Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net) Data
In Memory of Dr. Konrad (Koni) Steffen
Update October 2022: The GC-Net is kindly continued by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS).
Starting October 3, 2022, the access to the latest versions of the "ready to use" L1 data has been migrated to GEUS. Future data versions will be available at: https://doi.org/10.22008/FK2/VVXGUT
Background
Starting with a single station in 1991, the Greenland Climate Network (commonly known as GC-Net) is a set of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) set up and managed by the late Prof. Dr. Konrad (Koni) Steffen, and spanning the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). This first station was "Swiss Camp" or the "ETH-CU" camp (GC-Net station #01) which was used as a field science and education site by Koni for years. The GC-Net was expanded with multiple NASA, NOAA, and NSF grants throughout the years, and then supported by WSL in the later years. These data (see "C-file" below) were previously hosted by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) in Boulder, Colorado.
Overview
Provided in this dataset are the 16 longest running stations in the network, which are spread over a significant area of the GrIS and the majority of the unique climatic zones. From the South Dome high point in the South, to the Western Jakobshavn ablation region in the west, to the Petermann glacier in the North across east of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream to the east, GC-Net is the longest running climatological record of Greenland.
The standard GC-Net station consists of:
- Air temperature measurements at 2 heights above the surface
- Temperature and humidity measurements at 2 heights above the surface
- Wind speed and direction measured at 2 heights above the surface
- Sonic distance sounder measurements for 2 snow height and distance of instruments to surface
- Incoming shortwave radiation measurement
- Reflected shortwave radiation measurement
- Net broadband radiation (long- and short-wave) measurement
- Air pressure measurement
Data have often been repatriated in near-real time using one of either the GOES geostationary satellite or the ARGOS polar orbiting satellite transmission system. The stations were visited typically every 1-2 years for maintenance and service, and to download full uncorrupted data directly from the dataloggers. GC-Net stations were visited by Twin Otter equipped with snow skids to land directly on the open-ice at the AWS locations, or by helicopter near the west coast. The AWSs operate on solar and battery power and occasionally lost power during the dark and cold winter months, particularly when the batteries were aging.
Dataset
This dataset consists of 2 main data levels; Level 0 and Level 1.
Level 0 is the raw data from the dataloggers, historical processing codes, satellite transmissions, and Koni’s personal data archive. Level 0 data (.zip) directories contain subdirectories:
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“C file” - contains the historical processed datafile for each station.
-
“Campbell logger files” - contains the raw csv datafiles from the stations’ Campbell Scientific dataloggers since the CR1000 era (~2007-2008 for most stations).
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“Photos” - contains photographs of the station when available marked by year.
Level 1 is the appended, calibrated, cleaned, and quality flagged data. The full processing scheme is open-source and publicly available on the following GitHub repository (please also check GitHub for the latest L1 data):
GC-Net L1 data on GitHub
Level 1 data is provided in the newly described csv-compatible NEAD format.
Additional Details
Dataset description publication will be forthcoming.
The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) has been imperative in the reprocessing and continuity mission of GC-Net. Multiple GC-Net stations have been replaced with updated and upgraded AWS hardware at the same coordinates by GEUS. This effort will ensure continuity of the GC-Net dataset into the future.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by:
Related Publications
Steffen, K., Huff, N.C.R., Starkweather, S., Albert, T. and McAllister, M., 2003. Variability and forcing of climate parameters on the Greenland Ice Sheet: Greenland climate Network (GC-NET). National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Fausto, R.S., van As, D., Mankoff, K.D., Vandecrux, B., Citterio, M., Ahlstrøm, A.P., Andersen, S.B., Colgan, W., Karlsson, N.B., Kjeldsen, K.K. and Korsgaard, N.J., 2021. Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE) automatic weather station data. Earth System Science Data, 13(8), pp.3819-3845.
Ionuț Iosifescu Enescu; Mathias Bavay; Kenneth Mankoff (2020). Non-Binary Environmental Archive Data (NEAD) format. EnviDat. doi:
Citation:
Steffen (†), Konrad; Houtz, Derek; Vandecrux, Baptiste; Abdalati, Waleed; Bayou, Nicolas; Box, Jason; Colgan, William; Espona Pernas, Lucia; Griessinger, Nena; Haas-Artho, Dominik; Heilig, Achim; Hubert, Alain; Iosifescu Enescu, Ionuț; Johnson-Amin, Nighat; Karlsson, Nanna B.; Kurup, Rebecca; McGrath, Daniel; Naderpour, Reza; Pederson, Allan Østerby; Perren, Bianca; Phillips, Thomas; Plattner, Gian-Kasper; Proksch, Martin; Revheim, Maiken Kristiansen; Saettele, Martina; Schneebeli, Martin; Sampson, Kevin; Starkweather, Sandy; Steffen, Simon; Stroeve, Julienne; Walter, Benjamin; Winton, Øyvind Andreas; Zwally, Jay (2020). Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net) Data. EnviDat. doi:10.16904/envidat.1.
