CATALOGUE OF ANTARCTIC CLIMATE DATA
COLLECTED BY AUSTRALIAN AGENCIES

INDEX

INTRODUCTION

BRIEF HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN INVOLVEMENT IN ANTARCTICA

WEATHER OCEAN ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION ICE

INTRODUCTION

This catalogue provides a summary of known Antarctic climate data that have been collected by Australian agencies.

A brief description of each element is provided, including available information on location, period of coverage and frequency of observations. It should be noted that the data might not be complete for the specified period of coverage.

Also provided are contacts for organisations holding the data, should further details or access to data be required.

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BRIEF HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN INVOLVEMENT IN ANTARCTICA

Australia's direct involvement in the Antarctic began when Henrick J. Bull, a Norwegian resident in Melbourne, organised a small Norwegian expedition in the ship "Antarctic" to investigate whaling prospects in the area south of Australia. A landing was made at Cape Adare in the northwest of the Ross Sea in January 1895 - the first known landing on the southernmost continent. One of the crew, another Norwegian Carstens E. Borchgrevink, who had lived in Australia from 1888, organised and led the British Expedition, which in 1899 became the first party to winter on the Antarctic continent. Their base was at Cape Adare. Louis Charles Bernacchi, a young Tasmanian physicist of Italian parentage, who came to Australia as a child in 1884, was a member of that party.

The Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) of 1911-14 was organised and led by Douglas Mawson. It carried out extensive scientific observations including research in the Southern Ocean using the expedition's vessel "Aurora". Bases were established at Commonwealth Bay, on the Shackleton Ice Shelf and on Macquarie Island where series of meteorological data were recorded for the first time. Sir Douglas Mawson organised and led the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) during the summers of 1929-31 to explore the region of Antarctica directly south of Australia.

In 1947 the Australian Government decided to take over and fully finance Australia's Antarctic program and so established the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) which continue to this day. ANARE includes governmental, university and other organisations which have need to work in Antarctica. The Bureau of Meteorology has been involved from the outset. During the 1947-48 summer scientific stations were established on both Heard Island and Macquarie Island. In May 1948, the Federal Government set up the Australian Antarctic Division as a permanent agency responsible for providing administrative and logistic support for ANARE. In 1949, Mr (later Dr) Phillip Law was appointed the first Director of the Australian Antarctic Division. On 13 February 1954 a scientific station was established and named after Sir Douglas Mawson. At that time the only other permanent stations were in the Antarctic Peninsular region. Thus Mawson is now the longest continuously operated station inside the Antarctic Circle. In January 1957 a second Australian continental station was established on the western side of the ice-free Vestfold Hills and named after Captain John King Davis who had been the master of AAE and BANZARE ships. The station on Heard Island was closed down in March 1955 after seven years of continuous operation. From 1956 to 1960 the Royal Australian Air Force provided aircrew at Mawson to fly and maintain ANARE aircraft. This greatly increased the flexibility and effectiveness of expeditions. Flights were made for much of the year, facilitating aerial photography, supporting field parties and making regular flights between Mawson and Davis. Late in 1960 the DC3 aircraft was destroyed in a blizzard, curtailing ANARE's air transport capability.

Early in 1959, following the end of the International Geophysical Year, Australia took over control of Wilkes station which had been built by the United States in 1957. The Australian Antarctic Division continued to operate Wilkes for ANARE until 1969, when because of inundation by snow, Wilkes was replaced by the Australian designed and built station, Casey some two kilometres away. During the construction of Casey from 1965 to 1968, Davis was closed but it re-opened in 1969. In 1989 the rebuilding of the Casey station was completed, a kilometre away from the old site. This further enhanced the logistical and scientific support offered to ANARE and participating organisations. In 1992 construction was completed on the Meteorological Centre at Casey.

By 1994 all of Australia's Antarctic Stations had been rebuilt. The ongoing upgrade of facilities at Australia's Antarctic stations since 1969, combined with state of the art satellite communication facilities, has enabled a greater emphasis to be placed on research that provides information and data, vital to further understanding global climate change and the role of the Antarctic in global systems.

The launching of the ice-breaking Research Vessel, Aurora Australis in 1990, has provided a well equipped and modern research and resupply vessel that has assisted in the expansion of the various disciplines of scientific research, undertaken in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean.

A diverse range of research is now undertaken, ranging from the establishment of Automatic Weather Stations to the deployment of drifting recording buoys, an ongoing ice core drilling program, sea ice and sea level studies, feeding and reproductive habits of Antarctic wildlife and the studies of atmospheric and space phenomena, together with the newly established human impacts research program.
 

