Data Set Citation
Fountain A.Beacon Valley Meteorological Station Measurements.
knb-lter-mcm.7002.7 (http://metacat.lternet.edu:8080/knb/metacat/knb-lter-mcm.7002.7/mcm).
Data Tables, Images, and Other Entities:
Metadata download:Ecological Metadata Language (EML) File
Data Table:Air_Temperature_Units
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Data Table:Solar_Radiation_Units
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Data Table:Relative_Humidity_Units
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Data Table:Soil_Temperature_Units
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Data Table:knb-lter-mcm.7002.1.beacon.WIND
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Short Name:Beacon_met
Online Distribution Info:
Schema Name:http://www.mcmlter.org/queries/met_results.jsp
Description:
You can build your own query for all the data in this station using the URL http://www.mcmlter.org/queries/met_results.jsp and the described parameters, or you can just visit the URL http://www.mcmlter.org/queries/met_queries.jsp and simply use the form to build your own metereology query from any McMurdo Dry Valleys Metereological station
Here is an example to query for the barometric pressure from March 1998 to April 2000 at Lake Hoare: http://www.mcmlter.org/queries/met_results.jsp?begDate=03/01/1998&endDate=04/01/2000&mask=MM/DD/YYYY%20HH24:Mi&metStation=HOEM&dataType=PRESSTA
variable (dataType) abbreviations list for Beacon Valley Station - BENM
RH (relative humidity at 3m)
AIRT (air temperature)
WIND (wind speed, direction, etc)
SOILT (soil temperature)
RADN (radiation)
     begDate:
  Desired begin date for the data, use format MM/DD/YYYY
     endDate:
  Desired End Date for the data query
     mask:
  Associated Date format for the data record. (I.e, a mask value that works here is MM/DD/YYYY HH24:Mi or - decimal - for a decimal year)
     metStation:
  Code Name for the metereological station from which the data is asked, for this station is beacon - BENM
     dataType:
  variable abbreviation for the parameter of interest, such as wind speed or air temperature. For a list of the used abbreviations, see the description section above
Data Set Owner(s):
Individual: Andrew G. Fountain
Address:
Department of Geology,
17 Cramer Hall,
1721 SW Broadway,
Portland State University ,
Portland, OR 97207-0751 USA
Phone:
(503)725-3022 (voice)
Email Address:
fountaina@pdx.edu
Metadata Provider(s):
Organization:McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER
Address:
Byrd Polar Research Center ,
108 Scott Hall,
1090 Carmack Rd,
Columbus, OH 43210-1002 USA
Phone:
614-292-3229 (voice)
Phone:
(614) 292-4697 (fax)
Email Address:
mcmlter@bprc.mps.ohio-state.edu
Associated Party:
Individual: Hassan Basagic
Address:
Department of Geology,
Portland State University ,
Portland, OR 97207-0751 USA
Email Address:
basagic@pdx.edu
Role:
Associated Researcher
Abstract:
 
As part of the Long Term Ecological Research in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, meteorological data was collected from various locations throughout Beacon, Taylor, Wright and Victoria Valleys. These files contain data for the Beacon Valley meteorology station.
Keywords:
 
  • meteorology (theme)
  • temperature (theme)
  • air temperature (theme)
  • soil temperature (theme)
  • wind (theme)
  • relative humidity (theme)
  • solar radiation (theme)
Additional Information:
 
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 1for all station found at the following address: http://www.mcmlter.org/data/meteorology/tasks/task_lists.htm
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.
Notes
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 so that the data can be corrected or qualified. Thus, these data may be modified and future data will be appended.
License and Usage Rights:
 
