BAS Paleo Environments, Ice Sheets and Climate Change
Lead Research Organisation:
NERC British Antarctic Survey
Abstract
This programme works to improve understanding of the mechanisms of past change in ice sheets, oceans and global climate. Our aim is to reduce uncertainty in predictions of future climate and sea level change, informing Government strategy for mitigating against the risks of these changes. We specialise in providing detailed past and contemporary records of climate and environmental change from high latitude regions.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Dominic Hodgson (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Adams J
(2022)
New 10 Be exposure ages improve Holocene ice sheet thinning history near the grounding line of Pope Glacier, Antarctica
in The Cryosphere
Allen C
(2022)
Variety and Distribution of Diatom-Based Sea Ice Proxies in Antarctic Marine Sediments of the Past 2000 Years
in Geosciences
Allen-Sader C
(2019)
An early warning system to predict and mitigate wheat rust diseases in Ethiopia.
in Environmental research letters : ERL [Web site]
Almond P
(2021)
In-situ Image Analysis of Habitat Heterogeneity and Benthic Biodiversity in the Prince Gustav Channel, Eastern Antarctic Peninsula
in Frontiers in Marine Science
Amesbury M
(2017)
Widespread Biological Response to Rapid Warming on the Antarctic Peninsula
in Current Biology
Anderson D
(2022)
Tracing mantle components and the effect of subduction processes beneath the northern Antarctic Peninsula
in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
Armbrecht L
(2022)
Ancient marine sediment DNA reveals diatom transition in Antarctica.
in Nature communications
Arndt J
(2017)
Evidence for a dynamic grounding line in outer Filchner Trough, Antarctica, until the early Holocene
in Geology
| Description | The PICC team at the British Antarctic Survey specialises in past and present high latitude climate and environmental change. Important processes regulating the Earth System take place in or near the polar regions. We collect and analyse a range of geological records to understand the mechanisms of past changes in ice sheets, oceans and climate. These data underpin global models of future climate and sea level that ultimately guide government strategy on mitigation and adaptation. Our priorities are: Science • Glacial history and ice sheet sensitivity to climate change. This includes geological and geophysical data on the past response of polar ice sheets and ice shelves to changes in atmospheric and oceanographic temperature, volcanism and atmospheric CO2. By understanding these processes we aim to improve forecasts of global sea levels and satellite data on ice mass loss. • Patterns and mechanisms of late glacial and Holocene climate change. This involves studying the history of the Southern Hemisphere Westerly Winds and their role on the global CO2 budget and ice sheet dynamics. From the climate signals in marine and terrestrial sediments we detect when human impacts exceed the natural ranges of variability in the Earth system. • Past behaviour of polar oceans and their role as drivers of future climate change. This includes studies on changes in the production and export of Antarctic Bottom Water, the circulation of Southern Ocean deep- and bottom-water masses, and the role of sea ice, melt water and biological productivity in controlling past, and future, climate changes. • Understanding Earth's response to a future high CO2 world. This includes studies of the physical environment, terrestrial and marine palaeobiology and community analysis from the geological past. This informs understanding of the transition between greenhouse and icehouse climate states and the wider impact of global climate changes on the environment. Technology, innovation and training • Leadership on science case and infrastructure for next generation polar research vessel. • Technologies to sample subglacial sediments for records of past West Antarctic Ice Sheet loss, ice shelf stability, subglacial hydrology and biology. • Applying and testing novel sediment dating techniques and, temperature and sea-ice proxies. • Training the next generation of polar scientists. Influencing and leading international programmes • Leadership and contributions to Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) Research Programmes (PAIS, AntEco), the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP-PAGES), Antarctic International Ocean Discovery Programme. • Participation in drilling initiatives (IODP, MeBo). Stakeholders • UK Policy makers including BIS and FCO. The IPCC through Contributing Authorships, the UN Framework Conventions on Climate Change and the Law of the Sea and the UK public through improved environmental stewardship. |
| Exploitation Route | Technology, innovation and training • Leadership on science case and infrastructure for next generation polar research vessel. • Technologies to sample subglacial sediments for records of past West Antarctic Ice Sheet loss, ice shelf stability, subglacial hydrology and biology. • Applying and testing novel sediment dating techniques and, temperature and sea-ice proxies. • Training the next generation of polar scientists. Influencing and leading international programmes • Leadership and contributions to Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) Research Programmes (PAIS, AntEco), the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP-PAGES), Antarctic International Ocean Discovery Programme. • Participation in drilling initiatives (IODP, MeBo). Stakeholders • UK Policy makers including BIS and FCO. The IPCC through Contributing Authorships, the UN Framework Conventions on Climate Change and the Law of the Sea and the UK public through improved environmental stewardship. |
