Abstract:
In Antarctica, moisture, temperature and other climatic regimes and the quality and stability of the prevailing mineral substrate act as extreme limiting factors for colonization by microbes, cryptograms and invertebrates. Ice free areas of coarse or fine mineral debris are known as fellfields. The microclimatic and edaphic features of fellfields and the processes governing their colonization ... community development, and the survival strategies of their biota was the aim of the British Antarctic Surveys program, Fellfield Ecology Research Program (FERP). FERP was focussed at Signy Island and South Orkney Island and studies in the Ross Sea, especially the Dry Valleys, will provide comparisons with the more maritime environment of Signy and South Orkney Islands. Fellfield sites in South Victoria Land, including the Blue Glacier regions, East and West Beacon, Lake Vanda, Shapeless Mountain and the Balham and Barwick Valley's and Ross Island (Cape Bird, Cape Royds and Cape Evans) were visited for examination and sampling at diverse fellfield sites. Concurrent aerial samples were also taken. Examples of soil crusts, epilithic, chasmolithic and endolithic microbial communities were collected to determine common factors between colonization processes. Isolates of bacteria , yeasts, fungi and algae were obtained from aerial and terrestrial samples. Physical perturbation and amendments of fine mineral debris and rock flakes was investigated at two sites at Keble Valley, Cape Bird (one dry and one wet). Soil crust formation and rock colonization was monitored by epifluorescence microscopy. The influence of temperature, moisture, nutrient availability and substrate structure was included. Extant soil crusts and epilithic communities were also examined. Aerial microbial and cryptogamic propagules were collected using Rotorod samplers and the resulting collector strips were examined.
Quality
Scenes have been screened for quality and cloud cover.
Access Constraints
None
Use Constraints
There is no guarantee of warranty concerning the accuracy of these data. Users should be aware that temporal changes may have occurred since the data was collected and that some parts of these data may no longer represent actual surface conditions. Users should not use these data for critical applications without a full awareness of their limitations. Acknowledgement of the originating agencies would be appreciated in products derived from these data. Any user who modifies the data set is obligated to describe the types of modifications they perform. User specifically agrees not to misrepresent the data set, nor to imply that changes made were approved or endorsed by the U.S. Geological Survey. Please refer to http://www.usgs.gov/privacy.html for the USGS disclaimer.
U.S. Geological Survey
Earth Resources Observation and Science Center(EROS)
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Publications/References
Kalluri, Satya, Grant, Denelle, Tucker, Compton, Policelli, Fritz, Dykstra, Jon, and Bearden, Phil, 2000, NASA creates global archive of ortho-rectified Landsat data: EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, v. 81, no. 50, p. 609, 617-618.
Dykstra, Jon D., Jan/Feb 2001, The GeoCover-Ortho Program: Covering the Entire Earth's Landmass with 14,000 Landsat Images; GEO INFORMATICS, p. 26-29. Reference is available in PDF format.