The history of Australian stations in Antarctica and on the sub-Antarctic islands is summarised in the following table.

OCCUPATION DATES OF AUSTRALIAN STATIONS
Station Occupation Dates Comments
Heard Is 26/12/1947 - 09/03/1955 
22/2/1992 - 10/3/1993		  
Macquarie Is 21/03/1948 - Current  
Mawson 13/02/1954 - Current  
Davis 13/01/1957 - 25/01/1965 
15/02/1969 - Current		 Closed 1965-1969 while Casey being built.
Wilkes 29/01/1957 - 04/02/1959 
04/02/1959 - 19/02/1969		 US base during Operation Deepfreeze II. 
Taken over by Australia in 1959. 
Replaced by Casey 1969.
Casey (old) 19/02/1969 - 20/12/1988 Demolished in 1992/93.
Casey (new) 20/12/1988 - Current  

Further information about the Australian Antarctic Division can be found at: http://www.aad.gov.au

Contact:

Public Information and Education
Australian Antarctic Division
Channel Highway
Kingston Tasmania 7050
Australia
 
E-mail: liz.haywood@aad.gov.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 6232 3513
International Fax: +61 3 6229 9187
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WEATHER

Site Information

MAJOR ANTARCTIC STATIONS
Station BoM # Years Obs Freq (hours) Elevation (m) Latitude Longitude Summer Surface
Wilkes 300003 1960-69
 
12
66°15' S
110°35' E
Rock
Casey (The Tunnel) 300006 1969-90
3
12
66°17' S
110°32' E
Rock
Casey 300017 1989- 
3
40
66°17' S
110°32' E
Rock
Davis 300000 1957- 
3
16
68°35' S
77°58' E
Rock
Mawson 300001 1954- 
3
10
67°36' S
62°52' E
Rock

 
MAJOR SUB-ANTARCTIC STATIONS
Station BoM # Years Obs Freq (hours) Elevation (m) Latitude Longitude Summer Surface
Macquarie Is 300004 1948- 
3
6
54°30' S
158°56' E
Sandy soil

 
MINOR ANTARCTIC STATIONS
Station BoM # Years Elevation (m) Latitude Longitude Summer Surface
Dovers 300016 1988-92
1099
70°14' S
65°51' E
Ice
Knuckey Peaks 300009 1974-75
 
67°48' S
53°30' E
Ice
Lanyon Junction 300011 1984-85
470
66°18' S
110°52' E
Ice
Law Base 300015 1987-88
77
69°25' S
76°30' E
Rock
Moore Pyramid 300008 1972-74
1460
70°18' S
65°06' E
Ice
Mt Cresswell 300007 1971-74
1161
72°44' S
64°23' E
Ice
Mt King 300010 1979-80
1120
67°04' S
52°53' E
Ice
Taylor 300002 1957-59
3
67°27' S
60°52' E
Rock

 
MINOR SUB-ANTARCTIC STATIONS
Station BoM # Years Elevation (m) Latitude Longitude Summer Surface
Heard Is (Atlas Cove) 300005 1948-54, 97- 
5
53°01' S
73°23' E
Gravel/Peat
Heard Is (The Spit) 300028 1992- 
12 / 5
53°06' S
73°43' E
Tussock

Contact:

Climate Services Section
Bureau of Meteorology
GPO Box 727
Hobart Tasmania 7001
Australia
 
E-mail: climate.tas@bom.gov.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 6221 2043
International Fax: +61 3 6221 2045
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Synoptic

SYNOPTIC DATA FOR MAJOR STATIONS
Element Davis Mawson Wilkes Casey (The Tunnel) Casey Macquarie Is
Temperature            
Maximum & Minimum 1957- 1954- 1960-68 1969-89 1989- 1948-
Dry Bulb 1957- 1954- 1960-68 1969-89 1989- 1948-
Wet Bulb 1987- 1954-56, 87- 1960-64 1969-89 1989- 1948-
Dew Point 1957- 1954- 1960-68 1969-89 1989- 1948-
Terrestrial   1954-58       1956-
Soil 10cm, 20cm, 50cm, 1m           1965-89
Air Pressure 1957- 1954- 1960-68 1969-89 1989- 1948-
Wind            
Direction, Speed & Max Gust 1957- 1954- 1960-68 1969-89 1989- 1948-
Run (above 3m) 1957- 1955- 1961-68 1984-89 1989- 1948-
Phenomena 1957- 1954- 1960-68 1969-89 1989- 1948-
Rainfall 1995-       1994- 1948-
Sunshine 1959- 1955- 1960-64 1984-88 1989-2003 1948-53, 64-
Cloud 1957- 1954- 1960-68 1969-89 1989- 1948-
Radiation            
Global   1975-78   1973-77   1968-94
Diffuse   1975-78   1973-77   1973-88

NB
1. Data are not necessarily complete over periods shown.
2. Davis data are not available for: Oct 1964 - Feb 1969.
3. A limited number of observations were recorded at minor bases, typically during summer months.