| Sectors | Environment |
| URL | https://www.bas.ac.uk/team/science-teams/palaeo-environments-or-past-climates/ |
| Description | The Palaeoenvironments, Ice Sheets and Climate Change (PICC) team at the British Antarctic Survey specialises in past and present high latitude climate and environmental change. Important processes regulating the Earth System take place in or near the polar regions. We collect and analyse a range of geological records to understand the mechanisms of past changes in ice sheets, oceans and climate. These data underpin global models of future climate and sea level that ultimately guide government strategy on mitigation and adaptation. Our priorities are: Science • Glacial history and ice sheet sensitivity to climate change. This includes geological and geophysical data on the past response of polar ice sheets and ice shelves to changes in atmospheric and oceanographic temperature, volcanism and atmospheric CO2. By understanding these processes we aim to improve forecasts of global sea levels and satellite data on ice mass loss. • Patterns and mechanisms of late glacial and Holocene climate change. This involves studying the history of the Southern Hemisphere Westerly Winds and their role on the global CO2 budget and ice sheet dynamics. From the climate signals in marine and terrestrial sediments we detect when human impacts exceed the natural ranges of variability in the Earth system. • Past behaviour of polar oceans and their role as drivers of future climate change. This includes studies on changes in the production and export of Antarctic Bottom Water, the circulation of Southern Ocean deep- and bottom-water masses, and the role of sea ice, melt water and biological productivity in controlling past, and future, climate changes. • Understanding Earth's response to a future high CO2 world. This includes studies of the physical environment, terrestrial and marine palaeobiology and community analysis from the geological past. This informs understanding of the transition between greenhouse and icehouse climate states and the wider impact of global climate changes on the environment. Technology, innovation and training • Leadership on science case and infrastructure for next generation polar research vessel. • Technologies to sample subglacial sediments for records of past West Antarctic Ice Sheet loss, ice shelf stability, subglacial hydrology and biology. • Applying and testing novel sediment dating techniques, temperature and sea-ice proxies. • Training the next generation of polar scientists. |
| Sector | Environment |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic,Policy & public services |
| Title | 10Be surface exposure age data from Mt Murphy, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica |
| Description | This dataset comprises 52 cosmogenic 10Be surface exposure ages and associated analytical data from quartz-bearing rocks from Mount Murphy and surrounding nunataks in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. The samples - glacial erratics and bedrock - were collected between 2006 and 2016 by Joanne Johnson, Stephen Roberts and James Smith (British Antarctic Survey), in order to determine timing and duration of ice sheet thinning in the Amundsen Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, specifically thinning of Pope Glacier. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | N/A |
| Title | A multibeam-bathymetric compilation for the southern Amundsen Sea shelf, 1999-2019 |
| Description | We present a new compilation of multibeam-bathymetric data for the inner Amundsen Sea continental shelf beyond Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers (bounding box: 100W to 110W, 74S to 75.5S). The region includes Pine Island Bay, marine areas offshore the Thwaites Ice Shelf to the Crosson Ice Shelf, and covers an area of 74,750 km2. The bathymetric grids were compiled from all available multibeam echosounder (MBES) data acquired by UK, German, USA and Korean scientific cruises to the area between 1999 and 2019 (see lineage). Three grids of sea floor elevation data are available in a range of formats (ESRI ascii interchange format and GMT-compatible netCDF 4byte float): a 50-m resolution grid with no interpolation, a 50-m grid interpolated up to 300 m from cells with real data, and a 500-m resolution grid with no interpolation. Note that these grids have not been merged with regional bathymetric grids and, therefore, do not have continuous coverage (i.e. cells are only populated where multibeam data exist). This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF: Grant OPP- 1738942) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC: Grant NE/S006664/1) as part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) programme, and grants NE/J005770/1 and NE/J005703/1 as part of the iSTAR Programme. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable. |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01364 |
| Title | Bed, surface elevation and ice thickness measurements derived from radar data acquired during the Thwaites Glacier airborne survey (2019/2020) |
| Description | As part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) 4432 km of new radar depth sounding data was acquired over the Thwaites Glacier catchment by the British Antarctic Survey. Data was collected using the PASIN polametric radar system, fitted on the BAS aerogeophysical equipped survey aircraft VP-FBL. The survey operated from Lower Thwaites Glacier camp, and focused on collecting data in regions of ice >1.5 km thick between 70 and 180 km from the grounding line. Additional profiles from the coast to the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) divide and over the eastern shear margin were also flown. Ice thicknesses between 418 and 3744 m were measured, with a minimum bed elevation of -2282 imaged. This dataset contains the navigation, surface elevation, ice thickness, and bed elevation data from the Thwaites Glacier 2019/20 season in the form of a CSV file. The Thwaites 2019/20 aerogeophysical survey was carried out as part of the BAS National Capability contribution to the NERC/NSF International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) program. Data processing was supported by the BAS Geology and Geophysics team. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01520 |
