Metadata details

ASPECT_2007_2013

All scientific data collected by the Australian Antarctic program (AAp) are eventually described in the Catalogue of Australian Antarctic and Subantarctic Metadata (CAASM). CAASM can be used to search through AAp data descriptions, and it also provides links to access publicly available datasets, which can either be immediately downloaded or obtained from the Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AADC).

Citation
Worby, A.P., Steer, A., Massom, R., Lieser, J. and Commonwealth of Australia (2018) ASPeCt bridge-based sea-ice observations - 2007 to 2013, Ver. 1, Australian Antarctic Data Centre - doi:10.26179/qk65-3g42, Accessed: 2026-05-25
Title
ASPeCt bridge-based sea-ice observations - 2007 to 2013
Data Centre
Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia
DOI
doi:10.26179/qk65-3g42
Created Date
2014-05-22
Revision Date
2025-10-30
Expected Date of Data Release
2018-09-20
Data Version
1
Parent record
None

Datasets and documents

    Related links

    Description

    The Antarctic Sea ice Processes and Climate [ASPeCt] data sets submitted here have been collected systematically from the bridge of an icebreaker, while it transited through the pack ice. Quantifiable observations of sea ice thickness and related characteristics of the sea ice, snow, ocean and surface atmosphere are recorded hourly while the vessel moves through the sea ice. If the vessel is stopped or has not moved at least 6nm since the previous observation, no observation will be conducted. The observation protocol has been endorsed by the Scientific Commission for Antarctic Research (under their ASPeCt programme) as the preferred method for conducting ship-based observations of sea-ice characteristics. Details can be found in Worby and Allison [1999]

    The spreadsheet information below is also included in the word document in the download file.

    The relevant spreadsheets (xls files) contain the following information:
    Header name Physical parameter Unit
    Year Year
    Date Day/Month/Year
    Julian Day Day of year
    Time (UT) Time of day in Universal time: Hours/Minutes/Seconds
    Lat (oN) Latitude oN
    Lon(oE) oE
    Conc Total ice concentration Tenth
    OW Open-water classification See Worby and Allison [1999]
    c1 Ice concentration of primary ice category Tenth
    ty1 Ice type of primary ice category See Worby and Allison [1999]
    iz1 Thickness of primary ice category cm
    f1 Floe size of primary ice category See Worby and Allison [1999]
    t1 Topography of primary ice category See Worby and Allison [1999]
    s1 Snow type on primary ice category See Worby and Allison [1999]
    sz1 Snow thickness on primary ice category cm
    c2 Ice concentration of secondary ice category Tenth
    ty2 Ice type of secondary ice category See Worby and Allison [1999]
    iz2 Thickness of secondary ice category cm
    f2 Floe size of secondary ice category See Worby and Allison [1999]
    t2 Topography of secondary ice category See Worby and Allison [1999]
    s2 Snow type on secondary ice category See Worby and Allison [1999]
    sz2 Snow thickness on secondary ice category cm
    c3 Ice concentration of tertiary ice category Tenth
    ty3 Ice type of tertiary ice category See Worby and Allison [1999]
    iz3 Thickness of tertiary ice category cm
    f3 Floe size of tertiary ice category See Worby and Allison [1999]
    t3 Topography of tertiary ice category See Worby and Allison [1999]
    s3 Snow type on tertiary ice category See Worby and Allison [1999]
    sz3 Snow thickness on tertiary ice category cm
    Sea Sea-surface temperature oC
    Air Surface-air temperature oC

    Show more...

    Quality

    Data were collected on the following voyages:

    V6 2007/08
    V1 2008/09
    V1 2009/10
    V1 2010/11
    V1 2012/13

    Access

    These data are publicly available for download from the provided URL.

    Temporal Coverages

    Spatial Coverages

    Latitude

    Northernmost:
    -58
    Southernmost:
    -67.4

    Longitude

    Westernmost:
    60
    Easternmost:
    150

    Science Keywords

    Additional Keywords

    • ASPECT
    • Sea Ice

    Locations

    • CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA
    • OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN
    • GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

    Platforms

    • R/V Aurora Australis
    • SHIPS

    Instruments

    • VISUAL OBSERVATIONS

    Researchers

    • commonwealth of australia (INVESTIGATOR,TECHNICAL CONTACT)
    • worby, anthony (TECHNICAL CONTACT)
    • steer, adam (TECHNICAL CONTACT)
    • massom, rob (TECHNICAL CONTACT)
    • lieser, jan (TECHNICAL CONTACT)
    • connell, dave (DIF AUTHOR)

    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=ASPECT_2007_2013 when using these data.

    Project

    • Antarctic Sea Ice Processes and Climate (Long Name)
    • ASPECT (Short Name)

    ISO Topic

    • OCEANS

    Dataset Language

    • English

    Orignating Centre

    • Australian Antarctic Division

    Dataset Progress

    • COMPLETE

    IDN Node

    • AMD/AU
    • CEOS
    • ACE/CRC
    • AMD

    Publications

    • Worby, A.P., and I. Allison (1999) A Technique for Making Ship-Based Observations of Antarctic Sea Ice Thickness and Characteristics, PART I Observational Technique and Results, Antarctic CRC Report, 14
    • Hutchings, J.K., P. Heil, O. Lecomte, R. Stevens, A. Steer, and J.L. Lieser (2014) Comparing methods of measuring sea ice density in the East Antarctic, Annals of Glaciology, 69(69A814)
    • Williams, G.D., T. Maksym, C. Kunz, P. Kimball, H. Sinch, J. Wilkinson, T. Lachlan Thorpe, E. Trujillo, A. Steer, R. Massom, K. Meiners, P. Heil, J.L. Lieser, K. Leonard (2013) Beyond point measurements: 3-D characterization of sea ice oes, EOS Transactions, AGU, 94(7), 60-70
    • Heil, P., R.A. Massom, I. Allison, and A.P. Worby (2011) Physical attributes of sea-ice kinematics during spring 2007 East Antarctica, Deep-Sea Research II, 58, 1158-1171, 10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.12.004
    • Worby, A.P., A. Steer, J. Lieser, P. Heil, D. Yi, T. Markus, I. Allison, R.A. Massom, N. Galin, and J. Zwally (2011) Regional-scale sea ice and snow thickness distributions from in situ and satellite measurements over East Antarctica during SIPEX, Deep-Sea Research II, 58, 1125-1136, doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.12.001

    Metadata Revision History

      2014-05-23 - record created by Dave Connell from a template completed by Petra Heil. 2017-01-23 - record updated by Dave Connell - basic updates. 2018-09-20 - record updated by Dave Connell to publicly release the data. 2021-10-07 - record updated by Dave Connell to remove the Icebox link (it was broken), and to add a DOI. 2025-10-30 - record citation updated.

    Creative Commons License