More detailed information may be found at: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/how/sitedat.shtml
Select the element required and under "Order by station" choose "Antarctica".

Contact:

Climate Services Section
Bureau of Meteorology
GPO Box 727
Hobart Tasmania 7001
Australia
 
E-mail: climate.tas@bom.gov.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 6221 2043
International Fax: +61 3 6221 2045
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Upper-Level

UPPER-LEVEL DATA FOR MAJOR STATIONS
Station Winds Temperature, Moisture & Geopotential Height Obs Frequency (hours)
Casey & Wilkes
1959-
1959-
12
Davis
1957-
1959-
12
Mawson
1954-
1955-
12
Macquarie Island
1953-
1948-
12

NB
In addition, a very limited number of upper-level observations were recorded at minor bases, typically during the summer months for a small number of years.

Contact:

Climate Services Section
Bureau of Meteorology
GPO Box 727
Hobart Tasmania 7001
Australia
 
E-mail: climate.tas@bom.gov.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 6221 2043
International Fax: +61 3 6221 2045
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Automatic Weather Stations (AWS)

The Antarctic Division has installed various AWS since 1982. Typically these have measured air temperature and wind run at 1m, 2m and 4m, as well as pressure, wind direction and speed at 4m and sub-surface temperatures. Some AWS have measured relative humidity, snow accumulation rates and global radiation. The sample interval is generally in the range 51 to 60 minutes. Data are not available for every time a measurement is made, as receipt of data is dependent on satellite proximity. Individual sensors may be faulty within the period of station operation.

More detailed information, including a table showing location and operating dates of AWS, can be obtained at: http://www.antcrc.utas.edu.au/argos/

This site gives metadata details, a summary of all climate data and a means of downloading the data as NetCDF.

Contact:

Dr Ian Allison
Antarctic Division Glaciology Program
ACE CRC
Private Bag 80
Hobart Tasmania 7001
Australia
 
E-mail: i.allison@utas.edu.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 6226 7648
International Fax: +61 3 6226 7650
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OCEAN

Ship - Surface Weather Reports

Observations of weather and sea conditions have been made by the Australian Selected ships, which have included the ships recruited to service Australia's Antarctic and sub-Antarctic bases. The Bureau of Meteorology's archive of quality controlled data, computerised from the Australian Selected fleet logbooks, begins in the late 1950s. Additional data from all ship reports received over the Global Telecommunication System have been decoded and computerised from 1982, but not quality controlled.

Various drifting buoy reports are also archived by the Bureau of Meteorology.

Contact:

Climate and Consultancy Section
Bureau of Meteorology
GPO Box 727
Hobart Tasmania 7001
Australia
 
E-mail: climate.tas@bom.gov.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 6221 2043
International Fax: +61 3 6221 2045
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Ship - Recorded Data

The Antarctic Division's Marine Science database contains data for each voyage that has sailed from 1985/1986 onwards. As each voyage returns, new data are added to the database. Available data include water depth, air and water temperatures, surface winds, radiation data, humidity, ship position and ship heading.

Data can be obtained at: http://aadc-maps.aad.gov.au/marine/index.jsp

Contact:

Mr David Connell
Australian Antarctic Data Centre
Australian Antarctic Division
Channel Highway
Kingston Tasmania 7050
Australia
 
E-mail: dave.connell@aad.gov.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 6232 3244
International Fax: +61 3 6232 3351
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Drifting Buoys

The Australian Antarctic Division has data from various buoys that have been deployed near the Antarctic coast since 1985. Mostly the data include pressure, air temperature and sea surface temperature, but some also include sea temperatures at eleven depths to 100 or 200m.

