, limno run, collection date, depth (m), UwPAR (µmol photons m-2 s-1), ambient PAR (µmol photons m-2 s-1), comments, file name

RESEARCH LOCATION: Samples were collected from the East Lake Bonney, West Lake Bonney, Lake Hoare, and Lake Fryxell limnological sampling stations, located in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Descriptions of these lakes can be found in the McMurdo Dry Valley Lake Descriptions file.

METHODS: A Licor LI-193SA spherical quantum sensor and a LI-190SA flat sensor were attached to a Licor LI-1000 data logger to record instantaneous underwater PAR and ambient PAR. Data were recorded in an outside incubation hole covered by a tarp, unless otherwise noted. Once the sensor stabilized, the data were recorded.

TIMING: Samples were collected from the following sites and dates:


 
Season		East Bonney	West Bonney	Hoare		Fryxell	
1993-1994	31-Oct-1993	28-Oct-1993	 6-Nov-1993	17-Nov-1993
 		10-Nov-1993	13-Nov-1993	 3-Dec-1993	 7-Dec-1993
 		25-Nov-1993	27-Nov-1993	31-Dec-1993	 9-Jan-1994
 		 9-Dec-1993	 9-Dec-1993
 		21-Dec-1993	25-Dec-1993
 													
1994-1995	 5-Nov-1994	 6-Nov-1994	11-Nov-1994	15-Nov-1994
 		27-Nov-1994	27-Nov-1994	 1-Dec-1994	 5-Dec-1994
 		21-Dec-1994	21-Dec-1994	27-Dec-1994	31-Dec-1994
 		11-Jan-1995	13-Jan-1995	22-Jan-1995
 		
1995-1996	30-Sep-1995	22-Sep-1995	 8-Sep-1995	15-Sep-1995	
		 7-Oct-1995	 5-Oct-1995	 9-Sep-1995	29-Sep-1995
		18-Oct-1995	20-Oct-1995	10-Sep-1995	15-Oct-1995
		9-Dec-1995	 9-Dec-1995	26-Sep-1995	27-Nov-1995			
  		2-Jan-1996	 5-Jan-1996	10-Oct-1995	28-Dec-1995
 						23-Nov-1995
  		 				24-Dec-1995
 		 
1996-1997	 5-Nov-1996	 2-Nov-1996	10-Nov-1996	28-Oct-1996
 		23-Nov-1996	25-Nov-1996	 4-Dec-1996	20-Nov-1996
 		19-Jan-1997	18-Jan-1997	13-Jan-1997	10-Jan-1997

1997-1998	10-Nov-1997	12-Nov-1997	16-Nov-1997	19-Nov-1997
 		21-Dec-1997					30-Dec-1997

1998-1999	10-Nov-1998	11-Nov-1998	 3-Nov-1998	29-Oct-1998
		 7-Dec-1998	 9-Dec-1998 	 1-Dec-1998	24-Nov-1998
		31-Dec-1998	 1-Jan-1999	26-Dec-1998	21-Dec-1998

1999-2000	 6-Nov-1999	11-Nov-1999	17-Nov-1999	31-Oct-1999
		 4-Dec-1999	 5-Dec-1999	12-Dec-1999	28-Nov-1999
		29-Dec-1999	30-Dec-1999	 4-Jan-2000	22-Dec-1999


CITATIONS:

COMMENTS:

STATUS: Public Access (Type 1).

VARIABLE DESCRIPTION:

VARIABLE

TYPE

DESCRIPTION

UNITS

MISSING VALUE INDICATOR

MINIMUM

MAXIMUM

PRECISION

Location Name

Text

Name of lake where measurement was made

none

Required entry

n/a

n/a

n/a

Location Code

Text

Code for site where measurement was made

none

Required entry

n/a

n/a

n/a

Limno Run

Text

Code for lake's sampling location and date

none

Required entry

n/a

n/a

n/a

Collection Date

Date

Date on which sample was gathered

mm/dd/yy

Required entry

01/01/93

12/31/99

dd

Depth (m)

Number

Distance below ice from which sample was drawn

meters

Required entry

1

60

1

uwPAR (µmol photons/m2/s)

Number

Underwater photosynthetically active radiation

µmol photons/m2/second

Null

0

100

0.01

Ambient PAR (µmol photons/m2/s)

Number

Ambient photosynthetically active radiation

µmol photons/m2/second

Null

0

2000

0.1

Comments

Text

Helpful hints about the sample

none

Null

n/a

n/a

n/a

File Name

Text

Name of file in which data was submitted

none

Null

n/a

n/a

n/a

LOG: Data from this table was submitted to INSTAAR by John Priscu's team at Montana State University. The raw data files listed under 'file name' are the names of the original files submitted. The 1993/94 and 1994/95 datasets are Microsoft Excel version 6.0 files, and the 1995/96, 1996/97 and 1997/98 datasets are ascii text files.

Upon arrival at INSTAAR, the data manager fine-tuned the location codes and limno runs to match those provided in the "locations, dates, codes for lake chemistry, biology samples" file. The file was imported into Microsoft Access on INSTAAR's Unix system, and can currently be found there. The file was then exported in ascii, comma delimited text and MS-DOS text (table layout) to present on the MCM LTER web site. Both of these files are linked to this web page above.

Information for the metadata was obtained from the lktemps.metadata.txt and Metaparprofile9697.rtf files. The files were called up using Microsoft Word version 6.0. Text from these files was used to create this page in html format.

NOTE: Data contained in these files has been subjected to quality control standards imposed by the investigator. The user of this data should be aware that, while efforts have been taken to ensure that these data are of the highest quality, there is no guarantee of perfection for the data contained herein and the possibility of errors exists. If you encounter questionable data, please contact the MCM LTER data manager (; (303)492-4639) so that the data can be corrected or qualified. Thus, these data may be modified and future data will be appended.