Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Databases:

Geological Databases Geophysics Databases Ice and Paleoclimate Databases Map Servers and Databases Other Databases

Geological Databases

Geophysics Databases

bathymetry to 60°S including the areas beneath the ice shelves.

Ice and Paleoclimate Databases

The World Data Center (WDC) for Glaciology Boulder is maintained at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The World Data Center system was established as part of the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958). WDCs conduct international data exchanges in accordance with the principles set forth by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) through the ICSU Panel on World Data Centers. As one of more than 40 WDCs around the world that are collecting, archiving, and distributing geophysical data, the World Data Center for Glaciology provides a focus for snow and ice information services. DEM information from RADARSAT is available through this data center.

The Antarctic Glaciological Data Center at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is an archive and distribute center for Antarctic glaciological and cryospheric system data collected by the U.S. Antarctic Program.

The U.S. National Ice Core Laboratory (NICL)is a facility for storing, curating, and studying ice cores recovered from the polar regions of the world. It provides scientists with the capability to conduct examinations and measurements on ice cores, and it preserves the integrity of these ice cores in a long-term repository for current and future investigations.

Map Servers and Databases

The U.S. Antarctic Resource Center (USARC) at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Reston,Va., maintains the Nation's most comprehensive collection of Antarctic maps, charts, satellite images, and photographs produced by the United States and other member nations of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). The USARC holdings include maps and charts from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uruguay.

The USARC is the United States contribution to the SCAR Library system and is managed through an interagency agreement with the National Science Foundation which also provides support to the USGS for mapping and geodetic activities of the U.S. Antarctic Program.

The USGS Atlas of Antarctic Research has been designed to promote greater geographic awareness of the continent and the digital geospatial data that describe it. It provides a common base for displaying research results and data collected, as well as descriptions of ongoing and past projects, when they become available for display. The Atlas is intended to serve the interests and needs of a diverse community as a reference, an information framework, an education tool, and a research aid. Its primary focus is as a tool for Antarctic researchers, but others are invited to use it. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides ongoing development and maintenance of the Atlas through its Antarctic Program. The National Science Foundation provides funding, logistical support and program oversight to this project.

The Antarctic Digital Database is the source of vector topographic data for Antarctica. The current version is available for download from this site. The data are supplied in ARC/INFO uncompressed export format, compressed and encrypted for download using zip. The data are encrypted using an individual password which is supplied to registered users of the ADD site.

The Antarctic online GIS system provided by Raytheon Polar Services details sites of scientific interest, ship tracks and provides some useful imagery from RADARSAT missions.

Other Useful Databases

The U.S. Antarctic Data Coordination Center is designed to help complete obligations as a PI regarding the NSF Office of Polar Programs Guidelines and Award Conditions for Scientific Data. The site is intended to provide access to Antarctic data directories and related search and entry tools.

The Digital Tectonic Activity Map (DTAM) is a new visualization tool for both researcher and educator alike to better understand tectonic activity of our planet for the past 1 million years. DTAM is a Geographical Information System (GIS) that displays a realistic synoptic view of present global tectonism by filling in the cartographic gap between conventional geological maps and plate reconstruction maps. The DTAM was created using current global datasets of seismicity, volcanism, and plate motions that were integrated with topography and bathymetry measurements derived from satellite gravity data. Macroscopic structural features were integrated via field studies from various researchers, space geodesy, and space-borne imagery (e.g. astronaut photography, Landsat). This integrative technique provides a new and unique visualization tool that presents an actual representational view of global tectonics rather than the traditional schematic illustrations (i.e. plate maps) of the past.

The IRIS Consortium is dedicated to exploring the Earth's interior through the collection and distribution of seismographic data. IRIS programs contribute to scholarly research, education, earthquake hazard mitigation, and the verification of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. IRIS is an acronym for the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology.

Northern California Earthquake Data Center

The UNAVCO Facility in Boulder, Colorado is the primary operational activity of UNAVCO, Inc. and exists to support university and other research investigators in their use of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology for Earth sciences research. The Facility performs this task by providing state-of-the-art GPS equipment and field engineering support for projects, installing, operating and maintaining continuous GPS networks globally, undertaking new technology development and evaluation of commercially available products for research applications, and by archiving GPS data and data products for future applications. The Facility is funded under multi-year grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

The Antarctic Environmental Data Center is a virtual data centre providing a gateway to BAS's distributed data holdings. Requests for BAS data sets can be made either via the AEDC Manager or directly via the relevant Scientist or Data Manager. The AEDC hosts the BAS data catalogue that can be used to search for information on BAS's data holdings. This has been developed as part of the BAS Metadata Management System (MDMS) project. The MDMS also includes a facility to search the ARIES satellite image archive, for high resolution picture transmission (HRPT) data collected at Rothera. The AEDC is the UK National Antarctic Data Centre within the SCAR-COMNAP Antarctic Data Directory System.

The Antarctic Master Directory (AMD) is a large metadata database maintained by the Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). It contains metadata records from the National Antarctic Data Centres (NADC's) of each of the Antarctic Treaty nations.

NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) provides descriptions of Earth science data sets and services relevant to global change research. The GCMD database includes descriptions of data sets covering agriculture, the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and oceans, snow and ice, geology and geophysics, paleoclimatology, and human dimensions of global change.

The Australian Antarctic Data Centre is designed to assist scientists in collecting Antarctic data and to manage and disseminate research data via the Web. In doing so, the Data Centre addresses Australia's Antarctic Treaty obligation to facilitate full and free exchange of the results of scientific research.