| Title | Benthic seafloor images from Prince Gustav Channel and Duse Bay, Eastern Antarctic Peninsula, March 2018 |
| Description | In-situ underwater images were gathered during the expedition JR17003a of RRS James Clark Ross to the eastern Antarctic Peninsula in March 2018. The BAS' Shallow Underwater Camera System (SUCS) has been used to estimate faunal density, biomass and species abundance of the benthos and to provide an overview of the conditions of the underwater landscape. Funding was provided by NERC urgency grant NE/R012296/1 'Benthic biodiversity under Antarctic ice-shelves - baseline assessment of the seabed exposed by the 2017 calving of the Larsen-C Ice Shelf'. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable. |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01405 |
| Title | Chronological and biomarker reconstructed mean summer air temperatures (MSAT) for the past 6,000 years from lake sediments on Annenkov Island (near South Georgia) and the South Shetland Islands (Version 1.0) |
| Description | The dataset contains chronological and biomarker compound and brGDGT (branched Glyceryl Dialkyl Glyceryl Tetraether) mean summer temperature (MSAT) data for the last c. 6,000 years from sediments extracted from Fan Lake on Annenkov Island (near South Georgia) and Yanou Lake, King George Island, South Shetland Islands. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | N/A |
| Title | Fossil diatom and geochemistry data from a 700-year core from La Grange Cop, subantarctic Marion Island. |
| Description | This dataset contains geochemistry measurements and fossil diatom counts made on a sediment core from La Grange Cop lake, Marion Island (46deg94S, 37deg60E, 60 m above sea level). The dataset consists of diatom relative frequencies, diatom principal components analysis (PCA), and diatom-inferred conductivity, ITRAX scanning XRF elemental percentages and XRF PCA, C%, N%, and delta13C measurements, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. Ages of the sediment samples were assigned based on an age depth model derived from 210Pb, 137Cs, and 14C measurements and span the last c. 700 years. This project was funded by UK Natural Environment Research Council Grant NE/K004514/1 to Dominic A Hodgson and a Research Foundation-Flanders travel bursary to Elie Verleyen. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01363 |
| Title | Gravity enhanced bathymetric model beneath the Brunt Ice Shelf and Stancomb-Wills Glacier Tongue |
| Description | This gridded dataset contains the revised bathymetry model beneath the Brunt Ice Shelf and Stancomb-Wills Glacier Tongue, Antarctica, The revised bathymetric model integrates existing direct bathymetry observations and free air gravity anomaly data to provide the best possible estimate of sub-ice shelf bathymetry. The input direct bathymetric/topographic observations, observation locations, and the input free air compilation are also available as additional separate grid files. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | N/A |
| Title | Gravity-derived bathymetry for the Thwaites, Crosson and Dotson ice shelves (2009-2019) |
| Description | This dataset is an estimate of sub ice shelf bathymetry beneath the Thwaites, Crosson and Dotson ice shelves. The output bathymetry is derived from a new compilation of gravity data collected up to the end of the 2018/19 field season. The input gravity dataset includes airborne data from Operation Ice Bridge (OIB) and the NERC/NSF International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC), and marine gravity from the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer cruise NBP19-02. The recovered bathymetry was constrained by swath bathymetry and onshore airborne radio-echo depth sounding data in the surrounding area. Ice shelves mask the critical link between the ocean and cryosphere systems, and hence accurate sub ice shelf bathymetry is critical for generating reliable models of future ice sheet change. Included in the data release is the input free air gravity data, constraining bathymetry/sub-ice topography, and output gravity derived bathymetry. This work was funded by the British Antarctic Survey core program (Geology and Geophysics team), in support of the joint Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)/ National Science Foundation (NSF) International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC). Additional specific support came from NERC Grants: NE/S006664/1 and NE/S006419/1, and NSF Grants: NSF1842064, NSFPLR-NERC-1738942, NSFPLR-NERC-1738992 and NSFPLR-NERC-1739003. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable. |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01332 |
| Title | In situ measurements of snow accumulation in the Amundsen Sea Embayment during 2016 |
| Description | This dataset contains measurements of snow accumulation over an 11-month period in 2016 at six sites in the Pine Island-Thwaites Glacier catchment of West Antarctica. The sites were visited on two occasions, the first in January 2016 and the second in December 2016. The accumulation rate at each site was calculated using an average density profile, based on a compilation of six low elevation sites on Pine Island Glacier (iSTAR sites 15-19, and 22; Morris et al., 2017) that are situated nearby. The average density for the top metre based on this compilation is 419 kg m-3. Further details are provided in the associated publication. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | N/A |
