Acceptance and utilization of LTER data requires that:
FILE NAME: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: OTHERS: Gordon Shupe
KEYWORDS: stream, transect, gage box, gage flume, gage rebar, northing, easting,
orthometric height
ABSTRACT: As part of the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project in
the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, a systematic sampling program has been undertaken
to monitor glacial meltwater stream attributes of the region. Optical topographic
surveys were performed to produce a layout of the area studied. This file provides the
northing, easting, and orthogonal height information for the gage boxes, flumes and
rebars set up for Andersen, House, Canada, Delta and Green Creek.
NOTE: These points were omitted from the plot files for the individual sites
(found in the
Stream Transect Coordinate List file), since in most cases they fall outside the
map area.
VARIABLES: dataset code, stream name, strmtrnsid, UTM northing (m), UTM easting (m), orthometric
height (m), description, file name
RESEARCH LOCATION: Study areas were located in the Taylor Valley of southern
Victoria Land, Antarctica (in the western coast of the Ross Sea at 77oS). Latitudes and
longitudes of the transects can be found in the
Stream Transect Locations file.
METHODS: Transects were established on Taylor Valley streams during January,
1994. Gage features were positioned at transect sites 1, 2, 3, 8 and 9. Three feature
types were observed as follows: TIMING: One-time only measurements.
CITATIONS: Alger, A.S., D.M. McKnight, S.A. Spaulding, C.M. Tate, G.H. Shupe,
K.A. Welch, R. Edwards, E.D. Andrews, and H.R. House, 1997,
Ecological Processes in a Cold
Desert Ecosystem: The Abundance and Species Distribution of Algal Mats in Glacial Meltwater
Streams in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University
of Colorado, Occasional Paper No. 51, 107p.
COMMENTS: Datum (3D) is ITRF-91. STATUS: Public Access (Type 1).
VARIABLE DESCRIPTION:
variable type description units missing value indicator minimum maximum precision Dataset code Text Code representing stream feature coordinates dataset None Required entry n/a n/a n/a Stream name Text Name of McMurdo Dry Valley stream None Required entry n/a n/a n/a Strmtrnsid Text Code representing stream transect None Required entry n/a n/a n/a UTM northing (m) Number Northing coordinates of feature meters Required entry n/a n/a n/a UTM easting (m) Number Easting coordinates of feature meters Required entry n/a n/a n/a Orthometric height (m) Number Orthometric height of feature meters Required entry n/a n/a n/a File name Text Original file name in which this information was submitted None Null n/a n/a n/a LOG: Data was collected and organized by Gordon Shupe. It was sent to
Diane McKnight and Denise Steigerwald to include in the McMurdo Dry Valley stream
database. The data was initially entered into the Microsoft Access relational database.
Ascii, comma delimited and MS-DOS text files were exported from Access to generate the
'featrutm.dat' and 'featrutm.txt' data files used on the web page.
In spring & summer of 2000, dataset code, location code (strmtrnsid), and stream name
fields were added. This would simplify generating links between different data & metadata
fields and assist in making the data more relational / useful in Oracle and ArcInfo.
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.
By performing an optical topographic survey, the northing, easting,and orthogonal
heights were documented for these gage features at Andersen, House, Canada, Delta
and Green Creek.