Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T01:08:34.008Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Near surface climate of the traverse route from Zhongshan Station to Dome A, East Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2010

Yongfeng Ma ,
Lingen Bian ,
Cunde Xiao ,
Ian Allison  and
Xiuji Zhou
Yongfeng Ma
Affiliation:
Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China College of Earth Science, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Lingen Bian*
Affiliation:
Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Cunde Xiao
Affiliation:
Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China Laboratory of Ice Core and Cold Regions Environment, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Ian Allison
Affiliation:
Australian Antarctic Division and Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC, Private Bag 80, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
Xiuji Zhou
Affiliation:
Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
*
*corresponding author: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Seasonal variation of temperature, pressure, snow accumulation, winds, and their harmonic analysis are presented by using the data from Zhongshan Station and three Automatic Weather Stations deployed between the East Antarctic coast and the summit of the ice sheet at Dome A for the period 2005–07. Results show that: 1) temperature, snow accumulation and specific humidity decrease with increasing elevation and distance from the coast, with snow accumulation decreasing from 199 mm water equivalent (w.e.) yr-1 at LGB69 (180 km from the coast) to 31 mm w.e. yr-1 at Dome A, 2) Dome A experiences an extremely low minimum temperature of -82.5°C with the monthly mean temperature below -50°C for eight months in contrast to Zhongshan Station which does not show any monthly mean temperatures below -20°C, 3) mean surface wind speed increases from the coast to the escarpment region, and then reduces rapidly towards the interior plateau with the strongest winds occurring at katabatic sites with the greatest surface slopes, 4) temperature and pressure all shows a distinct biannual oscillation with a main minimum in spring and a secondary minimum in autumn, differing slightly from station to station, and 5) winter temperature corelessness increases as a function of elevation and distance from the coast, from 0.260 at the coastal Zhongshan Station to 0.433 at Dome A.

