1 An updated and quality controlled surface mass balance dataset for 2 Antarctica 3 V. Favier1, C. Agosta1, S. Parouty1, G. Durand1, G. Delaygue1, H. Gallée1, A.-S. 4 Drouet1, A. Trouvilliez1,2, G. Krinner1 5 6 7 [1] UJF-CNRS, LGGE, 54 rue Molière, BP 96, 38402 Saint Martin d' Hères, France 8 [2] IRSTEA, UR ETGR Erosion Torrentielle Neige Avalanches, Domaine universitaire, 2, rue de la 9 Papeterie, F-38402 Saint-Martin-d'Hères, France 10 11 Correspondance to: Vincent Favier, LGGE, 54 rue Molière, BP 96, 38402 Saint Martin d' Hères, 12 France,
[email protected] 13 1 14 Abstract 15 We present an updated and quality controlled surface mass balance (SMB) database for the 16 Antarctic ice sheet. Importantly, the database includes formatted meta-data like measurement 17 technique, elevation, which allows any user to filter out the data. Here, we discard data with limited 18 spatial and temporal representativeness, too small measurement accuracy, or lack of quality control. 19 Applied to the database, this filtering process gives four times more reliable data than when applied 20 to previously available databases. New data with high spatial resolution are now available over long 21 traverses, and at low elevation in some areas. However, the quality control led to a considerable 22 reduction in the spatial density of data in several regions, particularly over West Antarctica. Over 23 interior plateaus, where the SMB is low, the spatial density of measurements remains high. This 24 quality controlled dataset was compared to results from ERA-Interim reanalysis to assess whether 25 field data allow us to reconstruct an accurate description of the main SMB distribution features in 26 Antarctica.