SNWDNS English utf8 dataset McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER Information Manager im@mcmlter.org pointOfContact 2014-10-29 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - North American Profile Metadata - Data with Biological Extensions ISO 19115-2:2009(E) Glacier snow density measurements, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica (1993-2023, ongoing) 2014-10-29 publication Michael Gooseff University of Colorado Boulder http://www.colorado.edu/ michael.gooseff@colorado.edu http://goosefflab.weebly.com pointOfContact Andrew Fountain Portland State University http://www.pdx.edu (503) 725-3386 P.O. Box 751 Portland OR 97207 US andrew@pdx.edu http://glaciers.pdx.edu/fountain/ pointOfContact documentDigital 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 mass balance and meltwater flow. This data package includes snow density measurements determined at each stake with snow present on glaciers in Taylor Valley (Canada, Commonwealth, Howard, and Taylor) and Miers Valley (Adams), all of which are located in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Included here for each stake are the snow thickness and density for each layer and the average density for each pit. Most measurements began during the 93-94 field season. Adams measurements were established during the 14-15 field season. Measurements are ongoing for Adams, Commonwealth, and Howard glaciers. Monitoring the changes in these measurements over time provides a record of mass balance, and aids in determining the role of glaciers in the polar hydrologic cycle. The goal of each summer season is to take measurements in early spring (Oct/Nov) and late summer (late January). This provides a measure of seasonal winter/summer changes of glacier mass. Name: Anna T. Wright Role: field technician Name: Renée F. Brown Role: data manager Name: Anna J. Bergstrom Role: former field crew Name: Hassan Basagic Role: former field crew Name: Thomas Nylen Role: former field crew Name: Inigo San Gil Role: former data manager completed McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER Information Manager im@mcmlter.org pointOfContact unknown Data for the glacier snow densities was submitted by Andrew G. Fountain to the data manager in  August, 1997. The column showing "file name" identifies the original file containing that record.                           These are provenance ascii text files and can be found by the McMurdo LTER data manager's office.    Once submitted, the data manager used Microsoft Excel, Access or/and Toad for Oracle software to produce files that were in more of a relational mode.                            In March, 2000, Thomas Nylen submitted data from the 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons. Instead of lumping all of the snow density values for each glacier under one file, they were    separated into files for each glacier. Metadata fields were also completed at this time.                           In April, 2000, Denise Steigerwald added fields for dataset code and glstkid. Dataset code would allow  the data to be linked to the metadata in a relational database. Glstkid is a code that ties stake records to points on a GIS base map being developed by Michael Prentice at the University of New Hampshire.                      In 2006, Chris Gardner and Inigo San Gil standardized the metadata using the EML format. In addition, metadata was distributed at the LTER Metadata catalogs and Federal metadata clearinghouses.   In 2014, metadata was revamped by Inigo San Gil, using the Drupal Ecological Information Management System (DEIMS)   Metadata completed in 2016 disturbance theme LTER Core Areas English Located in the Miers Valley, this glacier became object of the MCMLTER program study in 2015. 163.732166290280 163.582477569580 -78.118713184740 -78.097276633989 The Canada Glacier a small glacier flowing south-east into the northern side of Taylor Valley.  