Keywords

Antarctic climateAWScorelessnessharmonic analysiskatabaticsnow accumulation
Type
Physical Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , August 2010 , pp. 443 - 459
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, P.S. 1994. A method for rescaling humidity sensors at temperatures well below freezing. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 11, 1388–1391.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allison, I. 1998. Surface climate of the interiors of the Lambert Glacier basin, Antarctica, from automatic weather station data. Annals of Glaciology, 27, 515–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allison, I.Morrissy, J.V. 1983. Automatic weather stations in the Antarctic. Australian Meteorological Magazine, 31, 71–76.Google Scholar
Allison, I., Wendler, G.Radok, U. 1993. Climatology of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (100°E to 140°E) derived from automatic weather stations. Journal of Geophysical Research, 98, 8815–8823.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bintanja, R. 2001. Mesoscale meteorological conditions in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, during summer: a qualitative analysis of forcing mechanisms. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 39, 2348–2370.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brandt, R.E.Warren, S.G. 1993. Solar-heating rates and temperature profiles in Antarctic snow and ice. Journal of Glaciology, 39, 99–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Budd, W.F., Jenssen, D.Radok, U. 1971. Derived physical characteristics of the Antarctic ice sheet. Melbourne: Meteorology Department of the University of Melbourne, Publication No. 18, 178 pp.Google Scholar
Chen, Z.G., Bian, L.G., Xiao, C.D., Lu, L.H.Allison, I. 2007. Seasonal variations of the near surface layer parameters over the Antarctic ice sheet in Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica. Chinese Journal of Polar Science, 18, 122–134.Google Scholar
Enomoto, H., Warashina, H., Motoyama, H., Takahashi, S.Koike, J. 1995. Data-logging automatic weather station along the traverse route from Syowa Station to Dome Fuji. Polar Meteorology and Glaciology, 9, 66–75.Google Scholar
Hou, S.G., Li, Y.S.Xiao, C.D. 2007. The recent accumulation in Dome A, Antarctica. Chinese Science Bulletin, 52, 243–245. [In Chinese].CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, J.C.Turner, J. 1997. Antarctic meteorology and climatology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 409 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, D.T.Schachter, J. 1980. Two algorithms for constructing a Delaunay triangulation. International Journal of Computer and Information Sciences, 9, 219–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ma, Y.F., Bian, L.G., Xiao, C.D.Allison, I. 2008. Impacts of snow accumulation on air temperature form automatic weather station over the Antarctic ice sheet. Chinese Journal of Polar Research, 20, 299–309. [In Chinese].Google Scholar
Parish, T.R. 1982. Surface airflow over East Antarctica. Monthly Weather Review, 100, 84–90.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reijmer, C.H.Oerlemans, J. 2002. Temporal and spatial variability of the surface energy balance in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research, 107, 4759–4770.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reijmer, C.H.van den Broeke, M.R. 2001. Moisture sources of precipitation in western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 13, 210–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ren, J.W., Xiao, C.D.Allison, I. 2002. Study of the mass balance on the Lambert Glacier basin, East Antarctica. Science in China, D32, 134–140. [In Chinese].Google Scholar
Renfrew, E.A.Anderson, P.S. 2002. The surface climatology of an ordinary katabatic wind regime in Coats Land, Antarctica. Tellus A, 54, 464–484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rusin, N.P. 1964. Meteorological and radiational regime of Antarctica. Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientific Translations, 355 pp.Google Scholar
Schlosser, E. 1999. Effects of seasonal variability of accumulation on yearly mean δ18O values in Antarctic snow. Journal of Glaciology, 45, 463–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwerdtfeger, W. 1970. The climate of the Antarctic. In Orvig, S., ed. Climates of the polar regions. World survey of climatology, vol. 14. New York: Elsevier, 253–355.Google Scholar
Stearns, C.R., Keller, L.M., Weidner, G.A.Sievers, M. 1993. Monthly mean climate data for Antarctic automatic weather stations. Antarctic Research Series, 61, 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stearns, C.R.Savage, M. 1981. Automatic weather station 1980–81. Antarctic Journal of the United States, 14, 56–62.Google Scholar
Turner, J., Colwell, S.R., Marshall, G.J., Lachlan-Cope, T.A., Carleton, A.M., Jones, P.D., Lagun, V., Reid, P.A.Iagovkina, S. 2005. Antarctic climate change during the last 50 years. International Journal of Climatology, 25, 279–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van den Broeke, M.R. 1998. The semi-annual oscillation and Antarctic climate. Part1: influence on near surface temperatures (1957–79). Antarctic Science, 10, 175–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van den Broeke, M.R.van Lipzig, N.P.M. 2003. Factors controlling the near-surface wind field in Antarctica. Monthly Weather Review, 131, 733–743.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van den Broeke, M.R., Reijmer, C.H.van de Wal, R. 2004. Surface radiation balance in Antarctica as measured with automatic weather stations. Journal of Geophysical Research, 109, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van den Broeke, M.R., Winther, J.G.Isaksson, E. 1999. Climate variables along a traverse line in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology, 45, 295–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van den Broeke, M.R., Reijmer, C.H., van As, D., van de Wal, R.Oerlemans, J. 2005. Seasonal cycles of Antarctic surface energy balance from automatic weather stations. Annals of Glaciology, 41, 131–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Loon, H. 1967. The half-yearly oscillation in middle and high southern latitudes and the coreless winter. Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 24, 472–486.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Loon, H. 1972. Pressure in the Southern Hemisphere. American Meteorological Society: Meteorological Monographs, 13, 59–86.Google Scholar
Van Loon, H.Rogers, J.C. 1984. Interannual variations in the half-yearly cycle of pressure gradients and zonal wind at sea level on the Southern Hemisphere. Tellus A, 36, 76–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weller, G. 1969. A meridional surface wind speed profile in MacRoberson Land, Antarctica. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 77, 193–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weller, G.Schwerdtfeger, P. 1970. Thermal properties and heat transfer processes of the snow of the central Antarctic plateau. International Symposium on Antarctic Glaciological Exploration (ISAGE), Hanover, NH. 1968. International Association of Scientific Hydrology Publication, 86, 284–298.Google Scholar
Wendler, G.Kodama, Y. 1993. The kernlose winter in Adélie Land. Antarctic Research Series, 61, 130–147.Google Scholar
Xiao, C.D., Li, Y.S., Allison, I., Hou, S.G., Dreyfus, G., Jean-Marc, B., Ren, J.W., Bian, L.G., Zhang, S.K.Kameda, T. 2008. Surface characteristics at Dome A, Antarctica: first measurements and a guide to future ice-coring sites. Annals of Glaciology, 48, 82–87.Google Scholar
Xiao, C.D., Li, Y.S., Hou, S.G., Allison, I., Bian, L.G.Ren, J.W. 2007. The summit of Antarctic ice sheet has the essential condition for boring the oldest ice core: the latest in situ measurements at Dome A. Chinese Science Bulletin, 52, 2456–2460. [In Chinese].Google Scholar
Xie, S.M., Fan, X.L.Tian, S.F. 1991. Antarctica meteorology. Beijing: Ocean Press, 265 pp. [In Chinese].Google Scholar
Yang, Q.H., Yin, T., Zhang, L.Jiang, D.Z. 2007. Analyses of surface winds along the track from Zhongshan Station to Dome A, Antarctica. Chinese Journal of Polar Research, 19, 295–304. [In Chinese].Google Scholar