EXPLORERS COVE METEOROLOGICAL STATION

Photo taken by Thomas Nylen - 1999-2000 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 Explorers Cove meteorology station.

VARIABLES: Samples are represented using the following variable names:

Variable Name	Description
Dataset Code	Code for given set of information from Explorers Cove Met Station
MetLocID	Location code for Explorers Cove meteorology station
Date	Date/time of sample (McMurdo time)
AirT3m	Average air temperature at 3 m above ground
AirTdel3m1	Air temperature at 3 m above ground minus air temperature at 1 m above ground
AirT Comments	Comments about air temperature
Ppt (mm)	Unevaporated precipitation
Ppt Comments	Comments about precipitation
RH	Relative humidity
RH Comments	Comments about relative humidity
SoilT0cm	Soil temperature at 0 cm depth
SoilT5cm	Soil temperature at 5 cm depth
SoilT10cm	Soil temperature at 10 cm depth
SoilT Comments	Comments about soil temperature
PAR	Photosynthetically active radiation
SwRadIn	Incoming shortwave radiation
SwRadOut	Outgoing shortwave radiation
Radiation Comments	Comments about radiation measurements (PAR, shortwave)
WDir	Average wind direction
WDirStD	Standard deviation of wind direction
WSpd	Wind speed
WSpdMax	Maximum wind speed
WSpdMin	Minimum wind speed
Wind Comments	Comments about wind speed

RESEARCH LOCATION: The Explorers Cove meteorology station is located at a latitude of 77 3.08314 S, a longitude of 163 25.0514 E, and an elevation of 25.7466 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: At the start of the first McMurdo LTER field season (1993-1994), Explorers Cove station was one of only two meteorological stations operating on the floor of the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The U.S. Geological Survey continued to manage the station. From November 24, 1995 to February 26, 1996, precipitation levels were sampled every hour for the long-term ecological research program. On February 26, 1996, the signal from the precipitation gage went dead and remained so until new equipment was installed in November, 1997. As a result there is a gap in the data collected at Explorers Cove meteorological station.

In November, 1997, a new station with all new sensors mounted on Clow's old tripod was set up. At that time, the station was set up to sample sensors every 30 seconds and send summary statistics (for example, averages and maximums) to solid-state storage modules every 15 minutes. This has resulted in approximately 20 values being recorded for final storage in the more recent output intervals. Primary measurements now made on Explorers Cove meteorology station, instrumentation used, and time of initiation are shown in the following table:

Measurement	Starting Season	Ending Season	Instrument Used
Air temperature @ 3 m	1997/1998 1999/2000	1999/2000 ---	Campbell Scientific 207 temp/rh probe Campbell Scientific 107 temp probe
Relative humidity @ 3 m	1997/1998 1999/2000	1999/2000 ---	Campbell Scientific 207 temp/rh probe Vaisala HMP45C RH probe
Air temperature difference between 1 m & 3 m heights	1997/1998	2002/2003	Chromel-constantan thermocouple wire
Soil temperature @ 0 cm	1997/1998	---	Campbell Scientific 107B temperature probe
Soil temperature @ 5 cm	2002/2003	---	Campbell Scientific 107 temperature probe
Soil temperature @ 10 cm	2002/2003	---	Campbell Scientific 107 temperature probe
Wind speed	1997/1998	---	R.M. Young model 05103 wind monitor
Wind direction	1997/1998	---	R.M. Young model 05103 wind monitor
Solar Flux (incoming)	1997/1998	---	LI-COR model L1200S silicon pyranometer
Solar Flux (outgoing)	1997/1998	---	LI-COR model L1200S silicon pyranometer
PAR	1997/1998	---	LI-COR model 190SB quantum sensor
Precipitation	1995/1996	---	Belfort precipitation gage with BEl natural binary shaft encoder. Custom-made nipher shields provided by Canada's Atmospheric Environment Service.

TIMING: Data was gathered from the Explorers Cove 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 Explorers Cove meteorology station	None	Required entry	n/a	n/a	n/a
MetLocID	Text	Location code for Explorers Cove 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)
AirT3m	Number	Average air temperature at 3 m above ground	degrees celcius	Null	-70	15	0.01
AirTdel3m1	Number	Air temperature at 3 m minus air temperature at 1 m	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
Ppt (mm)	Number	Unevaporated precipitation	millimeters	Null	n/a	n/a	0.1
Ppt Comments	Text	Helpful hints on precipitation measurements	None	Null	n/a	n/a	n/a
RH	Number	Relative humidity	percent	Null	0	100	0.1
RH Comments	Text	Helpful hints on relative humidity	None	Null	n/a	n/a	n/a
SoilT0cm	Number	Soil temperature at 0 cm depth	degrees celcius	Null	-70	25	0.01
SoilT5cm	Number	Soil temperature at 5 cm depth	degrees celcius	Null	-70	25	0.01
SoilT10cm	Number	Soil temperature at 10 cm depth	degrees celcius	Null	-70	25	0.01
SoilT Comments	Text	Helpful hints on soil temperatures	None	Null	n/a	n/a	n/a
PAR	Number	Photosynthetically active radiation	µmols/second/meter2	Null	0	2000	0.1
SwRadIn	Number	Incoming shortwave radiation/solar flux	W/m2	Null	0	900	0.1
SwRadOut	Number	Outgoing shortwave radiation/solar flux	W/m2	Null	0	900	0.1
Radiation Comments	Text	Helpful hints on shortwave radiation/solar flux measurements	None	Null	n/a	n/a	n/a
WDir	Number	Average wind direction	degrees from north	Null	0	360	0.1
WDirStD	Number	Standard deviation of wind direction	degrees from north	Null	0	n/a	0.1
WSpd	Number	Wind speed	meters per second	Null	0	n/a	0.1
WSpdMax	Number	Maximum wind speed	meters per second	Null	0	n/a	0.1
WSpdMin	Number	Minimum wind speed	meters per second	Null	0	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.