Antarctic Bedmap data: FAIR sharing of 60 years of ice bed, surface and thickness data
Authors: Frémand Alice C. , Fretwell Peter , Bodart Julien , Pritchard Hamish D. , Aitken Alan , Bamber Jonathan L. , Bell Robin , Bianchi Cesido , Bingham Robert G. , Blankenship Donald D. , Casassa Gino , Catania Ginny , Christianson Knut , Conway Howard , Corr Hugh F. J. , Cui Xiangbin , Damaske Daniel , Damm Volkmar , Drews Reinhard , Eagles Graeme , Eisen Olaf , Eisermann Hannes , Ferraccioli Fausto , Field Elena , Forsberg René , Franke Steven , Fujita Shuji , Gim Yonggyu , Goel Vikram , Gogineni Siva Prasad , Greenbaum Jamin , Hills Benjamin , Hindmarsh Richard C. A. , Holmlund Per , Holschuh Nicholas , Holt John W. , Humbert Angelika , Jacobel Robert W. , Jansen Daniela , Jenkins Adrian , Jokat Wilfried , Jordan Tom , King Edward , Kohler Jack , Krabill William , Langley Kirsty , Lee Joohan , Leitchenkov German , Leuschen Carlton , Luyendyk Bruce , MacGregor Joseph , MacKie Emma , Matsuoka Kenichi , Morlinghem Mathieu , Mouginot Jeremie , Nitsche Frank O. , Nogi Yoshifumi , Nost Ole A. , Paden John , Pattyn Frank , Popov Sergey V. , Riger-Kusk Mette , Rignot Eric , Rippin David M. , Rivera Andres , Roberts Jason , Ross Neil , Ruppel Antonia , Schroeder Dustin M. , Siegert Martin J. , Smith Andrew M. , Steinhage Daniel , Studinger Michael , Sun Bo , Tabacco Ignazio , Tinto Kirsty , Urbini Stefano , Vaughan David , Welch Brian C. , Wilson Douglas S. , Young Duncan A. , Zirizzotti Achille 
Published: November 2022

Abstract. Over the past 60 years, scientists have strived to understand the past, present and future of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. One of the key components of this research has been the mapping of Antarctic bed topography and ice thickness parameters that are crucial for modelling ice flow and hence for predicting future ice loss and ensuing sea level rise. Supported by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), the Bedmap3 Action Group aims not only to produce new gridded maps of ice thickness and bed topography for the international scientific community, but also to standardize and make available all the geophysical survey data points used in producing the Bedmap gridded products. Here, we document the survey data used in the latest iteration, Bedmap3, incorporating and adding to all of the datasets previously used for Bedmap1 and Bedmap2, including ice-bed, surface and thickness point data from all Antarctic geophysical campaigns since the 1950s. More specifically, we describe the processes used to standardize and make these and future survey and gridded datasets accessible under the ‘Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable’ (FAIR) data principles. With the goals to make the gridding process reproducible and to allow scientists to re-use the data freely for their own analysis, we introduce the new SCAR Bedmap Data Portal (bedmap.scar.org, last access: 18 October 2022) created to provide unprecedented open access to these important datasets, through a user-friendly webmap interface. We believe that this data release will be a valuable asset to Antarctic research and will greatly extend the life cycle of the data held within it. Data are available from the UK Polar Data Centre: https://data.bas.ac.uk.