Antarctic Microclimate Data

Automatic data loggers are often used to monitor environmental variables such as temperature (of air and soil), humidity, wind speed and radiation in microclimates where experimental or ecological studies are being carried out. Some loggers are only in operation for a few weeks or months while others have been run for several years. Loggers have been sited in a wide variety of locations from the sub-Antarctic (South Georgia), South Orkney Islands (Signy) various Peninsula sites (as far south as Alexander Island - 70S), and some continental localities (e.g. Victoria Land). These form an important data resource to the climate conditions experienced by Antarctic terrestrial organisms. Various types of logger are used. Sensors tend to be deployed at or near ground level and in and around particular types of vegetation, or other experimental sites, such a cloches. Data are available from 1976 depending on the specific site. All micrometeorological data have been conv
erted to Oracle format and are held in a database that is maintained in the Biological Sciences Data and Resource Centre at BAS. However some raw data are held in additional files of various formats within the Biological Sciences Division. High level locations include Signy Island, South Georgia, Alexander Island, Adelaide Island, Livingston Island and Victoria Land. Loggers used include Grant, Delta-T, Campbell and Squirrels. Victoria Land data for Kay Island and Edmonson Point in 1995 and 1996 was collected under the BIOTEX 1 experiment of the SCAR BIOTAS (Biological Investigations of Terrestrial Antarctic Systems) Programme. An overview of BIOTEX is available as a PDF file. Hosted by the Programma Nazionale Richerche in Antartide (PNRA) of Italy at Terra Nova Bay station in Victoria Land, the expedition was conceived to investigate the hypothesis that: "the closed moss community at Edmonson Point represents the climax stage of a biotic succession along an environment
al and nutritional gradient from isolated cold dry continental endoli
thic communities to warmer, wetter coastal cryptogamic communities enriched by run-off and excreta from sea birds." Data were collected from a variety of habitats and sites and were transferred to Oracle in July and August 1996 with a separate table for each logger/habitat combination. Height above sea level ranged from approximately 5 to 100m above sea level. Variables measured included soil temperature, air temperature, relative humidity, radiation (UV a anfd UV b), soil moisture and wind speed.