Antarctica and the Southern Ocean basemap
Identification Information
Distribution Information
Data Quality Information
Metadata:
File identifier:
e5d4c722-a8c1-49a9-a4dd-1fd1868e5083
Language:
Language Code:
eng
Character set:
Character set code:
utf8
Hierarchy level:
Scope code:
product
Hierarchy level name:
product
Metadata author:
Responsible party:
Organisation name:
Anchor: xlink: https://ror.org/01rhff309 title: ror
Mapping and Geographic Information Centre, British Antarctic Survey
Contact info:
Contact:
Phone:
Telephone:
Voice:
+44 (0)1223 221400
Address:
Address:
Delivery point:
British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road
City:
Cambridge
Administrative area:
Cambridgeshire
Postal code:
CB3 0ET
Country:
United Kingdom
Electronic mail address:
magic@bas.ac.uk
Online Resource:
Online Resource:
Linkage:
URL:
https://www.bas.ac.uk/teams/magic
Name:
Mapping and Geographic Information Centre (MAGIC) - BAS public website
Description:
General information about the BAS Mapping and Geographic Information Centre (MAGIC) from the British
Antarctic Survey (BAS) public website.
Function:
Online function code:
information
Role:
Role code:
pointOfContact
Date stamp:
2025-11-20
Metadata standard name:
ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data
Metadata standard version:
ISO 19115-2:2009(E)
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Identification info:
Data identification:
Citation:
Citation:
Title:
Antarctica and the Southern Ocean basemap
Date:
Date:
Date:
2025-11-12
Date type:
Date type code:
creation
Date:
Date:
Date:
2025-11-20
Date type:
Date type code:
publication
Edition:
1
Identifier:
RS Identifier:
Code:
Anchor: xlink: https://data.bas.ac.uk/items/e5d4c722-a8c1-49a9-a4dd-1fd1868e5083
e5d4c722-a8c1-49a9-a4dd-1fd1868e5083
Code Space:
data.bas.ac.uk
Identifier:
RS Identifier:
Code:
Anchor: xlink: https://data.bas.ac.uk/maps/5001
maps/5001
Code Space:
alias.data.bas.ac.uk
Other citation details:
Produced by the Mapping and Geographic Information Centre, British Antarctic Survey, 2025, version 1,
[https://data.bas.ac.uk/items/e5d4c722-a8c1-49a9-a4dd-1fd1868e5083](https://data.bas.ac.uk/items/e5d4c722-a8c1-49a9-a4dd-1fd1868e5083).
Abstract:
A basemap of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, south of 50°S. Consists of hillshade for the land areas of the
continent, coastline data, and ocean bathymetry. Created by the Mapping and Geographic Information Centre,
British Antarctic Survey.
Source data is reviewed and updated every 6-12 months to ensure coastline is up to date, and data sources are
appropriate. Available as an Esri Tile Service. The tile layer can be used up to 1:110,000 scale.
Projection: WGS84 Antarctic Polar Stereographic.
Data sources and references can be found in the lineage.
Purpose:
A basemap of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, south of 50°S.
Point of contact:
Responsible party:
Individual name:
Anchor: xlink: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1410-9122 title: orcid
Gerrish, Laura
Organisation name:
Anchor: xlink: https://ror.org/01rhff309 title: ror
British Antarctic Survey
Contact info:
Contact:
Phone:
Telephone:
Voice:
+44 (0)1223 221400
Address:
Address:
Delivery point:
British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road
City:
Cambridge
Administrative area:
Cambridgeshire
Postal code:
CB3 0ET
Country:
United Kingdom
Electronic mail address:
lauger@bas.ac.uk
Online Resource:
Online Resource:
Linkage:
URL:
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1410-9122
Name:
ORCID record
Description:
ORCID is an open, non-profit, community-driven effort to create and maintain a registry of unique
researcher identifiers and a transparent method of linking research activities and outputs to
these identifiers.