The glacier receives less than 10 cm of snowfall annually. Its seasonal melting feeds Lake Hoare to the west and Lake Fryxell to the east. 163.057708740234 162.894287109375 -77.632133483887 -77.598403930664 The Commonwealth glacier flows in a southeasterly direction and enters the northern side of Taylor Valley immediately west of Mount Coleman. Named by the British Antarctic Expedition for the Commonwealth of Australia in the early 1900s.   163.373565673828 163.197784423828 -77.589111328125 -77.545059204102 Howard is a small alpine glacier just west of Crescent Glacier, flowing into Taylor Valley on the north from the Kukri Hills. Geologist T.L. Pewe studied and named it for Arthur D. Howard, 163.147994995117 163.036087036133 -77.687744140625 -77.662025451660 The Taylor Glacier is an Antarctic glacier about 54 kilometres (34 mi) long, flowing from the plateau of Victoria Land into the western end of Taylor Valley, north of the Kukri Hills, south of the Asgard Range. The middle part of the glacier is bounded on the south by Beacon Valley.Scott (early nineties British Antarctic expedition) named the glacier for Griffith Taylor, geologist and leader of the Western Journey Party of the British Antarctic expedition.Like other glaciers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Taylor Glacier is “cold-based,” meaning its bottom is frozen to the ground below.   162.280426025391 161.683044433594 -77.769035339355 -77.721229553223 ground condition 1993-10-25 2023-01-24 In some circumstances we have the opportunity or need to measure the glaciers in mid-season (Dec).                   View the dates the measurements were made at the following URL: http://mcmlter.org/sites/default/files/snowdates.pdf                https://mcm.lternet.edu/sites/default/files/data/mcmlter-glac-adams-snowdensity-20250311.csv ADASNWDNS eng; US McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER ADASNWDNS Data Source Definition : Adams Glacier - Snow Densities Record Delimiter : \n Number of Header Lines : 1 Number of Footer Lines : 1 Orientation : Column Quote Character : "Field Delimiter : , false DATASET CODE Code representing glacier snow density dataset GLACIER NAME OF GLACIER WHERE MEASUREMENT WAS MADE STAKE UNIQUE NUMBER FOR EACH STAKE ON GLACIER DATE_TIME DATE OF DATA MEASUREMENT Date Time Format: MM/DD/YYYY LAYER Unit of snow identified as distinct by hardness from other units in a snow pit. THICKNESS Height of distinct layer in snow pit TOTAL_MASS Mass of snow and bag measured by a scale in the field BAG_MASS Mass of the bag before adding snow SNOW_MASS Subtraction of the mass of the bag from the total mass DENSITY Snow mass divided by 100cm3, which the volume of the sampling tool used to extract the snow sample WEIGHTED_DENSITY the density times the thickness of the layer, which is used to weight the density if there are more than one layer in the pit AVG_SNOWPACK_DENSITY the sum of the weighted densities dived by the sum of the thickness of all the layers. SDC (snow density competency) - a qualitative description of how readable the sample was extracted from the snow pit. One (1) indicates that a good sample, with little snow loss was collected, 2 indicates some loss of snow, while 3 indicates that obtaining a nearly complete sample was not possible due to either the lack of cohesion of the snow or the snow wasto hard to collect a sample. LAYER_DESCRIPTION Field observations of the snow layer: hardness of the snow, and snow grain shapes and sizes. COMMENTS Notes on snow density measurements GLSTKID CODE FROM GLACIER / STAKE/ DATE OF COORDINATE MEASUREMENT (TO BE USED FOR GIS MAPPING) FILE NAME RAW DATA FILE CONTAINING INFORMATION DBF https://mcm.lternet.edu/sites/default/files/data/mcmlter-glac-adams-snowdensity-20250311.csv https://mcm.lternet.edu/sites/default/files/data/mcmlter-glac-canada-snowdensity-20250311.csv CANSNWDNS eng; US McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER CANSNWDNS Data Source Definition : Canada Glacier - Snow Density Record Delimiter : \n Number of Header Lines : 1 Number of Footer Lines : 1 Orientation : Column Quote Character : "Field Delimiter : , false DATASET CODE Code representing glacier snow density dataset GLACIER NAME OF GLACIER WHERE MEASUREMENT WAS MADE STAKE UNIQUE NUMBER FOR EACH STAKE ON GLACIER DATE_TIME DATE OF DATA MEASUREMENT Date Time Format: MM/DD/YYYY LAYER Unit of snow identified as distinct by hardness from other units in a snow pit. THICKNESS Height of distinct layer in snow pit TOTAL_MASS Mass of snow and bag measured by a scale in the field BAG_MASS Mass of the bag before adding snow SNOW_MASS Subtraction of the mass of the bag from the total mass DENSITY Snow mass divided by 100cm3, which the volume of the sampling tool used to extract the snow sample WEIGHTED_DENSITY the density times