Drill hole measurements of fast ice and sub-ice platelet layer thickness, and snow depth in McMurdo Sound - November 2018

Here, we present drill hole measurements carried out at 14 field sites distributed over a ~1500 km^2 area of fast ice in the south of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica between 1 and 19 November 2018. At each site, five holes were drilled in the fast ice at the centre and end points of two cross‐profile lines, each 30 metre long. Sea ice and SIPL thicknesses were measured with a suspended thickness probe and metal bar using the procedure described in Price et al. (2014). Snow depth measurements at centimetre accuracy were made at half‐metre intervals along the cross‐profiles using a metal ruler or a GPS‐equipped Magnaprobe. Sea ice freeboard (i.e., the height of the sea ice surface above sea level) was measured in each of the drill holes. The average value for each parameter was calculated at each field site to provide a representative measurement over the 30 metre cross-profile fast ice area. The drill hole measurements were used to underpin spatial distribution surveys of the aforementioned parameters, to inform electromagnetic induction forward and inverse models, and to ground-validate satellite altimetry assessments of fast ice freeboard and derived ice thickness in McMurdo Sound.