Snow stratigraphy observations in the katabatic wind region of eastern Wilkes Land, Antarctica.

Stratigraphical measurements to a depth of 2-3m in puts were made along a glaciological traverse route from 68.35.S, 113.19E to 69.00S, 130.48E at approximately 2000m elevation in Wilkes Land, Eastern Antarctica. Observations of the snow surface and meteorological conditions began on 29 August and continued until 28 December whilst the stratigraphical measurements were made between 28 September and 20 November 1982. The traverse route lies entirely in the katabatic wind region which encircles the central plateau. The snow surface which develops under the influence of such a constant wind was observed to have some interesting properties.(1) A very hard crust had developed by Sept (early Spring) and this was covered by a thin (1mm) icy glaze. There were observed in conjunction over the length of the traverse and over several years of accumulation as measured in the pits. It is suggested that the glaze is formed by the dissipation of the kinetic energy of drift by friction and the crust by 'sintering' from vapour transport within the snow pack.(2) Erosional processes are very important in the development of the snow cover. Sastrugi were ubiquitous and reached heights of up to 60cm, thereby introducing noise levels sometimes equal to or greater than the annual layering observed in the pits. This complicates any inter-site correlation and disrupts the interpretation of annual layering from the stable isotope ratio, 18 O 16 0 (s18O)(3) The existence of temperature gradients within the snow surface sufficient for the formation of deep-hoar was inferred from its occurrence at least once in the most annual layers at each site.(4) Summer snow surfaces were considerably softer than those of winter and extensive layers of deep-hoar were observed to develop within them.The fields in this dataset are:YearMonthsMean TemperatureMaximum TemperatureMinimum TemperatureMean Station Level PressureMean Wind SpeedMaximum Wind GustDays Strong WindDays Gale WindMarkAcc metres snowPeriod 1980-81 and 1981

在南极东部威尔克斯地（Wilkes Land）海拔约2000米的区域内，沿一条冰川学考察路线开展了深度2-3米的雪坑地层测量，考察路线范围为南纬68.35°、东经113.19°至南纬69.00°、东经130.48°。1982年8月29日起启动雪面与气象条件观测，持续至同年12月28日；而雪坑地层测量工作则于1982年9月28日至11月20日间完成。该考察路线全程位于环绕南极中央高原的下降风（katabatic wind）区域内。受这类恒定强风影响形成的雪面，展现出多项值得关注的特性：
1. 至9月（早春）时已形成极为坚硬的雪壳，其上方覆盖有一层厚度仅1毫米的冰釉。该现象在考察路线全程以及雪坑测得的数年积雪累积层中均有观测记录。研究推测，冰釉由吹雪的动能经摩擦耗散而形成，而雪壳则由雪层内部水汽运移引发的「烧结（sintering）」作用形成。
2. 侵蚀过程对积雪覆盖层的发育影响显著。雪蚀垄（sastrugi）遍布全区，最高可达60厘米，其造成的地表噪声水平有时等同于甚至高于雪坑中观测到的年层信号。这为不同测点间的相关性分析带来了干扰，同时也会干扰基于稳定同位素比值¹⁸O/¹⁶O（δ¹⁸O）解读年层的工作。
3. 各测点至少在多数年层中均出现过深霜（deep-hoar），据此可推断雪层内部存在足以形成深霜的温度梯度。
4. 夏季雪面相较于冬季显著松软，且观测到其内发育有大范围的深霜层。

本数据集包含以下字段：年份、月份、平均气温、最高气温、最低气温、测站海平面平均气压、平均风速、最大阵风风速、强风日数、大风日数、积雪厚度（米）。观测时段为1980-1981年及1981年。