MCM LTER data may be used freely with the following restrictions:
The Principal Investigator be sent a notice stating reasons for acquiring any data and a description of the publication intentions. The Principal Investigator of the data set 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 and principal investigator. The end-user follow the guidelines set forth in the LTER Network Data Access Policy, Data Access Requirements, and General Data Use Agreement found at http://www.mcmlter.org/data_guidelines.htm
Geographic Coverage:
Geographic Description: The Beacon Valley meteorology station is located at a latitude of 77.828 S, a longitude of 160.657 E, and an elevation of 1176 meters above sea level. Descriptions of this and other McMurdo Dry Valley meteorology stations can be found at http://www.mcmlter.org/data/meteorology/locations/metlocs.html.
Bounding Coordinates:
West:  160.65684  degrees
East:  160.65683  degrees
North:  -77.828001  degrees
South:  -77.828001  degrees
Mimimum Altitude:1176  meter
Maximum Altitude:1175  meter
Temporal Coverage:
Begin:
2000
End:
2006
Maintenance:
Description:
Wind Direction
On February 12, 2003, wind direction (WDIR) values were corrected by Thomas Nylen for a systematic error in the measurement created by improper wiring. The wind sensor still worked, but the values were systematically off. The wind direction is off by 180 degrees and mirrored around the north-south axis. For example a wind direction of 160 degrees was corrected by adding 180 degrees to it (340 or -20) and takING the mirror value of that, i.e. 20 degrees.
Relative Humidity
On June 4, 2004, all of the relative humidity (RH) values were corrected for a systematic error in the measurement created by an instrument manufacturer error. All RH data with air temperatures below freezing were corrected using the vapor pressure over ice (rather than over water which was used initially). The error became quite large for very cold temperatures (the correction could grow to around 30%). The polynomials used for the correction is based on Lowe (1977). The original RH value is multiplied by the saturation vapor pressure over water and divided by the the saturation vapor pressure over ice RH3m_corr=[RH3m]*(6.107799961 + [AirT3m] * (0.4436518521 + [AirT3m] * (0.01428945805 + [AirT3m] * (0.0002650648471 + [AirT3m] *(0.000003031240396 + [AirT3m] * (0.00000002034080948 + 0.00000000006136820929 * [AirT3m])))))) / (6.109177956 + [AirT3m] * (0.503469897 + [AirT3m] * (0.01886013408 + [AirT3m] * (0.0004176223716 + [AirT3m] * (0.00000582472028 + [AirT3m] * (0.00000004838803174 + 0.0000000001838826904 * [AirT3m]))))))) Records that showed corrected RH values greater than or equal to 100 were changed to 99.99 and flagged. In 2007, it was realized that the RH error was still present in parts of the dataset. Hasan Basagic made the above corrections to the BENM dataset for the date range 1/28/2004 14:15 - 11/30/2006 14:00 (99,550 records). In September, 2007 the information manager (Chris Gardner) removed all old RH data and re-inserted then newly calculated values and associated comments. The original files are archive in the 'submitted data' section of the mcmlter server.
Frequency:
Contact:
Organization:McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER
Position:Data Manager
Address:
Byrd Polar Research Center ,
108 Scott Hall,
1090 Carmack Rd,
Columbus, OH 43210-1002 USA
Phone:
614-292-3229 (voice)
Email Address:
mcmlter@bprc.mps.ohio-state.edu
Publisher:
Organization:McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER
Address:
Byrd Polar Research Center ,
108 Scott Hall,
1090 Carmack Rd,
Columbus,
Columbus, OH 43210-1002 USA
Phone:
(614) 292-4697 (fax)
Methods Info:
Step 1:  
Description:
The Beacon Valley meteorological station was added to the McMurdo Dry Valley network in the 2000-2001 field season. It was established in Beacon Valley. 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 every output interval.
Sampling Coverage:
Geographic Coverage:
Geographic Description: The Beacon Valley meteorology station is located at a latitude of 77.828 S, a longitude of 160.657 E, and an elevation of 1176 meters above sea level. Descriptions of this and other McMurdo Dry Valley meteorology stations can be found at http://www.mcmlter.org/data/meteorology/locations/metlocs.html.
Bounding Coordinates:
West:  160.65684  degrees
East:  160.65683  degrees
North:  -77.828001  degrees
South:  -77.828001  degrees
Mimimum Altitude:1176  meter
Maximum Altitude:1175  meter
Sampling Description:
Sampling and Averaging Intervals
For Sampling frequency and Data Logger output and averaging intervals please visit: http://www.mcmlter.org/data/meteorology/methods/Interval_Dates.pdf
Seasonal Task Summary
To view the data post-processing steps for each season please visit: http://www.mcmlter.org/data/meteorology/tasks/task_lists.htm
Additional Metadata
Additional Metadata:Item 1 (View)