the thickness of the layer, which is used to weight the density if there are more than one layer in the pit AVG_SNOWPACK_DENSITY the sum of the weighted densities dived by the sum of the thickness of all the layers. SDC (snow density competency) - a qualitative description of how readable the sample was extracted from the snow pit. One (1) indicates that a good sample, with little snow loss was collected, 2 indicates some loss of snow, while 3 indicates that obtaining a nearly complete sample was not possible due to either the lack of cohesion of the snow or the snow wasto hard to collect a sample. LAYER_DESCRIPTION Field observations of the snow layer: hardness of the snow, and snow grain shapes and sizes. COMMENTS Notes on snow density measurements GLSTKID CODE FROM GLACIER / STAKE/ DATE OF COORDINATE MEASUREMENT (TO BE USED FOR GIS MAPPING) FILE NAME RAW DATA FILE CONTAINING INFORMATION DBF https://mcm.lternet.edu/sites/default/files/data/mcmlter-glac-canada-snowdensity-20250311.csv https://mcm.lternet.edu/sites/default/files/data/mcmlter-glac-commonwealth-snowdensity-20250311.csv COMSNWDNS eng; US McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER COMSNWDNS Data Source Definition : Commonwealth Glacier - Snow Densities Record Delimiter : \n Number of Header Lines : 1 Number of Footer Lines : 1 Orientation : Column Quote Character : "Field Delimiter : , false DATASET CODE Code representing glacier snow density dataset GLACIER NAME OF GLACIER WHERE MEASUREMENT WAS MADE STAKE UNIQUE NUMBER FOR EACH STAKE ON GLACIER DATE_TIME DATE OF DATA MEASUREMENT Date Time Format: MM/DD/YYYY LAYER Unit of snow identified as distinct by hardness from other units in a snow pit. THICKNESS Height of distinct layer in snow pit TOTAL_MASS Mass of snow and bag measured by a scale in the field BAG_MASS Mass of the bag before adding snow SNOW_MASS Subtraction of the mass of the bag from the total mass DENSITY Snow mass divided by 100cm3, which the volume of the sampling tool used to extract the snow sample WEIGHTED_DENSITY the density times the thickness of the layer, which is used to weight the density if there are more than one layer in the pit AVG_SNOWPACK_DENSITY the sum of the weighted densities dived by the sum of the thickness of all the layers. SDC (snow density competency) - a qualitative description of how readable the sample was extracted from the snow pit. One (1) indicates that a good sample, with little snow loss was collected, 2 indicates some loss of snow, while 3 indicates that obtaining a nearly complete sample was not possible due to either the lack of cohesion of the snow or the snow wasto hard to collect a sample. LAYER_DESCRIPTION Field observations of the snow layer: hardness of the snow, and snow grain shapes and sizes. COMMENTS Notes on snow density measurements GLSTKID CODE FROM GLACIER / STAKE/ DATE OF COORDINATE MEASUREMENT (TO BE USED FOR GIS MAPPING) FILE NAME RAW DATA FILE CONTAINING INFORMATION DBF https://mcm.lternet.edu/sites/default/files/data/mcmlter-glac-commonwealth-snowdensity-20250311.csv https://mcm.lternet.edu/sites/default/files/data/mcmlter-glac-howard-snowdensity-20250311.csv HOWSNWDNS eng; US McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER HOWSNWDNS Data Source Definition : Howard Glacier - Snow Density Record Delimiter : \n Number of Header Lines : 1 Number of Footer Lines : 1 Orientation : Column Quote Character : "Field Delimiter : , false DATASET CODE Code representing glacier snow density dataset GLACIER NAME OF GLACIER WHERE MEASUREMENT WAS MADE STAKE UNIQUE NUMBER FOR EACH STAKE ON GLACIER DATE_TIME DATE OF DATA MEASUREMENT Date Time Format: MM/DD/YYYY LAYER Unit of snow identified as distinct by hardness from other units in a snow pit. THICKNESS Height of distinct layer in snow pit TOTAL_MASS Mass of snow and bag measured by a scale in the field BAG_MASS Mass of the bag before adding snow SNOW_MASS Subtraction of the mass of the bag from the total mass DENSITY Snow mass divided by 100cm3, which the volume of the sampling tool used to extract the snow sample WEIGHTED_DENSITY the density times the thickness of the layer, which is used to weight the density if there are more than one layer in the pit AVG_SNOWPACK_DENSITY the sum of the weighted densities dived by the sum of the thickness of all the layers. SDC (snow density competency) - a qualitative description of how readable