Antarctic Plateau-Salt Relative Humidity and Temperature

This dataset includes relative humidity and temperature values measured inside a NaCl sample on the Antarctic Plateau. Approximately 300 g of pure NaCl were placed in a squared plastic container with RH and T sensors and a data logger (U23 Pro V2 from HOBO) inside the salt set to record data every 15 minutes. The box was sealed, and holes were drilled on the top of the plastic container for air circulation. RH and T data from the salt were obtained daily during the 2,538 km transect from the Novolazarevskaya station to Dome Fuji (altitude: 3,810 m), and back to the station. The data were downloaded at the end of the transect and RH values were corrected for sub-zero temperatures. Briefly, RH sensors record humidity with respect to liquid water, even at subfreezing temperatures, and often have offsets at high humidity and low temperature that need to be considered. To deal with this issue (i.e. sub-zero temperatures) on the Antarctic Plateau, the RH readings were corrected using the following empirical formula: RHice = RH − 2 − 0.65T, where RH is in percent, T is the temperature in Celsius, and RHice is the RH with respect to ice, and is the final corrected value.