Contact:

Dr Ian Allison
Antarctic Division Glaciology Program
ACE CRC
Private Bag 80
Hobart Tasmania 7001
Australia
 
E-mail: i.allison@utas.edu.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 6226 7648
International Fax: +61 3 6226 7650
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ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION

Carbon Dioxide

CO2 monitoring - Infra Red Gas Analyser (IRGA)
Macquarie Island 1979 - 1993

Flask sample measurements thereafter (see "Trace Gases" below)

Contact:

Dr L P Steele
CSIRO Atmospheric Research
Private Bag No 1
Aspendale Victoria 3195
Australia
 
E-mail: paul.steele@csiro.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 9239 4400
International Fax: +61 3 9239 4444
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Ozone

Total column ozone (Dobson Spectrophotometer)

Macquarie Island: 1956 - 1957, 1963 - (several per day)

Vertical distribution of ozone (ECC Ozone Sondes)

Macquarie Island: 1994, Dec 1996 - (approximately 1 per week)
Davis: mid-June to mid-October 2003 & 2004 (approximately 1 per week)
November to May (1 per month, starting Feb 2003)

Contact:

Dr Jane Warne
Atmosphere Watch
Australian Bureau of Meteorology
GPO Box 1289K
Melbourne Victoria 3001
Australia
 
E-mail: j.warne@bom.gov.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 9669 4721
International Fax: +61 3 9669 4736

or (for Davis) contact:

Dr Andrew Klekociuk
Australian Antarctic Division
Channel Highway
Kingston Tasmania 7050
Australia
 
E-mail: andrew.klekociuk@aad.gov.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 6232 3382
International Fax: +61 3 6232 3496
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Trace Gases

Flask sampling for Trace Gas Measurement
(CO2, CH4, CO, N2O, H2, stable isotopes of CO2)
Mawson: introduced from 1985 onwards
Casey: introduced from 1994 onwards
Macquarie Island: introduced from 1985 onwards
also at Macquarie Island: O2/N2 by Princeton University and 14CO2 by University of Heidleberg

Contact:

Dr L P Steele, Dr D M Etheridge or Dr C E Allison
CSIRO Atmospheric Research
Private Bag No 1
Aspendale Victoria 3195
Australia
 
E-mail: paul.steele@csiro.au, david.etheridge@csiro.au or colin.allison@csiro.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 9239 4400
International Fax: +61 3 9239 4444
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Trace Gases from Ice Cores and from Firn Air

DE08 and DE08-2 Core - Industrial Period
DSS Core - Holocene period, mainly past 2000 years

Firn air at DE08-2, DSSW20K and South Pole, mainly last 100 years

Greenhouse gases, carbon isotopes, halocarbons

Contact:

Dr D M Etheridge or Dr L P Steele
CSIRO Atmospheric Research
Private Bag No 1
Aspendale Victoria 3195
Australia
 
E-mail: david.etheridge@csiro.au or paul.steele@csiro.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 9239 4400
International Fax: +61 3 9239 4444
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Condensation Nuclei

Mawson: 1981 - 1997
Macquarie Island: 1986 - 1996

Contact:

Dr John Gras
CSIRO Atmospheric Research
Private Bag No 1
Aspendale Victoria 3195
Australia
 
E-mail: john.gras@csiro.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 9239 4400
International Fax: +61 3 9239 4444
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Sulfur Species

Non sea-salt sulfur in aerosol
Mawson: 1990 - 1998
Macquarie Island: 1988 - 1998

Contact:

Dr Greg Ayers
CSIRO Atmospheric Research
Private Bag No 1
Aspendale Victoria 3195
Australia
 
E-mail: greg.ayers@csiro.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 9239 4400
International Fax: +61 3 9239 4444

or contact:

Dr Chad Dick
Director
CliC International Project Office
Norwegian Polar Institute
The Polar Environmental Centre
N-9296 Tromsø
Norway
 
E-mail: chad.dick@npolar.no
 
International Phone: +47 77 75 0145
International Fax: +47 77 75 0501
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Nitrogen Dioxide

Column NO2 monitoring using a JY spectrometer.
Macquarie Island
Instrument has been in operation since January 1996, updated in November 1997 to improve remote internet access and data handling.
Readings are made twice daily.

Contact:

Dr Stephen Wood
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
PB 50061
Omakau
New Zealand
 
E-mail: s.wood@niwa.cri.nz
 
International Phone: +64 3 440 0426
International Fax: +64 3 447 3348
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ICE

Ice Cores

The Australian Antarctic Division holds various data from ice cores collected since 1968. Most sites have data for oxygen isotopes; some have data for density, electro-conductivity, HOOH concentration and crystal fabrics; a few have data for ion chemistry, gas composition and micro-particles. Basic site details are given in the following table.