Function:
Online function code:
information
Role:
Role code:
author
Point of contact:
Responsible party:
Individual name:
Anchor: xlink: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0960-0486 title: orcid
Ireland, Louise
Organisation name:
Anchor: xlink: https://ror.org/01rhff309 title: ror
British Antarctic Survey
Contact info:
Contact:
Phone:
Telephone:
Voice:
+44 (0)1223 221400
Address:
Address:
Delivery point:
British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road
City:
Cambridge
Administrative area:
Cambridgeshire
Postal code:
CB3 0ET
Country:
United Kingdom
Electronic mail address:
louela@bas.ac.uk
Online Resource:
Online Resource:
Linkage:
URL:
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0960-0486
Name:
ORCID record
Description:
ORCID is an open, non-profit, community-driven effort to create and maintain a registry of unique
researcher identifiers and a transparent method of linking research activities and outputs to
these identifiers.
Function:
Online function code:
information
Role:
Role code:
author
Point of contact:
Responsible party:
Organisation name:
Anchor: xlink: https://ror.org/01rhff309 title: ror
Mapping and Geographic Information Centre, British Antarctic Survey
Contact info:
Contact:
Phone:
Telephone:
Voice:
+44 (0)1223 221400
Address:
Address:
Delivery point:
British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road
City:
Cambridge
Administrative area:
Cambridgeshire
Postal code:
CB3 0ET
Country:
United Kingdom
Electronic mail address:
magic@bas.ac.uk
Online Resource:
Online Resource:
Linkage:
URL:
https://www.bas.ac.uk/teams/magic
Name:
Mapping and Geographic Information Centre (MAGIC) - BAS public website
Description:
General information about the BAS Mapping and Geographic Information Centre (MAGIC) from the
British Antarctic Survey (BAS) public website.
Function:
Online function code:
information
Role:
Role code:
pointOfContact
Resource maintenance:
Maintenance information:
Maintenance and update frequency:
Maintenance frequency code:
asNeeded
Maintenance note:
Progress code:
underDevelopment
Graphic overview:
BrowseGraphic:
File name:
https://cdn.web.bas.ac.uk/add-catalogue/0.0.0/img/items/e5d4c722-a8c1-49a9-a4dd-1fd1868e5083/antarctica_southernocean_thumb.png
File description:
General overview of resource
File type:
image/png
Resource constraints:
Legal constraints:
Access constraints:
Restriction code:
unrestricted
Other constraints:
Anchor: xlink: #%5B%5D
Open Access (Anonymous)
Resource constraints:
Legal constraints:
Use constraints:
Restriction code:
license
Other constraints:
Anchor: xlink: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. To view this licence, visit
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/.
Aggregation Info:
AggregateInformation:
Aggregate Data Set Identifier:
RS Identifier:
Code:
Anchor: xlink: https://data.bas.ac.uk/items/cf64dd21-545a-465b-9a67-c28bb4ce9024
cf64dd21-545a-465b-9a67-c28bb4ce9024
Code Space:
data.bas.ac.uk
Association Type:
Association type code:
largerWorkCitation
Initiative Type:
Initiative type code:
collection
Language:
Language Code:
eng
Character set:
Character set code:
utf8
Extent:
Extent:
Geographic element:
Geographic bounding box:
West bound longitude:
-180.0
East bound longitude:
180.0
South bound latitude:
-90.0
North bound latitude:
-50.0
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Distribution info:
Distribution:
Distributor:
Distributor:
Distributor contact:
Responsible party:
Organisation name:
Anchor: xlink: https://ror.org/0428exr50 title: ror
Environmental Systems Research Institute
Contact info:
Contact:
Address:
Address:
Delivery point:
380 New York Street
City:
Redlands
Administrative area:
California
Postal code:
92373
Country:
United States of America
Electronic mail address:
unknown
Online Resource:
Online Resource:
Linkage:
URL:
https://www.esri.com
Name:
GIS Mapping Software, Location Intelligence & Spatial Analytics | Esri
Description:
Corporate website for Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI).