| Title | Marine Isotope Stage 5e diatom assemblages in marine sediment core ANTA91-8 (-70.78 degN, 172.83 degE, Cruise ANTA91) - VERSION 2 |
| Description | This dataset presents the relative diatom abundances of 56 species/groups from the 132-120 ka interval in marine sediment core ANTA91-8 (-70.78 degN, 172.83 degE). This age interval corresponds to the peak of Marine Isotope Stage 5e. Microscope slides were prepared using a method adapted from Scherer (1994) and 300+ diatom valves were counted for each depth sample to produce the relative percentage abundance of each diatom species/group. The age model for this dataset has been updated, with new tiepoints between the sediment core magnetic susceptibility and the LR04 benthic delta-O-18 stack selected to improve the graphical alignment. This project was funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council Grant NE/L002531/1. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01512 |
| Title | Processed airborne radio-echo sounding data for the Thwaites Glacier 2019 survey, West Antarctica (2019/2020) |
| Description | As part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) ~4432 km of new radar depth sounding data was acquired over the Thwaites Glacier catchment by the British Antarctic Survey. Data was collected using the PASIN-2 polametric radar system, fitted on the BAS aerogeophysical equipped survey aircraft "VP-FBL". The survey operated from Lower Thwaites Glacier camp, and focused on collecting data in regions of ice >1.5 km thick between 70 and 180 km from the grounding line. Additional profiles from the coast to the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) divide and over the eastern shear margin were also flown. Ice thicknesses between 418 and 3744 m were measured, with a minimum bed elevation of -2282 m imaged. Our Twin Otter aircraft was equipped with dual-frequency carrier-phase GPS for navigation, radar altimeter for surface mapping, wing-tip magnetometers, an iMAR strapdown gravity system, and a new ice-sounding radar system (PASIN-2). We present here the full radar dataset consisting of the deep-sounding chirp and shallow-sounding pulse-acquired data in their processed form, as well as the navigational information of each trace, the surface and bed elevation picks, ice thickness, and calculated absolute surface and bed elevations. This dataset comes primarily in the form of NetCDF and georeferenced SEGY files. To interactively engage with this newly-published dataset, we also created segmented quicklook PDF files of the radar data. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01322 |
| Title | Processed airborne radio-echo sounding data from the AGAP survey covering Antarctica's Gamburtsev Province, East Antarctica (2007/2009) |
| Description | An airborne radar survey was flown as part of the seven nation Antarctica's Gamburtsev Province (AGAP) expedition over the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains, Dome A, and the interior of East Antarctica during the International Polar Year 2007-2009. Operating from field camps located on either side of Dome A (namely AGAP-N and AGAP-S), we collected ~120,000 km (equivalent to 180,000 km2) of airborne survey data using two Twin Otter aircrafts - one from BAS and one from the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). The aircrafts were equipped with dual-frequency carrier-phase GPS for navigation, laser ranging systems, magnetometers, gravity meters, and ice-sounding radars. We present here the full radar dataset from the BAS PASIN radar system consisting of the deep-sounding chirp and shallow-sounding pulse-acquired data in their processed form, as well as the navigational information of each trace, the surface and bed elevation picks, ice thickness, and calculated absolute surface and bed elevations. This dataset comes primarily in the form of NetCDF and georeferenced SEGY files. To interactively engage with this newly-published dataset, we also created segmented quicklook PDF files of the radar data. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01544 |
| Title | Processed airborne radio-echo sounding data from the BBAS survey covering the Pine Island Glacier basin, West Antarctica (2004/2005) |
| Description | An airborne radar survey was flown as part of the BBAS science programme funded by the British Antarctic Survey over the Pine Island Glacier system during the austral summer of 2004/05. This survey was a collaborative US/UK field campaign which undertook a systematic geophysical survey of the entire Amundsen Sea embayment using comparable airborne survey systems mounted in Twin Otter aircraft. Operating from a temporary field camp (PNE, S 77deg34' W 095deg56'), we collected ~35,000 km of airborne survey data. Our aircraft was equipped with dual-frequency carrier-phase GPS for navigation, radar altimeter for surface mapping, wing-tip magnetometers, gravity meter, and the first version of a new ice-sounding radar system (PASIN) used for the first time to support this survey. We present here the full radar dataset consisting of the deep-sounding chirp and shallow-sounding pulse-acquired data in their processed form, as well as the navigational information of each trace, the surface and bed elevation picks, ice thickness, and calculated absolute surface and bed elevations. This dataset comes primarily in the form of NetCDF and georeferenced SEGY files. To interactively engage with this newly-published dataset, we also created segmented quicklook PDF files of the radar data. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01529 |