Relevant information can also be found at: http://www-aadc.aad.gov.au/metadata/default.asp

AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC DIVISION ICE CORES (as at August 2000)
Site/core name Date drilled Latitude S Longitude E Site elevation 
(m)		 Ice thickness 
(m)		 Borehole depth 
(m)		 Age at bottom 
(year BP)
Amery
1968
69°29'02"
71°49'51"
60
428
315
~6000??
SGA
1969
66°07'57"
110°56'40"
274
364
320
10-20 k
SGD
1969
66°43'13"
112°50'10"
1389.7
1370
385
800
SGJ
1972
65°51'12"
113°10'48"
140
150
112
  
SGB
1972
66°18'07"
111°27'24"
773
700
73
  
SGP
1972
66°13'48"
111°13'54"
610
500
113
  
BHF
1974
66°09'06"
111°00'04"
360
385
348
50,000
BHQ
1977
66°23'00"
111°43'34"
927
850
419
6000
BHD 
1977
66°43'13"
112°50'10"
1380
1200
475
2000
BHC1
1982
66°07'50"
110°56'17"
261
305
300
50,000
BHC2
1982
66°07'43"
110°56'10"
249
350
345
50,000
DE08
1987
66°43'19"
113°11'58"
1276
1100
234
180
DSS87P
1987
66°43'19"
113°11'58"
1379.4
1200
12.425
1979 AD
DSS
1988-93
66°46'11"
112°48'25"
1379.4
1200
1200
~100000
DE08/2
1993
66°43'26"
113°12'22"
1270
1100
243
185
DSSW0k
1996
66°46'34"
112°48'05"
1377.0
~1200
39.95
  
DSSW2k
1996
66°46'25"
112°45'34"
1370
~1200
20.38
  
DSSW8k
1996
66°46'32"
112°36'58"
1370
~1200
20.32
  
DSSW12k
1996
66°46'32"
112°31'44"
1370
~1200
20
30
DSSW25k
1996
66°46'32"
112°13'55"
1137.6
~1200
20.13
  
DSS97
1997
66°46'38"
112°48'41"
1377.0
~1200
270
~500
DSSW20k
13-22/12/97
66°46'27"
112°21'26"
~1200
~1200
70.04
300?
SGA98
5/01/02
66°10'11"
111°05'43"
~430
  
23
  
Poinsett97c
29/12/97-2/1/98
66°00'01"
112°36'54"
590
  
59.44
  
DSS99
2000
66°46'14"
112°48'25"
1379
~1200
126
  

Contact:

Dr Vin Morgan and Dr Tas van Ommen
Antarctic Division Glaciology Program
ACE CRC
Private Bag 80
Hobart Tasmania 7001
Australia
 
E-mail: vin.morgan@utas.edu.au and tas.van.ommen@utas.edu.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 6226 2954
International Fax: +61 3 6226 2902

or (for DE08, DE08-2 and DSSW20K) contact:

Dr D M Etheridge
CSIRO Atmospheric Research
Private Bag No 1
Aspendale Victoria 3195
Australia
 
E-mail: david.etheridge@csiro.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 9239 4400
International Fax: +61 3 9239 4444
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Sea Ice

Regular (approximately weekly) measurements of the thickness of the land-fast sea ice, and of the snow cover on it, are made through drilled holes at several sites near both Mawson and Davis. Incomplete historical records exist for Mawson back to 1954 and for Davis back to 1958. Data are available for a few years only for Casey.

Contact:

Dr Ian Allison
Antarctic Division Glaciology Program
ACE CRC
Private Bag 80
Hobart Tasmania 7001
Australia
 
E-mail: i.allison@utas.edu.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 6226 7648
International Fax: +61 3 6226 7650
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Icebergs

Observations are made of all iceberg sightings from selected ANARE voyages. Observations include an estimate from radar and sextant measurements of the height and longest length, water temperature, latitude and longitude, date and time.

Data from 1978 to 2001 are available on the Web at:
http://www.antcrc.utas.edu.au/~jacka/climate.html

In addition, the spatial distribution of the number density and size characteristics of Antarctic icebergs is being retrieved by analysis of various types of satellite image data for selected areas and time periods.

Contact:

Mr Neal Young
Antarctic Division Glaciology Program
ACE CRC
Private Bag 80
Hobart Tasmania 7001
Australia
 
E-mail: neal.young@utas.edu.au
 
International Phone: +61 3 6226 2955
International Fax: +61 3 6226 2902
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Revised 30 August 2004 by Doug Shepherd (E-mail: d.shepherd@bom.gov.au)

Bureau of Meteorology, GPO Box 727, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia