Ice and snow pit measurements observed during the SIPEX II voyage of the Aurora Australis, 2012

This dataset contains routine measurements of snow and ice thickness, and snow-ice interface temperature, at 1m intervals along standard transects; snow property characterisation in snow pits measured at 0m, 50m and 100m along the transects; and sea ice cores acquired at various locations both along the transects and elsewhere on ice station floes during the 2012 SIPEX 2 marine science voyage. Ice temperature information is acquired from the cores, which are taken on-board for further analysis.

The latter includes thin-section analysis of sea-ice stratigraphy and crystallography at -20C within the freezer lab on-board the ship. The cores are then cut up into 5cm sections and melted for analysis of salinity and stable oxygen isotopes. Observation items: Snow: - Thickness - Temperature profile (every 3 cm) - Snow-ice interface temperature at 1m intervals along the 100m transects - Grain size - Grain shape - Density - Hardness - Salinity - Stable oxygen isotope Ice: - Thickness - Freeboard - Draft - Temperature - Salinity - Stable oxygen isotope - Crystallography and texture - Density Instruments: Snow: Folding scales, Spatula, Thermometer, Snow sampler, Magnifying glass, Salinometer, Temperature and thickness probes, scales Ice: Drills, corers, ice-thickness tape measures, thermometer, salinometer, band-saw, cross-polarising filter, scales The data are recorded in log books (scanned copies are included in this dataset) and have been transferred into the standard AAD sea-ice database templates (in excel format) for each station.