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Positions and dimensions of the A68 icebergs between September 2020 and April 2021

This dataset contains daily positions of the A68 family of giant icebergs during their drift through the Scotia Sea and South Atlantic between 2020-09-01 and 2021-04-16. Positions were obtained using optical imagery collected by MODIS Aqua and Terra satellites. For the parent iceberg A68A, the evolving dimensions (long and short axis length, area) are also provided, based on Synthetic Aperture Radar imagery acquired by Copernicus Sentinel 1A and 1B satellites. This data can be used to plot the trajectories of the A68 icebergs during their drift in the Scotia Sea and near South Georgia.

This data was collected during an MSc/MRes student project at the Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, in 2020/21. The work was not supported by any funding or research grants.

Simple

Alternate title
Polar Data Centre (PDC) record GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01732
Date (Publication)
2023-04-21
Identifier
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/dms/metadata.php?id= / GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01732
Custodian
  British Antarctic Survey
High Cross, Madingley Road , Cambridge , CB3 0ET , UK
+44 (0)1223 221400
Originator
  NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre - Smith, R., & Bigg, G.
High Cross, Madingley , Cambridge , CB3 0ET , UK
+44 (0)1223 221400
Maintenance and update frequency
unknown Unknown
Keywords
  • NDGO0001
NERC OAI Harvesting
  • NERC_DDC
GCMD Parameter Valids
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Cryosphere > Glaciers/Ice Sheets > Icebergs
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Cryosphere > Sea Ice > Icebergs
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Sea Ice > Icebergs
BAS Free-text keywords
  • A68
  • Icebergs
  • South Georgia
  • satellite observations
  • trajectories
Use limitation
Data supplied under Open Government Licence v3.0 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/.
Access constraints
otherRestrictions Other restrictions
Other constraints
Data supplied under Open Government Licence v3.0 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/.
Metadata language
EnglishEnglish
Topic category
  • Oceans
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Begin date
2020-09-01
End date
2021-04-16
Reference system identifier
OGP / urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4326
Distribution format
Distributor
  Polar Data Centre - British Antarctic Survey
+44 (0)1223 221400
OnLine resource
GET DATA ( http )
Hierarchy level
dataset Dataset

Domain consistency

Measure identification
INSPIRE / Conformity_001

Conformance result

Date
Explanation
See the referenced specification
Pass
No
Statement

Where cloud cover precluded accurate iceberg positioning for a single day, the coordinates were interpolated based on the positions of the preceding and subsequent days, assuming constant speed. This occurred for less than 10 percent of the positions noted for each iceberg, and the error introduced is expected to be minimal, owing to the very large size of the tracked icebergs, and known currents, throughout the study period.

For the parent iceberg A68A, cloud cover prevented continuous daily tracking in the two final weeks of its lifetime, in April 2021. Owing to the relatively small size of this final remaining iceberg at this time, and the large (3-4 days) gaps in observations, the missing positions were not interpolated for this final period and instead are left unknown. This results in ''snapshot'' positions in the final two week period, until the iceberg''s final melt on 2021-04-16.

Wherever data is missing (due either to lack of interpolation as described, or more commonly due to an iceberg''s non-existence on that day), a value of 9999 is provided for ease of filtering.

File identifier
GB_NERC_BAS_PDC_01732 XML
Metadata language
EnglishEnglish
Hierarchy level
dataset Dataset
Date stamp
2023-04-21
Metadata standard name
NERC profile of ISO19115:2003
Metadata standard version
1.0
Point of contact
  British Antarctic Survey
+44 (0)1223 221400
Dataset URI
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/dms/metadata.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01732
 
 

Overviews

Spatial extent

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Keywords


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