Description: The National Eutrophication Survey: lake characteristics and historical nutrient concentrations Joseph Stachelek, Chanse Ford, Dustin Kincaid, Katelyn King, Heather Miller, and Ryan Nagelkirk Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/essd-2017-52,2017 Manuscript under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments) Here we report the results of an effort to fully transcribe the National Eutrophication Survey database containing water quality data collected by the United States Environmental Protection Agency between 1972 and 1975 as part of an effort to investigate nutrient loading in freshwater lakes and reservoirs. The transcribed database contains information on the physical characteristics, hydrology, and water quality of about 800 lakes in the contiguous United States.

Description: Strong tidal variations in ice flow observed across the entire Ronne Ice Shelf and adjoining ice streams Sebastian H. R. Rosier, G. Hilmar Gudmundsson, Matt A. King, Keith W. Nicholls, Keith Makinson, and Hugh F. J. Corr Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/essd-2017-70,2017 Manuscript under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments) Tides can affect the flow of ice at hourly to yearly timescales. In some cases the ice responds at a different frequency than is found in the tidal forcing, for example on Rutford Ice Stream the strongest response is at a fortnightly period. A new compilation of GPS data across the Ronne Ice Shelf and adjoining ice streams shows that this fortnightly modulation in ice flow is found across the entire region. Measurements of this kind can provide insights into ice rheology and basal processes.

Description: Meteorological buoy measurements in the Iceland Sea 2007–2009 Guðrún Nína Petersen Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/essd-2017-67,2017 Manuscript under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments) The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) conducted meteorological buoy measurements in the central Iceland Sea in the time period 2007–2009, specifically in the Northern Dreki Area on the southern segment of the Jan Mayen Ridge. Due to difficulties in deployment and operations in-situ measurements in this region are sparse. Here the buoy, deployment and measurements are described with the aim of giving a future user of the data set as comprehensive information as possible. The data set has been quality checked, suspect data removed and the data set made publicly available from Pangaea Data Publisher ( doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.876206 ).

Description: Regional soil moisture monitoring network in the Raam catchment in the Netherlands Harm-Jan F. Benninga, Coleen D. U. Carranza, Michiel Pezij, Pim van Santen, Martine J. van der Ploeg, Denie C. M. Augustijn, and Rogier van der Velde Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/essd-2017-50,2017 Manuscript under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments) Soil moisture is a central hydrological state variable. We set up a soil moisture and soil temperature profile monitoring network of 15 stations distributed over the 223 km 2 Raam Catchment. This catchment faces dry and wet periods, which both have implications for agricultural and regional water management. The measurements at 5 cm depth provide a reference for soil moisture retrievals from earth observations, while the measurements at deeper layers enable investigation of root zone processes.

Description: Two databases derived from BGC-Argo float measurements for biogeochemical and bio-optical applications at the global scale Emanuele Organelli, Marie Barbieux, Hervé Claustre, Catherine Schmechtig, Antoine Poteau, Annick Bricaud, Emmanuel Boss, Nathan Briggs, Giorgio Dall'Olmo, Fabrizio D'Ortenzio, Edouard Leymarie, Antoine Mangin, Grigor Obolensky, Christophe Penkerc'h, Louis Prieur, Collin Roesler, Romain Serra, Julia Uitz, and Xiaogang Xing Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/essd-2017-58,2017 Manuscript under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments) Autonomous robotic platforms such as Biogeochemical Argo floats allow observing the ocean, from the surface to the interior, in a new and systematic way. A fleet of 105 of these platforms have collected several biological, biogeochemical and optical variables in still unexplored regions. The quality-controlled databases here presented will enable scientists to improve knowledge on the functioning of marine ecosystems and investigate the climatic implications.

Description: Evolution of soil and plant parameters on the agricultural Gebesee test site: a database for the set-up and validation of EO-LDAS and other satellite-aided retrieval models Sina C. Truckenbrodt and Christiane C. Schmullius Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/essd-2017-53,2017 Manuscript under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments) A comprehensive ground reference database for the set-up and validation of models for the satellite-aided retrieval of crop characteristics is presented. Data on the evolution of biophysical and biochemical plant parameters were collected for seven crop types on the Gebesee test site (central Germany) in 2013 and 2014. Field work was carried out on a weekly basis and close to satellite acquisitions. The data reflects spatial heterogeneity and interannual phenological variability.