Function:
Online function code:
information
Role:
Role code:
distributor
Distributor format:
Format:
Name:
Anchor: xlink: https://metadata-resources.data.bas.ac.uk/media-types/x-service/arcgis+layer+tile+raster
ArcGIS Raster Tile Layer
Version:
missing
Distributor format:
Format:
Name:
Anchor: xlink: https://metadata-resources.data.bas.ac.uk/media-types/x-service/arcgis+service+tile+raster
ArcGIS Raster Tile Service
Version:
missing
Distributor transfer options:
Digital transfer options:
Online:
Online Resource:
Linkage:
URL:
https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=9d587612569a4f9b8acdfd528cebf7c2
Name:
ArcGIS Online
Description:
Access information as an ArcGIS raster tile layer.
Function:
Online function code:
download
Distributor transfer options:
Digital transfer options:
Online:
Online Resource:
Linkage:
URL:
https://tiles.arcgis.com/tiles/tPxy1hrFDhJfZ0Mf/arcgis/rest/services/Antarctica_and_the_Southern_Ocean/MapServer
Name:
ArcGIS Online
Description:
Access information as an ArcGIS raster tile service.
Function:
Online function code:
download
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Data quality info:
Data quality:
Scope:
Scope:
Hierarchy level:
Scope code:
product
Report:
Domain consistency:
Result:
Conformance result:
Specification:
Citation:
Title:
Anchor: xlink: https://metadata-standards.data.bas.ac.uk/profiles/magic-discovery-v1/
British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Mapping and Geographic Information Centre (MAGIC) Discovery
Metadata Profile
Date:
Date:
Date:
2024-11-01
Date type:
Date type code:
publication
Edition:
1
Cited responsible party:
Responsible party:
Organisation name:
Anchor: xlink: https://ror.org/01rhff309 title: ror
Mapping and Geographic Information Centre, British Antarctic Survey
Contact info:
Contact:
Phone:
Telephone:
Voice:
+44 (0)1223 221400
Address:
Address:
Delivery point:
British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road
City:
Cambridge
Administrative area:
Cambridgeshire
Postal code:
CB3 0ET
Country:
United Kingdom
Electronic mail address:
magic@bas.ac.uk
Online Resource:
Online Resource:
Linkage:
URL:
https://www.bas.ac.uk/teams/magic
Name:
Mapping and Geographic Information Centre (MAGIC) - BAS public website
Description:
General information about the BAS Mapping and Geographic Information Centre (MAGIC)
from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) public website.
Function:
Online function code:
information
Role:
Role code:
publisher
Explanation:
Resource within scope of British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Mapping and Geographic Information Centre
(MAGIC) Discovery Metadata Profile.
Pass:
true
Lineage:
Lineage:
Statement:
Basemap was created using ArcGIS Pro v3.5 and published to ArcGIS Online as an Esri Tile Service.
A hillshade of the topography was generated using the DEM, with a z factor of 4 and displayed with a
brightness enhancement of +15. The Extract By Mask tool was then used to clip the hillshaded DEM by the
coastline polygon dataset, to ensure the extent exactly matched the coastline.
A hillshade of the bathymetry was generated using a z factor of 6. This was displayed with a transparency
of 30%. Another copy of the bathymetry was styled using a blue to white based on depth, and displayed
with a transparency of 20% and placed on top of the hillshade in the layer ordering.
Finally, the coastlines were styled and added to the top of the layers list above the DEM and the
bathymetry layers before publishing as a tile layer to ArcGIS Online.
Data sources:
* Bathymetry: Dorschel, Boris et al. (2022): The International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean
Version 2 (IBCSO v2). PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.937574
* Land hillshading: Howat, Ian, et al., 2022, “The Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica – Mosaics,
Version 2”, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/EBW8UC, Harvard Dataverse, V1, accessed November 2025.
* Coastline (Antarctica): Gerrish, L., Ireland, L., Fretwell, P., Cooper, P., & Skachkova, A. (2025). High
resolution vector polylines of the Antarctic coastline (Version 7.11) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data
Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/cc0b73c0-3b53-40fb-ae84-b5dce4ac163a
* Coastline (Sub-Antarctic): Gerrish, L. (2020). Vector polygons of the Sub-Antarctic coastline (1.0)
[Data set]. UK Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK Research & Innovation.
https://doi.org/10.5285/c1d83502-8799-4e3c-bdca-21db6a4405d4
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