| Title | Processed airborne radio-echo sounding data from the FISS 2015 survey covering the Foundation Ice Stream, Bungenstock Ice Rise, and the Filchner Ice Shelf system, West Antarctica (2015/2016) |
| Description | An airborne radar survey was flown during the austral summer of 2015/16 over the Foundation Ice Stream, Bungenstock Ice Rise, and the Filchner ice shelf as part of the 5-year Filchner Ice Shelf System (FISS) project. This project was a NERC-funded (grant reference number: NE/L013770/1) collaborative initiative between the British Antarctic Survey, the National Oceanography Centre, the Met Office Hadley Centre, University College London, the University of Exeter, Oxford University, and the Alfred Wenger Institute to investigate how the Filchner Ice Shelf might respond to a warmer world, and what the impact of sea-level rise could be by the middle of this century. The 2015/16 aerogeophysics survey acquired ~7,000 line km of aerogeophysical data with a particular focus on the Foundation Ice Stream. Our Twin Otter aircraft was equipped with dual-frequency carrier-phase GPS for navigation, radar altimeter for surface mapping, wing-tip magnetometers, and a new ice-sounding radar system (PASIN-2). We present here the full radar dataset consisting of the deep-sounding chirp and shallow-sounding pulse-acquired data in their processed form, as well as the navigational information of each trace, the surface and bed elevation picks, ice thickness, and calculated absolute surface and bed elevations. This dataset comes primarily in the form of NetCDF and georeferenced SEGY files. To interactively engage with this newly-published dataset, we also created segmented quicklook PDF files of the radar data. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01570 |
| Title | Processed airborne radio-echo sounding data from the FISS 2016 surveys covering the Filchner and Halley Ice Shelves, and the English Coast (western Palmer Land), West Antarctica (2016/2017) |
| Description | Three separate airborne radar surveys were flown during the austral summer of 2016/17 over the Filchner Ice Shelf and Halley Ice Shelf (West Antarctica), and over the outlet glacier flows of the English Coast (western Palmer Land, Antarctic Peninsula) during the Filchner Ice Shelf System (FISS) project. This project was a NERC-funded (grant reference number: NE/L013770/1) collaborative initiative between the British Antarctic Survey, the National Oceanography Centre, the Met Office Hadley Centre, University College London, the University of Exeter, Oxford University, and the Alfred Wenger Institute to investigate how the Filchner Ice Shelf might respond to a warmer world, and what the impact of sea-level rise could be by the middle of this century. The 2016/17 aerogeophysics surveys acquired a total of ~26,000 line km of aerogeophysical data. The FISS survey consisted of 17 survey flights totalling ~16,000 km of radar data over the Support Force, Recovery, Slessor, and Bailey ice streams of the Filchner Ice Shelf. The Halley Ice Shelf survey consisted of ~4,600 km spread over 5 flights and covering the area around the BAS Halley 6 station and the Brunt Ice Shelf. The English Coast survey consisted of ~5,000 km spread over 7 flights departing from the Sky Blu basecamp and linking several outlet glacier flows and the grounding line of the western Palmer Land, including the ENVISAT, CRYOSAT, GRACE, Landsat, Sentinel, ERS, Hall, Nikitin and Lidke ice streams. Our Twin Otter aircraft was equipped with dual-frequency carrier-phase GPS for navigation, radar altimeter for surface mapping, wing-tip magnetometers, an iMAR strapdown gravity system, and a new ice-sounding radar system (PASIN-2). We present here the full radar dataset consisting of the deep-sounding chirp and shallow-sounding pulse-acquired data in their processed form, as well as the navigational information of each trace, the surface and bed elevation picks, ice thickness, and calculated absolute surface and bed elevations. This dataset comes primarily in the form of NetCDF and georeferenced SEGY files. To interactively engage with this newly-published dataset, we also created segmented quicklook PDF files of the radar data. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01571 |
| Title | Processed airborne radio-echo sounding data from the ICEGRAV survey covering the Recovery Catchment and interior Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica (2012/2013) |
| Description | During the austral summer of 2012/13 a major international collaboration between Danish, US, UK, Norwegian and Argentinian scientists collected ~29,000 line km (equivalent to 464,317 km2) of aerogeophysical data over 132 hours of flight time and covering the previously poorly surveyed Recovery Glacier and Recovery Subglacial Lakes, as well as the area of Coats Land inboard from Halley VI using airborne survey systems mounted in Twin Otter aircraft. Our aircraft was equipped with dual-frequency carrier-phase GPS for navigation, radar altimeter for surface mapping, wing-tip magnetometers, an air-sea gravity meter, and an ice-sounding radar system (PASIN). We present here the full radar dataset consisting of the deep-sounding chirp in its processed form, as well as the navigational information of each trace, the surface and bed elevation picks, ice thickness, and calculated absolute surface and bed elevations. This dataset comes primarily in the form of NetCDF and georeferenced SEGY files. To interactively engage with this newly-published dataset, we also created segmented quicklook PDF files of the radar data. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01532 |