Description: The Total Carbon Column Observing Network Site Description for Lauder, New Zealand David F. Pollard, Vanessa Sherlock, John Robinson, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Brian Connor, and Hisako Shiona Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/essd-2017-60,2017 Manuscript under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments) In this paper we describe the retrievals of atmospheric trace gases from near infrared, high resolution solar absorption spectroscopy measurements at the Lauder atmospheric research station in New Zealand and submitted to the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) archive. The Lauder site (45.034°S, 169.68°E, 370 masl) is located within a sparsely populated region of the South Island of New Zealand, and is sheltered from the prevailing wind direction by the Southern Alps, which gives the site a high number of clear-sky days and an airmass that is largely unmodified by regional anthropogenic sources. The Lauder TCCON archive consists of data from two instruments; a Bruker IFS 120HR from June 2004 to February 2010 and a Bruker IFS 125HR from February 2010 to present. The bias between the two instrument is assessed to be 0.068% for CO 2 . Since measurements using the IFS 125HR began, the standard deviation about the hourly mean has been better than 0.1% for 96.81% of CO 2 column retrievals. The retrievals have been calibrated against in situ airborne measurements to correct for biases and provide traceability to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) scales with an accuracy of 0.1% for CO 2 . The Lauder TCCON time series of retrieved dry-air mole fractions of CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O, HF, H 2 O, HDO and CO are available from the TCCON data archive. The DOIs are: doi:10.14291/tccon.ggg2014.lauder01.R0/1149293 for the IFS 120HR data doi:10.14291/tccon.ggg2014.lauder02.R0/1149298 for the IFS 125HR data.

Description: High-resolution elevation mapping of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, and surrounding regions Andrew G. Fountain, Juan C. Fernandez-Diaz, Maciej Obryk, Joseph Levy, Michael Gooseff, David J. Van Horn, Paul Morin, and Ramesh Shrestha Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 9, 435-443, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-9-435-2017, 2017 We present detailed surface elevation measurements for the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, and surroundings, derived from aerial lidar surveys flown in the austral summer of 2014–2015 as part of an effort to understand landscape changes over the past decade. Lidar return density varied from 2 to 〉 10 returns per square meter with an average of about 5 returns per square meter. vertical and horizontal accuracies are estimated to be 7 cm and 3 cm, respectively.

Description: The MSG-SEVIRI-based cloud property data record CLAAS-2 Nikos Benas, Stephan Finkensieper, Martin Stengel, Gerd-Jan van Zadelhoff, Timo Hanschmann, Rainer Hollmann, and Jan Fokke Meirink Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 9, 415-434, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-9-415-2017, 2017 This study focuses on an evaluation of CLAAS-2 (Cloud property dAtAset using SEVIRI, Edition 2), which was created based on observations from geostationary Meteosat satellites. Using a variety of reference datasets, very good overall agreement is found. This suggests the usefulness of CLAAS-2 in applications ranging from high spatial and temporal resolution cloud process studies to the evaluation of regional climate models.

Description: Modulation of glacier ablation by tephra coverage from Eyjafjallajökull and Grimsvötn volcanoes, Iceland: an automated field experiment Rebecca Möller, Marco Möller, Peter A. Kukla, and Christoph Schneider Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/essd-2017-59,2017 Manuscript under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments) This Article reports results from a field experiment investigating the influence of volcanic tephra coverage on glacier ablation. These influences are known to be significantly different from those of moraine debris on glaciers due to the contrasting grain size distribution and thermal conductivity. Influences of tephra deposits on glacier ablation have hardly been studied so far. For the experiment, artificial plots of two different tephra types from Eyjafjallajökull and Grimsvötn volcanoes were installed on a snow-covered glacier surface of Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland.Ablation was automatically monitored along with atmospheric variables and ablation on a non-tephra covered reference site over the summer season 2015. For each of the two volcanic tephra types, three plots (~ 1.5 mm, ~ 8.5 mm and ~ 80 mm) were monitored. After limiting the records to a period of reliable measurements, a 50-days dataset of hourly records was obtained, which can be downloaded from the Pangaea data repository ( https://www.pangaea.de ; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.876656 ). The experiment shows a substantial increase of ablation under the ~ 1.5 mm and ~ 8.5 mm tephra plots when compared to uncovered conditions. Only under the thick tephra cover some insulating effects could be observed. This result is in contrast to other studies which depicted insulating effects for much thinner tephra coverson bare-ice glacier surfaces. Differences between the influences of the two different petrological types of tephra exist but are small.