Ground truth measurements in the form of snow/ice cores were obtained from three sites in 2006: Rothschild Island, Latady Island and Smyley Island. The sites selected corresponded to the position of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) deployed during the previous season. At both the Rothschild Island and Smyley Island sites the AWS - due to an unprecedented amount of snowfall - had been buried. Therefore, two cores, 8m and 12m in length, were obtained from the approximate position of the AWS, in addition to the sampling of a snow pit. At the Latady Island site, the top 60cm of the 5m AWS was protruding above the surface - again, due to an unprecedented amount of snowfall. A diagonally descending trench was dug to recover the AWS and two cores were collected at this site.

This work was carried out as part of a project to understand how air mass origin and meteorology affect the mass accumulation of snow in areas of the Antarctic Peninsula, and how the atmosphere's properties are preserved in the snow,

Photographs of the expedition showing the ground layout, the situation of the cores and what was done when they were gathered are available and stored with the data.