Data in Brief (Feb 2024)
Timelapse images datasets (2017–2022) from Livingston and Deception Islands, Antarctica, to study snow cover and weather conditions at the PERMATHERMAL monitoring network
Abstract
In the Deception and Livingston Islands, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, two sites belonging to the international Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) network were established in 2005 and 2009, respectively, as part of the PERMATHERMAL network. In 2017, part of the installed instrumentation was upgraded, incorporating new CC5MPX automatic photographic cameras from Campbell Scientific to acquire three daily photographs at 5Mpx in resolution, 2592 × 1984 pixels in size, and JPEG format. The photographs are taken during the central hours of the day (14, 15, and 16 h GMT) to ensure maximum brightness, even during the Antarctic winter. Powered by batteries and solar panels, two cameras were installed at each site with a panoramic view, devoid of vegetation except for small patches of moss. At each study point, the cameras are oriented in different directions, providing diverse angles of the study area, and allowing observation of various fields of view in the environment. The result is a dataset of images acquired in the 2017–2022 period, organized by site, year, and month, capturing environmental conditions and spatial distribution of the snow cover. This dataset, besides documenting the snow cover, allows assessment of meteorological conditions, prevailing wind directions in the area during snow events, even in more distant areas from the study point due to the configured field of view. In the case of the images from Livingston Island, it also enables the study of the Limnopolar Lake's fluctuating water level during spring and summer. For the images from Deception Island, it provides insight into the presence of pack ice in Foster Port, relevant for volcanic activity and the safety of numerous vessels entering the caldera of the active volcano.