| Title | Processed airborne radio-echo sounding data from the IMAFI survey covering the Institute and Moller ice streams and the Patriot Hills, West Antarctica (2010/2011) |
| Description | An airborne radar survey was flown over the Institute and Moller ice streams in the Weddell Sea sector of West Antarctica in the austral summer of 2010/11 as part of the Institute-Moller Antarctic Funding Initiative (IMAFI) project (grant reference number: NE/G013071/1). This project was a NERC Antarctic Funding Initiative (AFI) collaborative project between the British Antarctic Survey and the Universities of Edinburgh, York, Aberdeen and Exeter with the aim to test the hypothesis that the Institute and Moller ice streams are underlain by weak marine sediments which control the flow of the overlying ice. Operating from two static field camps close to the ice divide between the Institute and Moller ice streams and Patriot Hills, we collected ~25,000 km of airborne radio-echo sounding data across 28 survey lines. Our aircraft was equipped with dual-frequency carrier-phase GPS for navigation, radar altimeter for surface mapping, wing-tip magnetometers, a LaCoste and Romberg air-sea gravimeter, and an ice-sounding radar system (PASIN). We present here the full radar dataset consisting of the deep-sounding chirp and shallow-sounding pulse-acquired data in their processed form, as well as the navigational information of each trace, the surface and bed elevation picks, ice thickness, and calculated absolute surface and bed elevations. This dataset comes primarily in the form of NetCDF and georeferenced SEGY files. To interactively engage with this newly-published dataset, we also created segmented quicklook PDF files of the radar data. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01527 |
| Title | Processed airborne radio-echo sounding data from the POLARGAP survey covering the South Pole, and Foundation and Recovery Glaciers, East Antarctica (2015/2016) |
| Description | During the austral summer of 2015/16, a major international collaboration funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and with in-kind contribution from the British Antarctic Survey, the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF), acquired ~38,000 line km of aerogeophysical data. The primary objective of the POLARGAP campaign was to carry out an airborne gravity survey covering the southern polar gap of the ESA gravity field mission GOCE, beyond the coverage of the GOCE orbit (south of 83.5degS), however aeromagnetics and ice-penetrating radar data were also opportunistically acquired. This survey covers the South Pole and Recovery Lakes, as well as parts of the Support Force, Foundation and Recovery Glaciers. Our Twin Otter aircraft was equipped with dual-frequency carrier-phase GPS for navigation, radar altimeter for surface mapping, wing-tip magnetometers, an air-sea gravity meter, and a new ice-sounding radar system (PASIN-2). We present here the full radar dataset consisting of the deep-sounding chirp and shallow-sounding pulse-acquired data in their processed form, as well as the navigational information of each trace, the surface and bed elevation picks, ice thickness, and calculated absolute surface and bed elevations. This dataset comes primarily in the form of NetCDF and georeferenced SEGY files. To interactively engage with this newly-published dataset, we also created segmented quicklook PDF files of the radar data. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01552 |
| Title | Processed airborne radio-echo sounding data from the WISE-ISODYN survey across the Wilkes Subglacial Basin, East Antarctica (2005/2006) |
| Description | During the austral summer of 2005/06 a collaborative UK/Italian field campaign collected ~61,000 line km of aerogeophysical data over the previously poorly surveyed Wilkes subglacial basin, Dome C, Transantarctic Mountains, George V Land and Northern Victoria Land using airborne survey systems mounted in a Twin Otter aircraft. Our aircraft was equipped with dual-frequency carrier-phase GPS for navigation, radar altimeter for surface mapping, wing-tip magnetometers, a LaCoste and Romberg air-sea gravimeter, and an ice-sounding radar system (PASIN). We present here the full radar dataset consisting of the deep-sounding chirp and shallow-sounding pulse-acquired data in their processed form, as well as the navigational information of each trace, the surface and bed elevation picks, ice thickness, and calculated absolute surface and bed elevations. This dataset comes primarily in the form of NetCDF and georeferenced SEGY files. To interactively engage with this newly-published dataset, we also created segmented quicklook PDF files of the radar data. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01521 |
| Title | Processed bed elevation picks from airborne radar depth sounding from the FISS 2015 survey covering the Foundation Ice Stream and the Filchner Ice Shelf system (2015/2016) |
| Description | This dataset contains bed and surface elevation picks derived from airborne radar collected in 2015/16 over Foundation Ice Stream and Filchner Ice Shelf as part of the 5-year Filchner Ice Shelf System (FISS) project funded by NERC (grant reference number: NE/L013770/1) and awarded to the British Antarctic Survey with contribution from the National Oceanography Centre, the Met Office Hadley Centre, University College London, the University of Exeter, Oxford University, and the Alfred Wenger Institute. The aim of this project was to investigate how the Filchner Ice Shelf might respond to a warmer world, and what the impact of sea-level rise could be by the middle of this century. This collaborative initiative collected ~7,000 line-km of new aerogeophysical data using the 150MHz PASIN radar echo sounding system (Corr et al., 2007) deployed on a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Twin Otter. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01572 |
