CANADA GLACIER METEOROLOGICAL STATION

Photo taken by Thomas Nylen - 2000-2001 Season All Rights Reserved. Reproduced with permission. For a panoramic view of the valley near the station, click here

• The Principal Investigator be sent a notice stating reasons for acquiring any data and a description of the publication intentions.
• The Principal Investigator be sent a copy of the report or manuscript prior to submission and be adequately cited in any resultant publications.
• A copy of any resultant publications should be sent to the McMurdo data manager.
  

MCM LTER Data Manager:	Chi Yang
Address:	Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Campus Box 450, University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado 80309-0450
Phone:	(303) 492-4639
E-Mail:	Chi.Yang@colorado.edu

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:	Andrew G. Fountain
Address:	Department of Geology, Portland State University, Portland OR, 97207-0751
Phone:	(503)725-3022
E-Mail:	fountaina@pdx.edu

OTHERS:	Thomas Nylen
Address:	Department of Geology, Portland State University, Portland OR, 97207-0751
Phone:	(503)725-3355
E-Mail:	nylent@pdx.edu

• To query air temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, radiation and soil temperature of any station, click here.


• To query AVERAGE (DAILY and MONTHLY) air temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, radiation and soil temperature of any station, click here.


• Descriptions of previous adjustments to the data files can be found in the log page.

ABSTRACT: As part of the Long Term Ecological Research in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, meteorological data was collected from various locations throughout Taylor, Wright and Victoria Valleys. These files contain data for the Commonwealth Glacier meteorology station (in Taylor Valley).

VARIABLES: Samples are represented using the following variable names:

Variable Name	Description
Dataset Code	Code for given set of information from Canada Glacier Met Station
MetLocID	Location code for Canada Glacier Met Station
Date	Date/time of sample (McMurdo time)
AirT2m	Average air temperature at 2 m above ground
AirT Comments	Comments about air temperature
RH2m	Relative humidity at 2 m height
RH Comments	Comments about relative humidity
SwRadIn	Incoming shortwave radiation
SwRadOut	Outgoing shortwave radiation
ThmIR	Thermal infrared surface temperature
PresSta	Atmospheric pressure
NetRad	Net Radiation
Radiation Comments	Comments about shortwave, thermal infrared and/or net radiation
WDir	Average wind direction
WDirStD	Standard deviation of wind direction
WSpd	Wind speed at 2 m height
WSpdMax	Maximum wind speed
WSpdMin	Minimum wind speed
Wind Comments	Comments about wind measurements

RESEARCH LOCATION: The Canada Glacier meteorology station is located at a latitude of 77 48.42128 S, a longitude of 162 57.80702 E, and an elevation of 264.42892 meters above sea level. Descriptions of this and other McMurdo Dry Valley meteorology stations can be found at http://huey.colorado.edu/LTER/datasets/meteorology/metlocs.html.

METHODS: On December 1, 1994, Gayle Dana established a summer-only eddy correlation station on Canada Glacier. The station and program both belonged to Scott Tyler at the Desert Research Institute (DRI) so they were slightly different than the LTER standard. However, the station was set up to monitor all of the standard meteorological parameters, as well as net radiation and sensible and latent heat fluxes with the use of the eddy correlation sensors during the summer. Information was gathered with a sampling frequency of every 1 second & averaging & output interval of every 20 minutes using this setup from December 1, 1994 to January 21, 1995.

On November 20, 1995, Karen Lewis established a permanent meteorology station on Canada Glacier with eddy sensors. It was set up to sample sensors regularly and send summary statistics (for example, averages and maximums) to solid-state storage modules every:

• 15 minutes between November 20, 1995 and January 16, 1997,
• 15 minutes between January 12, 1998 and January 16, 1998,
• 10 minutes between January 16, 1998 and January 30, 1998,
• 15 minutes thereafter.

(NOTE: Between Jan 16, 1997 @ 09:30 and Jan 12, 1998 @ 21:15 the station was taken down and brought to the U.S. It was taken back to Antarctica for the 1997-98 season & set up on January 12, 1998).

Primary measurements made on Canada Glacier meteorology station, instrumentation used, and time of initiation are shown in the following table:

Measurement	Starting Season	Ending Season	Instrument Used
Air temperature @ 2 m	1993/1994 2000/2001	2000/2001 ---	Campbell Scientific 207 temp/rh probe Campbell Scientific 107 temp probe
Air temperature @ 1 m	1995/1996	1996/1997	Campbell Scientific 207 temp/rh probe
Relative humidity @ 2 m	1993/1994 2000/2001	2000/2001 ---	Campbell Scientific 207 temp/rh probe Vaisala HMP45C RH probe
Relative humidity @ 1 m	1995/1996	1996/1997	Campbell Scientific 207 temp/rh probe
Wind speed	1994/1995	---	R.M. Young model 05103 wind monitor
Wind direction	1994/1995	---	R.M. Young model 05103 wind monitor
Solar Flux (incoming)	1994/1995	---	LI-COR model L1200X silicon pyranometer
Solar Flux (outgoing)	1994/1995	---	LI-COR model L1200X silicon pyranometer
Net radiation	1994/1995	1999/2000	REBS net radiometer
Ice surface thermal infrared	1995/1996	1999/2000	Everest model 4000 4GL infared temperature transducer. Summer-only measurements.
Barometric pressure	1994/1995	2002/2003	Vaisala model PTA427 Barometric pressure sensor
Ice Temperature @ 50 cm	2002/2003	---	Fenwall Thermisters (192-102DEW-A01) and Caddock Tetrinox® (TF050N) hi precision resistor (10Kohm) with ±5ppm/celcius and 0.01% Resistor
Ice Temperature @ 100 cm	2002/2003	---	Fenwall Thermisters (192-102DEW-A01) and Caddock Tetrinox® (TF050N) hi precision resistor (10Kohm) with ±5ppm/celcius and 0.01% Resistor

TIMING: Data was gathered from the Canada Glacier meteorology station on the dates and frequencies listed in the link below. Due to regular station maintenance, occasional short gaps (hours) with missing data occurs. Longer intervals (several months) with missing data have occasionally occurred due to storage module problems, but this is minimized through the regular station upkeep every austral summer. Click here to see the dates and frequencies.

