Date (Creation)

2025-11-21

Date (Revision)

2025-11-21

Date (Publication)

2025-11-21

Date (released)

2025-11-21

Edition

1.0

Unique resource identifier

https://doi.org/10.5285/9cd08043-4498-4688-91d8-bb8a867d9024

Codespace

doi

Unique resource identifier

GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/02115

Codespace

https://data.bas.ac.uk/

Unique resource identifier

NE/S007164/1

Codespace

award

Other citation details

Please cite this item as: Moser, D., Gallet, J., Thomas, E., Spolaor, A., & Scoto, F. (2025). In-situ tracer percolation experiments: conditions, results, and alteration of stable water isotope signatures in the seasonal snow near Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, in March 2023 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/9cd08043-4498-4688-91d8-bb8a867d9024

Credit

No credit.

Status

Completed

Point of contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
British Antarctic Survey	Moser, Dorothea		Author
Norwegian Polar Institute	Gallet, Jean-Charles		Author
British Antarctic Survey	Thomas, Elizabeth		Author
Institute of Polar Sciences	Spolaor, Andrea		Author
Institute of Polar Sciences	Scoto, Federico		Author
NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre		PDCServiceDesk@bas.ac.uk	Point of contact

Maintenance and update frequency

As needed

Maintenance note

Completed

Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords

• EARTH SCIENCE > Cryosphere > Snow/Ice > Snow Depth
• EARTH SCIENCE > Cryosphere > Snow/Ice > Snow Melt
• EARTH SCIENCE > Cryosphere > Snow/Ice > Snow/Ice Chemistry
• EARTH SCIENCE > Cryosphere > Snow/Ice > Snow/Ice Temperature

Theme

• Arctic

• Svalbard

• experiments

• in situ

• melt

• percolation

• proxy alteration

• rain on snow

• snow

• stabe water isotopes

• tracer

Place

• Ny-Alesund, Broggerhalvoya, Svalbard. Arctic

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

• Meteorological geographical features

Access constraints

Other restrictions

Other constraints

public access limited according to Article 13(1)(e) of the INSPIRE Directive

Use constraints

License

Other constraints

Open Government Licence v3.0

Use constraints

Other restrictions

Other constraints

Data supplied under Open Government Licence v3.0

Use constraints

Other restrictions

Other constraints

Dataset embargoed until publication of associated article.

Unique resource identifier

url

Codespace

url

Association Type

Cross reference

Unique resource identifier

url

Codespace

url

Association Type

Cross reference

Unique resource identifier

doi

Codespace

doi

Association Type

Cross reference

Unique resource identifier

doi

Codespace

doi

Association Type

Cross reference

Unique resource identifier

doi

Codespace

doi

Association Type

Cross reference

Unique resource identifier

url

Codespace

url

Association Type

Larger work citation

Unique resource identifier

url

Codespace

url

Association Type

Larger work citation

Unique resource identifier

url

Codespace

url

Association Type

Larger work citation

Spatial representation type

Text, table

Language

English

Character set

UTF8

Topic category

• Inland waters

Begin date

2023-03-21

End date

2023-03-31

Supplemental Information

It is recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of any data, and that the author be contacted with any questions regarding appropriate use. If you find any errors or omissions, please report them to polardatacentre@bas.ac.uk.

Title

European Petroleum Survey Group (EPSG) Geodetic Parameter Registry

Date (Publication)

2008-11-12

Cited responsible party

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
European Petroleum Survey Group		EPSGadministrator@iogp.org	Publisher

Unique resource identifier

urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::3031

Version

6.18.3

Hierarchy level

Dataset

Statement

Methodology:

The following experiment description is based on Moser (2025):

General tracer experiment information:

We conducted in-situ melt experiments that have been designed to mirror short ROS-induced melt events and to trace percolation via visual features corresponding to structural imprint, thermal changes and SWI alteration of the snowpack.

The melt tracer is based on ultrapure (Milli-Q) water mixed with deuterium oxide (D2O) and blue food dye, following the procedure laid out in Moser (2025), to enable visually and chemically tracing percolation. The percolation tracer of known composition is applied to a defined surface area (40 x 20 cm) of the already assessed snow pit (data available: Moser et al., 2025). The prepared tracer characteristics (volume, temperature, composition) are known before it is evenly distributed onto the snow surface using a sprinkler.