| Title | Processed bed elevation picks from airborne radar depth sounding from the FISS 2016 survey covering the Filchner and Halley Ice Shelves (2016/2017) |
| Description | This dataset contains bed and surface elevation picks derived from airborne radar collected in 2016/17 over the Filchner Ice Shelf and Halley Ice Shelf (West Antarctica) as part of the 5-year Filchner Ice Shelf System (FISS) project funded by NERC (grant reference number: NE/L013770/1) and awarded to the British Antarctic Survey with contribution from the National Oceanography Centre, the Met Office Hadley Centre, University College London, the University of Exeter, Oxford University, and the Alfred Wenger Institute. The aim of this project was to investigate how the Filchner Ice Shelf might respond to a warmer world, and what the impact of sea-level rise could be by the middle of this century. This collaborative initiative collected ~15,000 line-km of new aerogeophysical data using the 150MHz PASIN radar echo sounding system (Corr et al., 2007) deployed on a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Twin Otter. The majority of flights were flown as part of FISS over the Support Force, Recovery, Slessor, and Bailey ice streams. Separate flights over Halley 6 research station and Brunt Ice Shelf were also collected as part of this season. The bed and surface elevation picks for the English Coast part of this season are available at: https://doi.org/10.5285/e07d62bf-d58c-4187-a019-59be998939cc. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01573 |
| Title | Processed bed elevation picks from the POLARGAP radar survey across the Pensacola-Pole Basin (2015/2016) |
| Description | This dataset contains bed and surface elevation picks derived from airborne radar collected during the POLARGAP 2015/16 project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and with in-kind contribution from the British Antarctic Survey, the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF). This collaborative project collected ~38,000 line-km of new aerogeophysical data using the 150MHz PASIN radar echo sounding system (Corr et al., 2007) deployed on a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Twin Otter. The primary objective of the POLARGAP campaign was to carry out an airborne gravity survey covering the southern polar gap beyond the coverage of the GOCE orbit. This dataset covers the South Pole as well as parts of the Support Force, Foundation and Recovery Glaciers. The bed pick data acquired during the POLARGAP survey over the Recovery Lakes is archived at NPI: https://doi.org/10.21334/npolar.2019.ae99f750. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01568 |
| Title | Processed line aerogravity data from the FISS 2016 surveys covering the Filchner and Halley Ice Shelves, and the English Coast (western Palmer Land), West Antarctica (2016/2017) |
| Description | Three separate airborne radar surveys were flown during the austral summer of 2016/17 over the Filchner Ice Shelf and Halley Ice Shelf (West Antarctica), and over the outlet glacier flows of the English Coast (western Palmer Land, Antarctic Peninsula) during the Filchner Ice Shelf System (FISS) project. This project was a NERC-funded (grant reference number: NE/L013770/1) collaborative initiative between the British Antarctic Survey, the National Oceanography Centre, the Met Office Hadley Centre, University College London, the University of Exeter, Oxford University, and the Alfred Wenger Institute to investigate how the Filchner Ice Shelf might respond to a warmer world, and what the impact of sea-level rise could be by the middle of this century. The 2016/17 aerogeophysics surveys acquired a total of ~26,000 line km of aerogeophysical data. The FISS survey consisted of 17 survey flights totalling ~16,000 km of radar data over the Support Force, Recovery, Slessor, and Bailey ice streams of the Filchner Ice Shelf. The Halley Ice Shelf survey consisted of ~4,600 km spread over 5 flights and covering the area around the BAS Halley 6 station and the Brunt Ice Shelf. The English Coast survey consisted of ~5,000 km spread over 7 flights departing from the Sky Blu basecamp and linking several outlet glacier flows and the grounding line of the western Palmer Land, including the ENVISAT, CRYOSAT, GRACE, Landsat, Sentinel, ERS, Hall, Nikitin and Lidke ice streams. Our Twin Otter aircraft was equipped with dual-frequency carrier-phase GPS for navigation, radar altimeter for surface mapping, wing-tip magnetometers, an iMAR strapdown gravity system, and a new ice-sounding radar system (PASIN-2). We present here the processed line aerogravity data collected using the iMAR strapdown gravity system mounted in the BAS aerogeophysically equiped Twin Otter aircraft. Data are provided as XYZ ASCII line data. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01574 |
| Title | Processed line aerogravity data over the Thwaites Glacier region (2019/20 season) |
| Description | As part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) ~9540 km of new airborne gravity data was acquired by the British Antarctic Survey, including ~6200 km over the Thwaites Glacier catchment. Data was collected using an iCORUS strap-down airborne gravimeter system mounted on the BAS aerogeophysical equipped survey aircraft VP-FBL. The survey operated from Lower Thwaites Glacier camp, and focused on collecting data between 70 and 180 km from the grounding line. Additional profiles from the coast to the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) divide and over the eastern shear margin were also flown. Navigation, aircraft attitude, sensor temperature, initial and levelled free air gravity anomalies are provided as an ASCI table. The Thwaites 2019/20 aerogeophysical survey was carried out as part of the BAS National Capability contribution to the NERC/NSF International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) program. Data processing was supported by the BAS Geology and Geophysics team. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01323 |
