Data Set Citation
Fountain A.Explorers Cove Meteorological Station Measurements.
knb-lter-mcm.7008.5 (http://metacat.lternet.edu:8080/knb/metacat/knb-lter-mcm.7008.5/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:Precipitation_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:Wind_Units
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Short Name:explorers_cove_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 Exlporer's Cove - EXEM
RH (relative humidity at 3m)
AIRT (air temperature)
PPT (precipitation)
WIND (wind speed, direction, etc)
SOILT (soil temperature)
RADN (radiation)
FLINE (file and record numbers)
     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 Explorer's Cove - EXEM
     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 Taylor, Wright and Victoria Valleys. These files contain data for Explorers Cove meteorology station.
Keywords:
 
  • meteorology (theme)
  • temperature (theme)
  • air temperature (theme)
  • soil temperature (theme)
  • precipitation (theme)
  • wind (theme)
  • relative humidity (theme)
  • 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 1 for 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 (telephone: 303-492-4639) 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 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://www.mcmlter.org/data/meteorology/locations/metlocs.html.
Bounding Coordinates:
West:  163.41753  degrees
East:  163.41752  degrees
North:  -77.05138  degrees
South:  -77.05139  degrees
Mimimum Altitude:26  meter
Maximum Altitude:25  meter
Temporal Coverage:
Begin:
1997
End:
2006
Maintenance:
Description:
On September 6, 1999, the data mana ger added the 1998-1999 data to this dataset. In the process, she did some fine-tuning of the data, which included the removal and flagging of precipitation values between Nov 21, 1997 @ 11:00 and Jan 13, 1998 @ 9:30. This was done at the request of Thomas Nylen. In May 2000, the 1999-2000 data was posted. In the process, Denise Steigerwald changed the layout of the files so that they were sorted by category (air temperatures, humidity, radiation, wind etc.) rather than by year. Files containing monthly and daily averages were generated and minor adjustments were made to the metadata. On May 24, 2000, 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 formula used for the correctio n was: RH_corr=RH_orig/((A*temp*temp)+(B*temp)+C) where RH_corr = corrected relative humidity RH_orig = original relative humidity temp = air temperature A = 4.165E-5 B = 9.7E-3 C = 1.0 For example, with an air temperature of -2.3 and RH_orig of 50.6, the RH_corr will be 51.7. Records that showed corrected RH values greater than or equal to 100 were changed to 99.99 and flagged. In June 2000, summary files were added to the web containing daily and monthly statistics. These were generated by creating "views" of daily and monthly means, minimums, maximums and counts of the records represented in the Oracle database's meteorology tables.
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 EXEM dataset for the date range 1/23/2004 10:00 - 1/30/2007 11:00 (39,365 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, OH 43210-1002 USA
Phone:
(614) 292-4697 (fax)
Methods Info:
Step 1:  
Description:
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.
Sampling Coverage:
Geographic Coverage:
Geographic Description: 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://www.mcmlter.org/data/meteorology/locations/metlocs.html.
Bounding Coordinates:
West:  163.41753  degrees
East:  163.41752  degrees
North:  -77.05138  degrees
South:  -77.05139  degrees
Mimimum Altitude:26  meter
Maximum Altitude:25  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)