Davis main AFIN station
Reference CryoNet Station Information

Measurements of land-fast sea-ice have been carried out from Davis Station intermittently since the late 1950s. The routine measurements were formalized through an Australian Antarctic Science project entitled ‘East Antarctic near surface cryospheric and atmospheric observatory’. Long-term observations of fast-ice provides valuable indicators of change in the Antarctic ocean-ice-atmosphere system. The fast-ice measurements from Davis are included in the Coasts and Oceans theme of the State of the Environment report.

Fast-ice data can be analysed for indicators of change, and then, for example, related to atmospheric events. For this reason, we are not only interested in the snow and ice thickness, but also in the dates of ice formation, and ice break-out, including ice removal due to autumn storms or blizzards. Shifts in the date of ice formation, maximum ice thickness, etc., may be indicators of larger-scale changes.

The observations of fast-ice primarily are weekly measurements of ice thickness at a set of fixed locations. Data on the level of seawater in the drill-hole (freeboard), and the thickness of snow on top of the sea ice, are also recorded simultaneously at each sampling location. In addition, information regarding the dates of ice-formation and ice-breakout, as well as observations of fast-ice extent, are compiled to build up complete records of the changes in fast ice conditions both seasonally and interannually.

Allison, I., Antarctic sea ice growth and oceanic heat flux, In: Sea Level, Ice and Climate Change Proceedings of the IUGG Canberra Symposium, Dec. 1979, IAHS publ. No. 131, 161--170, 1981.

Heil, P., Interactions between local atmospheric conditions and fast ice at Davis Station, East Antarctica, J. Geophys. Res., 111, C05010, 2006.

Heil, P., I. Allison, and V.I. Lytle, Seasonal and interannual variations of the oceanic heat flux under a landfast Antarctic sea ice cover, J. Geophys. Res., 101 (C11), 25741--25752, 1996.