Antarctic and Southern Ocean science is vital to understanding natural variability, the processes that govern global change and the role of humans in the Earth and climate system. The potential for new knowledge to be gained from future Antarctic science is substantial. Therefore, the international Antarctic community came together to 'scan the horizon' to identify the highest priority scientific questions that researchers should aspire to answer in the next two decades and beyond. Wide consultation was a fundamental principle for the development of a collective, international view of the most important future directions in Antarctic science. From the many possibilities, the horizon scan identified 80 key scientific questions through structured debate, discussion, revision and voting. Questions were clustered into seven topics: i) Antarctic atmosphere and global connections, ii) Southern Ocean and sea ice in a warming world, iii) ice sheet and sea level, iv) the dynamic Earth, v) life on the precipice, vi) near-Earth space and beyond, and vii) human presence in Antarctica. Answering the questions identified by the horizon scan will require innovative experimental designs, novel applications of technology, invention of next-generation field and laboratory approaches, and expanded observing systems and networks. Unbiased, non-contaminating procedures will be required to retrieve the requisite air, biota, sediment, rock, ice and water samples. Sustained year-round access to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean will be essential to increase winter-time measurements. Improved models are needed that represent Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in the Earth System, and provide predictions at spatial and temporal resolutions useful for decision making. A co-ordinated portfolio of cross-disciplinary science, based on new models of international collaboration, will be essential as no scientist, programme or nation can realize these aspirations alone.
Abstract.A good astronomical site must fulfill several criteria including low atmospheric turbulence and low wind speeds. It is therefore important to have a detailed knowledge of the temperature and wind conditions of a location considered for future astronomical research. Antarctica has unique atmospheric conditions that have already been exploited at the South Pole station. Dome C, a site located on a local maximum of the Antarctic plateau, is likely to have even better conditions. In this paper we present the analysis of two decades of wind speed measurements taken at Dome C by an automated weather station (AWS). We also present temperature and wind speed profiles taken over four Antarctic summers using balloon-borne weather sondes. We will show that as well as having one of the lowest average wind speed ever recorded at an existing or potential observatory, Dome C also has an extremely stable upper atmosphere and a very low inversion layer.
Abstract.We report the results of observations of the fine-structure emission lines [C ] 158 µm and [O ] 63 µm using FIFI on the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) and the Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) on board ISO, towards the molecular cloud associated with the stellar cluster Trumpler 14 (Tr 14) in the Carina Nebula. These data are compared with selected CO and CS transitions obtained with the SEST as well as IRAS and MSX images to produce a detailed view of the morphology and the physical conditions prevailing in the photodissociation region (PDR) at the interface between the ionized gas and the molecular dust lane. The relative intensity distribution observed for the various tracers is consistent with the stratification expected for a molecular cloud seen edge-on and exposed to a radiation field of ≈10 4 G 0 , which is dominated by the most massive stars of Tr 14. The grain photoelectric heating efficiency, , is estimated to be ≈5 × 10 −3 and is comparable to other galactic PDRs. The molecular gas has a complicated velocity structure with a high velocity dispersion resulting from the impact of the stellar winds arising from Tr 14. There is evidence of small-scale clumping with a very low volume filling factor. Despite the rich concentration of massive O stars in Tr 14 we find that the parameters of the PDR are much less-extreme than those of the Orion and M 17 massive star-forming regions.
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