| Title | Processed line aeromagnetic data from the FISS 2015 survey covering the Foundation Ice Stream (2015/2016) |
| Description | An airborne radar survey was flown during the austral summer of 2015/16 over the Foundation Ice Stream, Bungenstock Ice Rise, and the Filchner ice shelf as part of the 5-year Filchner Ice Shelf System (FISS) project. This project was a NERC-funded (grant reference number: NE/L013770/1) collaborative initiative between the British Antarctic Survey, the National Oceanography Centre, the Met Office Hadley Centre, University College London, the University of Exeter, Oxford University, and the Alfred Wenger Institute to investigate how the Filchner Ice Shelf might respond to a warmer world, and what the impact of sea-level rise could be by the middle of this century. The 2015/16 aerogeophysics survey acquired ~7,000 line km of aerogeophysical data with a particular focus on the Foundation Ice Stream. Our Twin Otter aircraft was equipped with dual-frequency carrier-phase GPS for navigation, radar altimeter for surface mapping, wing-tip magnetometers, and a new ice-sounding radar system (PASIN-2). We present here the processed line aeromagnetic data collected using wing-tip magnetometers mounted in the BAS aerogeophysically equipped Twin Otter aircraft. Data are provided as XYZ ASCII line data. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01578 |
| Title | Processed line aeromagnetic data from the FISS 2016 surveys covering the Filchner and Halley Ice Shelves, and the English Coast (western Palmer Land), West Antarctica (2016/2017) |
| Description | Three separate airborne radar surveys were flown during the austral summer of 2016/17 over the Filchner Ice Shelf and Halley Ice Shelf (West Antarctica), and over the outlet glacier flows of the English Coast (western Palmer Land, Antarctic Peninsula) during the Filchner Ice Shelf System (FISS) project. This project was a NERC-funded (grant reference number: NE/L013770/1) collaborative initiative between the British Antarctic Survey, the National Oceanography Centre, the Met Office Hadley Centre, University College London, the University of Exeter, Oxford University, and the Alfred Wenger Institute to investigate how the Filchner Ice Shelf might respond to a warmer world, and what the impact of sea-level rise could be by the middle of this century. The 2016/17 aerogeophysics surveys acquired a total of ~26,000 line km of aerogeophysical data. The FISS survey consisted of 17 survey flights totalling ~16,000 km of radar data over the Support Force, Recovery, Slessor, and Bailey ice streams of the Filchner Ice Shelf. The Halley Ice Shelf survey consisted of ~4,600 km spread over 5 flights and covering the area around the BAS Halley 6 station and the Brunt Ice Shelf. The English Coast survey consisted of ~5,000 km spread over 7 flights departing from the Sky Blu basecamp and linking several outlet glacier flows and the grounding line of the western Palmer Land, including the ENVISAT, CRYOSAT, GRACE, Landsat, Sentinel, ERS, Hall, Nikitin and Lidke ice streams. Our Twin Otter aircraft was equipped with dual-frequency carrier-phase GPS for navigation, radar altimeter for surface mapping, wing-tip magnetometers, an iMAR strapdown gravity system, and a new ice-sounding radar system (PASIN-2). We present here the processed line aeromagnetic data collected using wing-tip magnetometers mounted in the BAS aerogeophysically equipped Twin Otter aircraft. Data are provided as XYZ ASCII line data. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01577 |
| Title | Processed line aeromagnetic data over the Thwaites glacier region (2019/2020 season) |
| Description | Aeromagnetic data provides important constraints on the sub-surface geology of a region. This dataset contains aeromagnetic line data collected by the British Antarctic Survey during the second aerogeophysical survey carried out as part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC). Data were collected using a caesium magnetometer system, and have been corrected to total field values following the approach laid out by the SCAR ADMAP working group (https://www.scar.org/science/admap/about/). In total 8688 km of data is presented, of this ~6052 km was collected in the main survey area, while other data was collected on input transit flights. The aircraft used was the BAS aerogeophysicaly equipped twin otter VP-FBL. Data are available as an ASCII table (.csv). The Thwaites 2019/20 aerogeophysical survey was carried out as part of the BAS National Capability contribution to the NERC/NSF International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) program. Data processing was supported by the BAS Geology and Geophysics team. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01320 |
| Title | Topographic Parametric Sonar (TOPAS) acoustic sub-bottom profiler data acquired on RRS James Clark Ross JR298 cruise in 2015 |
| Description | We present here Topographic Parametric Sonar (TOPAS) acoustic sub-bottom profiler data acquired on RRS James Clark Ross JR298 cruise in 2015. Data are provided in SEG-Y format. This project was funded by UK Natural Environment Research Council Grant NE/J006548/1: Depositional patterns and records in sediment drifts off the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not applicable |
| URL | https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01517 |