A high-resolution synthetic bed elevation grid of the Antarctic continent

• Published in: Earth System Science Data
• Main Authors: Graham, Felicity S., Roberts, Jason L., Galton-Fenzi, Ben K., Young, Duncan, Blankenship, Donald, Siegert, Martin J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2017
• Subjects: article; Verlagsveröffentlichung; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-9-267-2017; https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00010262; https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00010219/essd-9-267-2017.pdf; https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/9/267/2017/essd-9-267-2017.pdf

Digital elevation models of Antarctic bed topography are smoothed and interpolated onto low-resolution ( > 1 km) grids as current observed topography data are generally sparsely and unevenly sampled. This issue has potential implications for numerical simulations of ice-sheet dynamics, especially in regions prone to instability where detailed knowledge of the topography, including fine-scale roughness, is required. Here, we present a high-resolution (100 m) synthetic bed elevation terrain for Antarctica, encompassing the continent, continental shelf, and seas south of 60° S. Although not identically matching observations, the synthetic bed surface – denoted as HRES – preserves topographic roughness characteristics of airborne and ground-based ice-penetrating radar data measured by the ICECAP (Investigating the Cryospheric Evolution of the Central Antarctic Plate) consortium or used to create the Bedmap1 compilation. Broad-scale ( > 5 km resolution) features of the Antarctic landscape are incorporated using a low-pass filter of the Bedmap2 bed elevation data. HRES has applicability in high-resolution ice-sheet modelling studies, including investigations of the interaction between topography, ice-sheet dynamics, and hydrology, where processes are highly sensitive to bed elevations and fine-scale roughness. The data are available for download from the Australian Antarctic Data Centre (doi:10.4225/15/57464ADE22F50).