The data set was produced for the work detailed in ''The response of ice sheets to climate variability'' by K Snow et al (2017, Geophys Research Letters). A coupled ice sheet-ocean model is configured in an idealised setting with an inland-deepening bedrock, forced by far-field hydrographic profiles representative of the Amundsen Sea continental shelf. Similar to observed variability, the thermocline depth in the far-field is moved up and down on various times scales as detailed in the publication, with periods ranging from 2 to ~50 years. Bedrock elevation is provided, and annual melt rate and ice thickness (or sub-annual for short time scales) is provided as well for each forcing period. In addition, similar experiments were carried out with an ice-only model with parameterised forcing. These outputs are provided too.

Water column acoustic data collected in the Atlantic Ocean (from 2014-09-27 to 2014-11-02) during cruise JR303. Multi-frequency (38,120 and 200 kHz) acoustic data were collected using a Simrad EK60 echo sounder. The dataset comprises of calibrated and processed 38 kHz volume backscattering strength (Sv, dB re 1m-1). Data processing was undertaken using Echoview and Matlab. Processed netCDF data files are made available as part of the NERC Southern Ocean Network of Acoustics (SONA) and the EU MESOPP project.

The Antarctic food webs represent two entire above-belowground communities from Signy Island Reference Sites on Signy Island, one of the South Orkney Islands in the Maritime Antarctic. The two communities are a dry moss community (Antarctic dry tundra) and a wet moss community (Antarctic wet tundra). These two communities were the focus of intensive biological study by personnel from the British Antarctic Survey over the course of a decade in the 1970''s, of which the results were finally compiled into a meta-analysis by Davis (1981). The Jacobians of the dry and wet tundra were calculated by Neutel and Thorne (2014) using the empirical biomass and flow data of the respective systems from Davis'' analysis. The Jacobians represent the interaction strengths of the species in the two food webs, evaluated at equilibrium.

Surface meteorological data collected at the following British Antarctic Survey stations in Antarctica: Adelaide Island (1962-1976); Deception Island (1959-1967); Faraday/Argentine Islands (1946-1995); Fossil Bluff (1961-2005); Grytviken (1959-1981); Halley (1957 to 2013); Rothera (1976 to 2013); Signy (1956 to 2000). The following meteorological parameters are included in the files: Sea Level Pressure (hPa); Station Level Pressure (hPa); Temperature (Deg C); Wind Speed (knots); Wind Direction (Degrees). Observations were recorded every 3 or six hours for the first part of the record and then at hourly intervals in the later part when electronic measuring systems were introduced in the 1980s and 1990s.

Water column acoustic data collected in the Atlantic Ocean (from 2015-09-17 to 2015-11-03) during cruise JR15001. Multi-frequency (38,120 and 200 kHz) acoustic data were collected using a Simrad EK60 echo sounder. The dataset comprises of calibrated and processed 38 kHz volume backscattering strength (Sv, dB re 1m-1). Data processing was undertaken using Echoview and Matlab. Processed netCDF data files are made available as part of the NERC Southern Ocean Network of Acoustics (SONA) and the EU MESOPP project.

Water column acoustic data collected in the Scotia Sea (from 2010-12-22 to 2011-01-18) during cruise JR245. Multi-frequency (38,120 and 200 kHz) acoustic data were collected using a Simrad EK60 echo sounder. The dataset comprises of calibrated and processed 38 kHz volume backscattering strength (Sv, dB re 1m-1). Data processing was undertaken using Echoview and Matlab. Processed netCDF data files are made available as part of the NERC Southern Ocean Network of Acoustics (SONA) and the EU MESOPP project.

This dataset provides a 298 year (1712-2010) annual snow accumulation record from the Bryan Coast (BC11) ice core. The 140 m core was drilled on the Bryan Coast in Ellsworth Land, West Antarctica, during the austral summer 2010/11. The record was measured using the summer peak in non sea salt (nss) SO4, in approximately January to December. Snow accumulation is converted to meters of water equivalent (weq - m) based on measured density profile and correcting for thinning using the Nye model, assuming vertical strain rate. Samples were measured at 5 cm resolution, corresponding to approximately eight samples per year. Funding was provided by the NERC grant NE/J020710/1.

This dataset provides a 308 year record of methansulphonic acid (MSA) from coastal West Antarctica, representing sea ice conditions in the Amundsen-Ross Sea. Annual average MSA has been calculated from the 136 m Ferrigno ice core (F10), drilled on the Bryan Coast in Ellsworth Land, West Antarctica during the austral summer 2010/11. The sea ice extent is based on geometric mean regression of MSA flux with satellite sea ice extent from 146 degrees west. The record was measured using a Dionex ICS2500 anion system at 5 cm resolution, corresponding to approximately 14 samples a year. Funding was provided by the NERC grant NE/J020710/1.

Water column acoustic data collected in the Scotia Sea (from 2016-12-09 to 2017-01-15) during cruise JR16003. Multi-frequency (38,120 and 200 kHz) acoustic data were collected using a Simrad EK60 echo sounder. The dataset comprises of calibrated and processed 38 kHz volume backscattering strength (Sv, dB re 1m-1). Data processing was undertaken using Echoview and Matlab. Processed netCDF data files are made available as part of the NERC Southern Ocean Network of Acoustics (SONA) and the EU MESOPP project.

This dataset was collected during two Antarctic field seasons (2013-14, 2014-15) using the DEep LOoking Radio-Echo Sounder (DELORES), a ground-based ice-penetrating radar system that was designed and built by the British Antarctic Survey. It is an updated version of the radar used by Hindmarsh and others (2011). The system emits 2500 radio-wave pulses per second with a centre frequency of 4 MHz and samples the return at 250 MHz. Vertical resolution is approximately 30 cm. The radar is towed across the ice-sheet surface behind a skidoo at approximately 15 km h -1 and 512 complete traces are staked for each stored record, resulting in stacked traces approximately every 85 cm.