SUMup Density, Accumulation, and Snow Depth on Sea Ice

Increasing atmospheric temperatures over ice cover affects surface processes including melt, snowfall and snow density. Here, we present a comprehensive database of Arctic and Antarctic surface mass-balance observations of density, accumulation, and snow depth on sea ice over a 60 year time period. This compilation began in 2012 under the Surface Mass Balance and Snow Depth on Sea Ice Working Group (SUMup) and the goal of this dataset is to create an expandable, standardized dataset of field measurements of surface mass balance components that is consistent in format, properly described, and easy for researcher to use. The SUMup datasets of density, accumulation, and snow depth on sea ice contain a total of over 1,000,000 measurements from a vast number of sites across the polar regions. Each measurement has a corresponding date, latitude, longitude, measurements, method, and citation explained in the metadata. This aggregated, field measurement dataset can and has been used to validate current and future modeling as well as remote sensing retrievals. The newest version of the SUMup dataset will be available publicly in July 2017.