the sample was extracted from the snow pit. One (1) indicates that a good sample, with little snow loss was collected, 2 indicates some loss of snow, while 3 indicates that obtaining a nearly complete sample was not possible due to either the lack of cohesion of the snow or the snow wasto hard to collect a sample. LAYER_DESCRIPTION Field observations of the snow layer: hardness of the snow, and snow grain shapes and sizes. COMMENTS Notes on snow density measurements GLSTKID CODE FROM GLACIER / STAKE/ DATE OF COORDINATE MEASUREMENT (TO BE USED FOR GIS MAPPING) FILE NAME RAW DATA FILE CONTAINING INFORMATION DBF https://mcm.lternet.edu/sites/default/files/data/mcmlter-glac-howard-snowdensity-20250311.csv https://mcm.lternet.edu/sites/default/files/data/mcmlter-glac-taylor-snowdensity-20250311.csv TAYSNWDNS eng; US McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER TAYSNWDNS Data Source Definition : Taylor Glacier - Snow Density Record Delimiter : \n Number of Header Lines : 1 Number of Footer Lines : 1 Orientation : Column Quote Character : "Field Delimiter : , false DATASET CODE Code representing glacier snow density dataset GLACIER NAME OF GLACIER WHERE MEASUREMENT WAS MADE STAKE UNIQUE NUMBER FOR EACH STAKE ON GLACIER DATE_TIME DATE OF DATA MEASUREMENT Date Time Format: MM/DD/YYYY LAYER Unit of snow identified as distinct by hardness from other units in a snow pit. THICKNESS Height of distinct layer in snow pit TOTAL_MASS Mass of snow and bag measured by a scale in the field BAG_MASS Mass of the bag before adding snow SNOW_MASS Subtraction of the mass of the bag from the total mass DENSITY Snow mass divided by 100cm3, which the volume of the sampling tool used to extract the snow sample WEIGHTED_DENSITY the density times the thickness of the layer, which is used to weight the density if there are more than one layer in the pit AVG_SNOWPACK_DENSITY the sum of the weighted densities dived by the sum of the thickness of all the layers. SDC (snow density competency) - a qualitative description of how readable the sample was extracted from the snow pit. One (1) indicates that a good sample, with little snow loss was collected, 2 indicates some loss of snow, while 3 indicates that obtaining a nearly complete sample was not possible due to either the lack of cohesion of the snow or the snow wasto hard to collect a sample. LAYER_DESCRIPTION Field observations of the snow layer: hardness of the snow, and snow grain shapes and sizes. COMMENTS Notes on snow density measurements GLSTKID CODE FROM GLACIER / STAKE/ DATE OF COORDINATE MEASUREMENT (TO BE USED FOR GIS MAPPING) FILE NAME RAW DATA FILE CONTAINING INFORMATION DBF https://mcm.lternet.edu/sites/default/files/data/mcmlter-glac-taylor-snowdensity-20250311.csv dataset The average snowpack density is determined by digging a snowpit near each of the stakes that has any amount of snow present on the surface. The snowpit is dug to the surface of the ice for stakes in the ablation zone and to depth of the previous year's snow surface in the accumulation zone. The different layers in the snowpit are identified in the field. The thickness of each layer is measured and a sample is collected using a 100cm3 metal sampler. Excess snow is removed by a brush and the contents are placed in a pre-weighed bag. The weight is measured using a spring scale. Note about measurement timing: The goal of each summer season is to take measurements in early spring (Oct/Nov) and late summer (late January). This provides a measure of seasonal winter/summer changes of glacier mass. In some circumstances we have the opportunity or need to measure the glaciers in mid-season (Dec). View the dates the measurements were made at the following URL: http://www.mcmlter.org/data/glaciers/timing/snowdates.pdf A Note about Stake names: A stake with an H or V indicates a stake along the ice cliff that forms the boundary of the glacier terminus. An H is a horizontal stake placed into the vertical wall of the glacier terminus, and V is a stake placed into the ice apron at the base of the ice cliff. The vertical stakes were installed to support the horizontal stakes and provide a nearby measure of ablation for a surface with a much different slope. Metadata Access Constraints: none Metadata Use Constraints: none annually McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER http://mcmlter.org/ pointOfContact