Hydrodynamic and atmospheric conditions in a volcanic caldera: a comprehensive dataset at Deception Island, Antarctica

Abstract

Marine spatial planning and environmental management in Antarctica require reliable data to address challenges such as climate change impacts, sea level changes, and the dynamics of fragile ecosystems. Deception Island, a volcanic caldera in the South Shetland Islands, presents unique hydrodynamic conditions influenced by extreme weather, glacial melt, and its complex geomorphology. To improve understanding of these processes, we present an open-access, integrated dataset spanning 16 years, from 2005 until 2020, combining high-resolution atmospheric and hydrodynamic variables. Atmospheric modelling was done with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model leading to data in a 1 km grid and 35 vertical levels covering the island. The atmospheric dataset includes a total of 161 variables including wind fields, precipitation, and pressure among others, at hourly resolution that have been validated against data provided by an in situ weather station. Hydrodynamical and wave propagation modelling was performed with Delft3D (2DH) on different grids with a maximum resolution of 15 × 25 m2 for hydrodynamic and 220 × 160 m2 for wave propagation results. This dataset provides high-resolution temporal and spatial data including sea surface elevation, current velocities, significant wave height, wave direction, and wind pressure, at daily intervals across the grid and hourly at five observation points. In addition to standard conditions, the dataset captures spatial, seasonal, and temporal variability as well as extreme events, providing unprecedented insight into the island’s dynamics. By incorporating long-term high-resolution atmospheric reanalysis and hydrodynamic simulations, this dataset fills critical knowledge gaps in the hydrodynamic behaviour of Deception Island and provides a valuable tool for stakeholders in research, environmental monitoring, and climate change adaptation. Applications range from analysing glacial melt contributions and nutrient transport to modelling ecosystem interactions and assessing the effects of extreme weather events. The atmospheric (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14845212, Ferrari and Lira-Loarca, 2025) and hydrodynamics and wave climate (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14870881, Zarzuelo et al., 2025) comprehensive data collections advance our understanding of Antarctic coastal systems and support broader efforts to predict and mitigate the effects of global climate change on polar environments.