Ross Sea Icebergs (B15A, C16, B15J, B15K, C25 and Nascent): Drift, weather and seismic data.

During 2001-2006, 6 giant icebergs (B15A, B15J, B15K, C16 and C25) adrift in the southwestern Ross Sea, Antarctica, were instrumented with global positioning system (GPS) receivers, magnetic compasses, automatic weather stations (AWS), firn temperature profile sensors, seismometers, and automated cameras to monitor their behavior in the near-coastal environment and to record their exit into the Southern Ocean. An additional package of instruments was deployed on a part of the Ross Ice Shelf (approximately 180° of longitude and about 25 km from the ice front) near the detachment rift responsible for detaching iceberg B15A and anticipated to be the site of the next major calving from the Ross Ice Shelf The data so far provide a phenomenological characterization of collision processes that influence iceberg drift behavior and break-up in the near coastal environment.

The GPS, AWS and firn temperature data were collected on a 20-minute interval, and seismic data (available here and elsewhere) and camera data were collected with a 100 Hz sample rate or a 6-hour sample rate, respectively. Many of the station data time series are continuous for periods of up to 7 years, with icebergs C16 and B15J having the longest records (and are still collecting data at the time of submission).

The data is considered useful for examining the processes of iceberg drift (and other behaviors) on time scales that are shorter than what is possible through satellite image iceberg tracking. The data contained here, particularly the GPS data, is considered complementary to the iceberg drift trajectory observations provided by satellites. In addition to GPS data from the icebergs, geodetic GPS data from the front of the Ross Ice Shelf was collected in 2005 to study tidal influences on ice-shelf flow.