Lena Delta 2019 Magnetic Snow Depth Probe data

• Main Authors: Cable, William L, Tautz, Frieder, Schreiber, Peter, Martin, Julia, Lange, Stephan, Boike, Julia
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2020
• Subjects: AWI_Perma; GNSS; GPS; Modular Observation Solutions for Earth Systems; MOSES; Permafrost Research; snow depth; Moses; lena delta; permafrost
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.920716; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.920716

This dataset consists of over 2000 snow depth and position (GNSS) measurements collected on Samoylov and Kurungnakh Islands in the Lena Delta, Russia, between March 31st and April 12th, 2019. These data were collected using an in-house (AWI) build magnetic snow depth probe (mSDP). It allows snow depth measurements to be quickly collected along transects and in grids. The device consists of a Magnetostrictive Transducer contained within a 1.5 m long stainless steel rod (the probe) which can very accurately measure the position of a magnet mounted on a plastic disk that slides up and down the rod. As the rod is inserted into the snow, the plastic disk remains on the snow surface. When the tip of the rod reaches the ground surface, a button is pressed and the device measures and records the snow depth along with the GPS position. The accuracy of the magnetic depth measurement is approximately 0.1 cm; however, the overall accuracy of the depth measurement is significantly less (2 - 4 cm) due to uncertainties in the positioning of the tip in loose vegetation at the base of the snowpack. The minimum measurable snow depth is 5 cm, due to the construction of the device. The mSDP takes 10 samples per measurement point. A Matlab script was used to process the raw data into means for each measurement point. For each measurement, outliers more than 1.5 interquartile ranges above the upper quartile or below the lower quartile were removed. If the deviation between samples was still greater than 1 cm, then all samples with a difference of more than 2 cm from the maximum were removed. This occurred only when the mSDP was removed from the snowpack before the 10 samples had been collected. Otherwise, the 10 samples from a single measurement position varied only by 1 or 2 mm. Missing data in the files are indicated by an empty value. Snow depths of less than 5 cm, below the detection limit of the mSDP, have been assigned a Dsn of "<5".