DataCite
ISO 19139
GCMD DIF
README.txt
BibTex
RIS
Metadata
Field |
Values |
DOI |
10.16904/envidat.1
|
Publication State |
Published |
Authors |
-
Email:
konrad.steffenfoo(at)wsl.ch
Given Name:
Konrad
Family Name:
Steffen
(†)
Affiliation:
WSL
Additional Affiliation :
ETHZ
Additional Affiliation :
EPFL
DataCRediT:
Collection, Validation, Curation, Software, Supervision
-
Email:
derek.houtzfoo(at)wsl.ch
Given Name:
Derek
Family Name:
Houtz
Affiliation:
WSL
DataCRediT:
Validation, Curation, Software, Publication
-
Email:
bavfoo(at)geus.dk
ORCID:
0000-0002-4169-8973
Given Name:
Baptiste
Family Name:
Vandecrux
Affiliation:
GEUS
DataCRediT:
Validation, Software
-
Email:
waleed.abdalatifoo(at)colorado.edu
Given Name:
Waleed
Family Name:
Abdalati
Affiliation:
University of Colorado
Additional Affiliation :
CIRES
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
bayou_nicolasfoo(at)yahoo.com
Given Name:
Nicolas
Family Name:
Bayou
Affiliation:
UNAVCO
DataCRediT:
Collection, Validation, Software
-
Email:
jebfoo(at)geus.dk
Given Name:
Jason
Family Name:
Box
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland
DataCRediT:
Collection, Validation, Curation, Software
-
Email:
wicfoo(at)geus.dk
Given Name:
William
Family Name:
Colgan
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
lucia.esponafoo(at)wsl.ch
ORCID:
0000-0002-1477-6999
Given Name:
Lucia
Family Name:
Espona Pernas
Affiliation:
WSL
DataCRediT:
Software
-
Email:
nena.griessingerfoo(at)gmail.com
Given Name:
Nena
Family Name:
Griessinger
Affiliation:
SLF
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
dominik.haasfoo(at)wsl.ch
Given Name:
Dominik
Family Name:
Haas-Artho
Affiliation:
WSL
DataCRediT:
Software
-
Email:
heiligfoo(at)r-hm.de
Given Name:
Achim
Family Name:
Heilig
Affiliation:
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
alain.hubertfoo(at)polarfoundation.org
Given Name:
Alain
Family Name:
Hubert
Affiliation:
International Polar Foundation (IPF)
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
ionut.iosifescufoo(at)wsl.ch
ORCID:
0000-0002-1770-7833
Given Name:
Ionuț
Family Name:
Iosifescu Enescu
Affiliation:
WSL
DataCRediT:
Software, Publication
-
Email:
ggfoo(at)polarfoundation.org
Given Name:
Nighat
Family Name:
Johnson-Amin
Affiliation:
International Polar Foundation (IPF)
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
nbkfoo(at)geus.dk
Given Name:
Nanna B.
Family Name:
Karlsson
Affiliation:
GEUS
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
rebecca.kurupfoo(at)wsl.ch
Given Name:
Rebecca
Family Name:
Kurup
Affiliation:
WSL
DataCRediT:
Software
-
Email:
daniel.mcgrathfoo(at)colostate.edu
Given Name:
Daniel
Family Name:
McGrath
Affiliation:
Colorado State University
DataCRediT:
Collection, Validation, Curation, Software
-
Email:
reza.naderpourfoo(at)wsl.ch
Given Name:
Reza
Family Name:
Naderpour
Affiliation:
WSL
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
aoepfoo(at)geus.dk
Given Name:
Allan Østerby
Family Name:
Pederson
Affiliation:
GEUS
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
biaperfoo(at)bas.ac.uk
Given Name:
Bianca
Family Name:
Perren
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
phillitpfoo(at)colorado.edu
Given Name:
Thomas
Family Name:
Phillips
Affiliation:
Swiss Re
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
gian-kasper.plattnerfoo(at)wsl.ch
Given Name:
Gian-Kasper
Family Name:
Plattner
Affiliation:
WSL
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
m.prokschfoo(at)geoformer.ch
Given Name:
Martin
Family Name:
Proksch
Affiliation:
geoformer igp AG
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
maiken.revheimfoo(at)outlook.com
Given Name:
Maiken Kristiansen
Family Name:
Revheim
Affiliation:
GEUS
Additional Affiliation :
Copenhagen University
DataCRediT:
Software
-
Email:
martina.saettelefoo(at)rhb.ch
Given Name:
Martina
Family Name:
Saettele
Affiliation:
RHB
-
Email:
schneebelifoo(at)slf.ch
Given Name:
Martin
Family Name:
Schneebeli
Affiliation:
SLF
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
ksampsonfoo(at)ucar.edu
Given Name:
Kevin
Family Name:
Sampson
Affiliation:
UCAR
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
sandy.starkweatherfoo(at)noaa.gov
Given Name:
Sandy
Family Name:
Starkweather
Affiliation:
NOAA
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
simon.steffenfoo(at)colorado.edu
Given Name:
Simon
Family Name:
Steffen
Affiliation:
Climanosco
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
Julienne.Stroevefoo(at)umanitoba.ca
Given Name:
Julienne
Family Name:
Stroeve
Affiliation:
University of Manitoba
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
benjamin.walterfoo(at)slf.ch
Given Name:
Benjamin
Family Name:
Walter
Affiliation:
SLF
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
oewfoo(at)geus.dk
Given Name:
Øyvind Andreas
Family Name:
Winton
Affiliation:
GEUS
DataCRediT:
Collection
-
Email:
jayzwallyicefoo(at)verizon.net
Given Name:
Jay
Family Name:
Zwally
Affiliation:
NASA GSFC
DataCRediT:
Collection, Supervision
|
Contact Person |
Given Name:
Derek
Family Name:
Houtz
Email:
derek.houtzfoo(at)wsl.ch
Affiliation:
WSL
|
Subtitles |
|
Publication |
Publisher:
EnviDat
Year:
2020
|
Dates |
-
Type:
Collected
Date:
1996-05-01
|
Version |
1.0 |
Type |
dataset |
General Type |
Dataset |
Language |
English |
Location |
Switzerland |
Content License |
Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (CC-BY-SA)
|
Last Updated |
January 28, 2025, 11:17 (UTC)
|
Created |
October 8, 2020, 13:21 (UTC)
|