CITATIONS: Doran, Peter T., Gayle L. Dana, Jordan T. Hastings and Robert A. Wharton, Jr. 1995. McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER): LTER automatic weather network (LAWN). Antarctic Journal of the U.S. 30(5): 276-280.

COMMENTS: Meteorological data is collected year-round at each of the stations in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. After retrieving this data (usually every January), the parameters that are recorded are processed from level 0 (raw) to level 1 (processed, provided on the web). The raw data file descriptions and task lists summarize what was done to get from level 0 to level 1.

STATUS: Public Access (Type 1).

VARIABLE DESCRIPTION:

variable	type	description	units	missing value indicator	minimum	maximum	precision
Dataset code	Text	Code for given set of information for Canada Glacier meteorology station	None	Required entry	n/a	n/a	n/a
MetLocID	Text	Code representing Canada Glacier meteorology station	None	Required entry	n/a	n/a	n/a
Date	Date	Date/time of sample (McMurdo time)	MM/DD/YY HH24:MM	Required entry	12/01/94 00:00	12/31/04 23:59	MM (minutes)
AirT1m	Number	Average air temperature at 1 m above ground	degrees celcius	Null	n/a	n/a	0.01
AirT2m	Number	Average air temperature at 2 m above ground	degrees celcius	Null	n/a	n/a	0.01
AirT Comments	Text	Helpful hints on air temperatures	None	Null	n/a	n/a	n/a
IceT50cm	Number	Ice temperature at 50 cm depth	degrees Celsius	Null	n/a	n/a	0.01
IceT1m	Number	Ice temperature at 1 meter depth	degrees Celsius	Null	n/a	n/a	0.01
RH1m	Number	Relative humidity at 1 meter	percent	Null	n/a	n/a	0.1
RH2m	Number	Relative humidity at 2 meters	percent	Null	n/a	n/a	0.1
RH Comments	Text	Helpful hints on relative humidities	None	Null	n/a	n/a	n/a
SwRadIn	Number	Incoming shortwave radiation/solar flux	W/m2	Null	n/a	n/a	0.1
SwRadOut	Number	Outgoing shortwave radiation/solar flux	W/m2	Null	n/a	n/a	0.1
ThmIR	Number	Thermal infrared surface temperature	degrees celcius	Null	n/a	n/a	0.01
PresSta	Number	Atmospheric / barometric pressure	mbar	Null	n/a	n/a	0.1
NetRad	Number	Net radiation	W/m2	Null	n/a	n/a	0.1
Radiation Comments	Text	Helpful hints on radiation measurements	None	Null	n/a	n/a	n/a
WDir	Number	Average wind direction	degrees from north	Null	n/a	n/a	0.01
WDirStD	Number	Standard deviation of wind direction	degrees from north	Null	n/a	n/a	0.01
WSpd	Number	Wind speed at 2 meters	meters per second	Null	n/a	n/a	0.1
WSpdMax	Number	Maximum wind speed at 2 meters	meters per second	Null	n/a	n/a	0.1
WSpdMin	Number	Minimum wind speed at 2 meters	meters per second	Null	n/a	n/a	0.1
Wind Comments	Text	Helpful hints on wind measurements	None	Null	n/a	n/a	n/a

FLAGS: Flags used during data processing:

"#": Bogus value, initialized but never calculated
"B": Recorded by instrument,but known to be "bad data"
"F": Recorded by instrument, but apparently flawed
"M": Supposedly recorded by instrument, but missing
"N": Not available/applicable (e.g. WDir when WSpd=0)
"R": Out of Range (user-adjustable limits)
"*": Subjectively voided

In addition, flags were found that were not included in the list above. Peter Doran was therefore contacted to find out how to translate the flags for "S", "U" and "V". He advised to use the following:

"S": Negative value generated by noise in the system zeroed out (eg. incoming shortwave radiation level should not be negative, so convert negative value to zero)
"U": Constant ice surface ablation on the glaciers causes the 20-centimeter ice temperature probe to continually become shallower. The probe depth is therefore not well known.
"V": Constant ice surfaceablation on the glaciers causes the 1-meter ice temperature probe to continually become shallower. The probe depth is therefore not wellknown.

Since the flags in the data files were added to values that were recorded, rather than appearing as a separate variable (eg. 0.0N, as opposed to 0.0, N), it was necessary for the data manager to revise these files so that the measurements were represented in numeric format & the flags would be in text format. Denise Steigerwald therefore imported the data into Microsoft Access, created comment fields for categories such as air temperature, humidity, wind, radiation, and soil temperature, and moved the suffixes described above to these comments fields. The comments were then expanded from the single letter codes to short descriptions of what was occurring.