The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is the largest, highest, coldest, driest, and windiest ice sheet on Earth. Understanding of the surface mass balance (SMB) of Antarctica is necessary to determine the present state of the ice sheet, to make predictions of its potential contribution to sea level rise, and to determine its past history for paleoclimatic reconstructions. However, SMB values are poorly known because of logistic constraints in extreme polar environments, and they represent one of the biggest challenges of Antarctic science. Snow accumulation is the most important parameter for the SMB of ice sheets. SMB varies on a number of scales, from small‐scale features (sastrugi) to ice‐sheet‐scale SMB patterns determined mainly by temperature, elevation, distance from the coast, and wind‐driven processes. In situ measurements of SMB are performed at single points by stakes, ultrasonic sounders, snow pits, and firn and ice cores and laterally by continuous measurements using ground‐penetrating radar. SMB for large regions can only be achieved practically by using remote sensing and/or numerical climate modeling. However, these techniques rely on ground truthing to improve the resolution and accuracy. The separation of spatial and temporal variations of SMB in transient regimes is necessary for accurate interpretation of ice core records. In this review we provide an overview of the various measurement techniques, related difficulties, and limitations of data interpretation; describe spatial characteristics of East Antarctic SMB and issues related to the spatial and temporal representativity of measurements; and provide recommendations on how to perform in situ measurements.

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Global cooling in intermediate glacial climate with northern ice sheets preconditions climatic instability with bipolar seesaw.

[1] The Moon cast a long shadow over Antarctica on 23 November 2003 in a total solar eclipse. The eclipse was observed at Dome Fuji Station, located at the highest point of East Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, and lasted 1 h 41 min 37 s in a cloudless condition, during which the Sun was completely obscured for 1 min 43 s. This was the first total solar eclipse to be observed in the Antarctic ice sheet. During the eclipse at Dome Fuji, the air temperature at 1.5 m above the snow surface and the subsurface snow temperature decreased by 3.0 K and 1.8 K, respectively. Estimated surface snow temperatures decreased by 4.6 K. Atmospheric pressure and wind direction did not change, but the wind speed possibly decreased by 0.3 m/s with decreasing air temperature; natural variations in wind speed before and after the eclipse made it difficult to identify a true effect of the solar eclipse. Variations of energy components (net shortwave and longwave radiations, sensible and latent heat fluxes, and geothermal heat) during the eclipse were investigated. The total loss of global solar radiation during the eclipse was 0.60 MJ m À2 , equaling 1.6% of the total daily global solar radiation. Regional effects of the eclipse due to a reduction of global solar radiation for air temperature and snow temperature ranged from 0.015 to 0.020 K (W m À2 ) À1. We additionally examined the relation between eclipse obscuration (the fraction of the Sun's surface area occulted by the Moon) and the reduction of global solar radiation from the first to second contacts. The eclipse was also observed from space by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors onboard NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites. The observational results of this study will contribute to detailed model calculations for clarifying the meteorological effects of eclipses.

Abstract:The effects of using a wind acceleration device (wind lens) with vertical-axis wind turbines in wind tunnel experiments were examined. A wind lens consists of a diffuser and flanges, and this study investigated the optimum parameters of their configuration with regard to the power augmentation of the turbines. The wind lens with a flat-panel-type diffuser demonstrated power augmentation by a factor of 2.0 compared with an open wind turbine. An increase from 5˝to 20i n the semi-open angle of the diffuser made it possible to generate a 30% high power output over a wide range of tip speed ratios. On that basis, an optimum semi-open angle was determined. For the flat-panel-type diffuser, a recommended diffuser length is the half of the throat width, and its semi-open angle is 20˝.The inlet enhanced power augmentation over a wide range of tip speed ratios. The optimum location for the wind lens in the streamwise direction was aligned with the center of the vertical-axis wind turbines. The diffuser with a curved surface was more effective regarding power augmentation than flat-panel-type diffusers. The wind lens with a curved surface diffuser demonstrated power augmentation by a factor of about 2.1 compared with an open wind turbine. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that a two-bladed wind turbine with symmetric NACA0024-type airfoils was most suitable for the incorporation of a wind lens to generate higher power output.