This dataset accompanies the publication "How Flat is Flat? Investigating the spatial variability of snow surface temperature and roughness on landfast sea ice using UAVs in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica".

The dataset consists of 1) processed orthomosaic of RGB values, snow topography (digital elevation model), and surface temperature, 2) topography-dependent irradiance map, and 3) point data of measured radiation and atmospheric parameters in the McMurdo Sound, October-December 2022. The data was collected as part of the New Zealand Marsden Fund Research Grant 21-VUW-103 "Can Snow Change the Fate of Antarctic Sea Ice?". Unprocessed data associated with this field campaign are published in 10.16904/envidat.633.

For the airborne measurements, we used a DJI Matrice 30T, a multi-rotor (quadcopter) UAV with self-heating batteries, suitable for operations in polar conditions (temperature range from -20 to +50 °C). The UAV has a wide-angle camera (12 megapixels) for RGB images and a thermal camera (Uncooled Vox Microbolometer, long-wave infrared spectrum 8-14 µm, 1.31 megapixels) for TIR images with an accuracy of ±2 °C or ± 2 %. GNSS data includes high-precision location information (latitude, longitude, ellipsoidal height, receiver clock offset, and timestamps formatted in decimal hours and day-of-year notation). WE calculated the distribution of received solar irradiance over the sea-ice surface using a terrain-corrected radiative transfer model and measured shortwave radiation components, accounting for surface roughness, aspect, slope, and solar position during the flight, while applying terrain shading and measured diffuse radiation. The broadband radiation station data consists of shortwave (Sw) and longwave (Lw) radiation measurements (Kipp & Zonen CMP22 pyranometers and CGR4 pyrgeometers). Surface temperature readings from cold, sediment, and hot targets were recorded using Apogee SI-121-SS sensors. This dataset also contains automated weather station (AWS) data (air and snow surface temperatures, relative humidity, wind direction, and wind speed).

For detailed information, please use the README file.