1. Australian Antarctic Data Centre
2. Discover and Manage Data
3. Records
4. 199091060

Description

This dataset contains the underway data from Voyage 6 1990-91 (AAMBER2) of the Aurora Australis. This was primarily a marine science voyage. DLS data types were logged at 60-second intervals. The observations were taken between January and March 1991 en route from Hobart to Prydz Bay to Mawson to Davis and back to Hobart. Marine Science Support Data Quality and Programmer's Reports are available via the Related URL section.

Voyage 6 1990/91, codenamed AAMBER2, departed Hobart on 1991-01-03. Arrived Horseshoe Harbour, Mawson on 1991-01-16, departed on 1991-01-17. Then followed 44 continuous days of marine science. During this phase of the voyage, bottom and mid-water trawling, CTD casts, acoustic biological surveys and several krill swarm studies were conducted. For the duration of the marine science program we worked alternative 12 hour shifts. The ship returned to Mawson on 1991-03-03, before proceeding to Davis and then Hobart.

Temperature and salinity data from the CTD were also obtained.

The fields in the CTD dataset are:
pressure
temperature
salinity
volume
geopotential

From the voyage leader's report:

Voyage 6 was the main marine science cruise of the season for Aurora Australis. Research was conducted in the region of Prydz Bay, and the main objectives were:

1) A study of the distribution, abundance and ecology of midwater fish species in the area.
2) A detailed study of a large swarm of Antarctic Krill (Euphausia superba) to determine its structure and dynamics and its effect on the surrounding waters.
3) Conduct experiments on the biochemistry and physiology of freshly caught live krill, and to bring live krill back to the laboratories in Kingston for further experiments.
4) Collect data on the distribution and species associations of other zooplankton animals.
5) Collect data on the taxonomy and biology of Antarctic cephalopods (squid and octopus).
6) Collect samples of bottom sediment to map the distribution of organisms which leave skeletal remains in the sediments.
7) Research into the acoustic characteristics of Antarctic krill.
8) Studies on the taxonomy and pigments of phytoplankton.
9) Measurement of the amount of carbon dioxide in sea water and air.
10) Study of the composition and transport of particulate organic matter in the water column.
11) Sampling of bottom-living fish.
12) Collection of other bottom-living animals brought up by the nets.
13) Conduct iceberg observations in accordance with instructions from Glaciology Section.

In addition to scientific programmes, a visit to Mawson early in the voyage was planned to deliver personnel and some cargo, and to Mawson and Davis near the end of the voyage to RTA personnel, equipment and rubbish.

Quality

See the Marine Science Support Data Quality Report via the Related URL section.

Where data for a particular sensor do not exist for a particular time, the last known value is used unless the sensor has been disabled or has encountered an error. For example, some sensors only record data every minute, but the resolution for the underway dataset is 10 seconds, so the same value will be used 6 times a minute. No averages are taken for sensors that capture data at a rate other than every 10 seconds. Instead, each record will be a snapshot of each sensor at that time.

Access

Underway data are available online via the AADC web page. CTD data are available via ftp. See Related URL section. A "supplementary" dataset is also available for download from the provided URL. It contains raw data collected directly from the ship, which has not been quality checked.

Temporal Coverages

• Start date: 1991-01-03 - Stop date: 1991-03-20

Spatial Coverages

Science Keywords

• EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > SALINITY/DENSITY > SALINITY
• EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > SURFACE TEMPERATURE > AIR TEMPERATURE
• EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION > SOLAR RADIATION
• EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > SURFACE WINDS
• EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
• EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > BATHYMETRY/SEAFLOOR TOPOGRAPHY > WATER DEPTH
• EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR > WATER VAPOR INDICATORS > HUMIDITY
• EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN TEMPERATURE > SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE

Use Constraints

This data set conforms to the CCBY Attribution License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=199091060 when using these data.