We documented the specifics for all tracer percolation experiments in the respective snowpit, including:

Date: DD.MM.YYYY;

Experiment number: consistent across temperature monitoring, percolation depth and SWI results to enable linking of records;

Liquid volume: in millilitres, measured in the NERC Arctic Station lab at the start of the field day;

Liquid temperature: in deg C, measured using a digital thermometer immediately before application in the field;

SWI Tracer ID: system-internal identifier assigned from the fieldwork vial until data processing to enable continuous data tracking;

Tracer d2H and Tracer d18O: the d2H and d18O signature of the tracer liquid, both reported in permil (ppth) against V-SMOW;

Pouring time: is the number of seconds it took to apply the entire tracer liquid to the experiment area. Note: if the pouring time was, e.g., 15 seconds, this corresponds to the first 0.25 decimal minutes of the experiment in the temperature monitoring record.

Thermometer positions: each thermometer is numbered (consistent with the temperature monitoring record in a separate CSV file) and its respective position in the snow pit reported as height above the ground in centimetres.

Note that experiment no. 2 and no. 3 for the snowpit dug on the 25th of March were conducted on 26th March.

Temperature monitoring:

Digital thermometers were placed in regular intervals below the surface, e.g. every 2 cm in the top 10 cm, and used to record snow temperature at regular intervals throughout the percolation observation period. Experiments were concluded when temperatures in the affected snowpack, as reflected by the top thermometer, started to drop, thereby indicating the predominance of refreezing.

In the related CSV file, the first column identifies the experiment number. The second column gives the time since the start of the experiment in decimal minutes. Where values are provided for the 0-minute time step, this shows the temperatures at the start of the experiment. In the subsequent columns, temperature readings are provided for each numbered thermometer at each time-step. The number of thermometers used varies between snowpits, but is consistent within experiments.

Percolation result depths:

Upon completion of the percolation experiment, we used the blue colour of the tracer to measure the average and maximum percolation depth on the snow pit front. These measurements were repeated on two new snow pit fronts that were cut 5 cm and 10 cm into the experiment area to evaluate and ensure representativity. Maximum percolation depth is the greatest depth reached by blue dye during an experiment, and average percolation depth reflects surface melt layer thickness on the respective front.

The Percolation Results table contains:

Experiment number: given to allow linkage with corresponding "Tracer_Experiments_Info" CSV in the same folder.

For each of the snow pit fronts (0 cm = Front_0, 5 cm = Front_5, 10 cm into the experiment area = Front_10), we provide averag...(33)

Data collection:

General:

Depth measurements: Foldable ruler.

Timekeeping: Stopwatch feature in Clock app (Samsung Galaxy A52s, Android).

Temperature:

Digital Thermometers: Salter 544A HBBKCR and Salter 518 WHCR, 0.1 deg C precision.

SWI:

Polypropylene (BIOFIL) centrifuge tubes.

Picarro L2130-i.

All measurements made in the field were immediately recorded in a field notebook and digitised upon return to the NERC Arctic Station the same day. The Picarro measurements are primarily processed using the LIMS software. All further data processing of the above records was conducted using Microsoft Office Excel 365.

Data quality:

The following measures were taken for quality control:

General snow pit setup: We always assessed a snow pit wall that was permanently in the shadow and downwind to prevent artefacts through incoming solar radiation or snow re-deposition.

Percolation depth: Measurements of average and maximum percolation depth were repeated on at least 3 fronts for each experiment to achieve representative results.

Depth readings: percolation estimates and SWI samples taken below the surface after experiments are corrected for surface compaction and reported against the snow surface prior to the experiment.

SWI Sampling: Of each prepared tracer liquid, a small sample was kept and measured for its SWI signatures to ensure comparability in composition.

Empty cells: Where information could not be obtained or has been excluded due to erroneous data points, the cells in the CSV tables are filled with "na".

Metadata

File identifier

9cd08043-4498-4688-91d8-bb8a867d9024 XML

Metadata language

English

Character set

UTF8

Hierarchy level

Dataset

Hierarchy level name

dataset

Date stamp

2025-11-21

Metadata standard name

ISO 19115 Geographic Information - Metadata

Metadata standard version

ISO 19115:2003(E)

Metadata author

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre		polardatacentre@bas.ac.uk	Point of contact