Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Meerkat Area - South Africa

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Basic Information
Site Name
Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Meerkat Area
Short name
SKA-MA
Country
South Africa
Web Address
Square Kilometre Array
Operating Organisation
South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON)
Site Manager
Dr. Zanele Ntshidi
Site Description
SKA is situated in the Nama Karoo Biome approximately 80km North of Carnarvon. The SKA Meerkat site is a radio protected area situated in the Northern Cape province on which a part of the Square Kilometre Array has been built.
Last modified
2025-12-10 08:33:17

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2001
Observed properties
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
ILTER✔This site is a verified "ILTER" member.
SAEON✔ (LTER-SAF-ZA-18)This site is a verified "SAEON" member.
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
Photos
not defined
not defined
Geographic
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: -30.684007 Longitude: 21.491191

Size
ca. 15000.00ha
Elevation (average)
1000.00msl
Elevation (min)
594.00msl
Elevation (max)
1404.00msl
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Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
GEO-BON Biome
Terrestrial
Biome
Desert-scrub
Ecosystem Type
Agricultural
Desert
Deserts and xeric shrublands
EUNIS habitat
Inland unvegetated or sparsely vegetated habitats (H)
Inland unvegetated or sparsely vegetated habitats (H) » Miscellaneous inland habitats with very sparse or no vegetation (H5)
Inland unvegetated or sparsely vegetated habitats (H) » Miscellaneous inland habitats with very sparse or no vegetation (H5) » Dry organic substrates with very sparse or no vegetation (H5.4)
Air Temperature: Average Annual
16.90°C
Precipitation Annual
100.00mm
Geology
Mudstones and shales of the Ecca Group & Dwyka tillites
Vegetation
Bushmanland Basin Shrubland & Upper Karoo Hardeveld
Site Type
Stationary land-based site
Design of Experimentation
no experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
not applicable
Design of Observation
only observation
Scale of Observation
beyond catchment
Permanent Power Supply
No
Equipment
Observation devices » Measurement tower » No tower on site
Data infrastructure » Data services » Data portal
Data infrastructure » Data storage » Relational database
Supporting infrastructure » Lodging at site » No lodging possible
Energy and data transmission infrastructure » Data transmission » Data Transmission Type (from site) » No data transmission from site
Accessible All Year
No
All parts of Site Accessible
No
Permanent Operation
Yes
General Data Policy
Formal acknowledgement of the dataset providers
Data Policy URL
http://saeon.dirisa.org/management/it-governance/G373.2%20Policy%20and%20Guidel…
LTER Site Classification
Emerging