Blowing snow in coastal Adélie Land, Antarctica: three atmospheric-moisture issues

Barral, H.; Genthon, Christophe; Trouvilliez, Alexandre; Brun, Christophe; Amory, Charles

doi:10.5194/tc-8-1905-2014

Cited by 51 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Average monthly rates of blowing snow sublimation calculated for Halley Station, Antarctica, for the years 1995 and 1996, varied between 0.04 (winter) and 0.44 (summer) mm day −1 (14.6 and 160 mm yr −1 , respectively) (King et al, 2001). There has been some recent work done on blowing snow sublimation and transport from field measurements (see for instance Barral et al, 2014;Trouvilliez et al, 2014), but the data are sparse and measurements are only available within the surface layer (< 10 m).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blowing snow sublimation and transport over Antarctica from 11 years of CALIPSO observations

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Blowing snow processes commonly occur over the earth's ice sheets when the 10 m wind speed exceeds a threshold value. These processes play a key role in the sublimation and redistribution of snow thereby influencing the surface mass balance. Prior field studies and modeling results have shown the importance of blowing snow sublimation and transport on the surface mass budget and hydrological cycle of high-latitude regions. For the first time, we present continent-wide estimates of blowing snow sublimation and transport over Antarctica for the period 2006-2016 based on direct observation of blowing snow events. We use an improved version of the blowing snow detection algorithm developed for previous work that uses atmospheric backscatter measurements obtained from the CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) lidar aboard the CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) satellite. The blowing snow events identified by CALIPSO and meteorological fields from MERRA-2 are used to compute the blowing snow sublimation and transport rates. Our results show that maximum sublimation occurs along and slightly inland of the coastline. This is contrary to the observed maximum blowing snow frequency which occurs over the interior. The associated temperature and moisture reanalysis fields likely contribute to the spatial distribution of the maximum sublimation values. However, the spatial pattern of the sublimation rate over Antarctica is consistent with modeling studies and precipitation estimates. Overall, our results show that the 2006-2016 Antarctica average integrated blowing snow sublimation is about 393 ± 196 Gt yr −1 , which is considerably larger than previous model-derived estimates. We find maximum blowing snow transport amount of 5 Mt km −1 yr −1 over parts of East Antarctica and estimate that the average snow transport from continent to ocean is about 3.7 Gt yr −1 . These continent-wide estimates are the first of their kind and can be used to help model and constrain the surface mass budget over Antarctica.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blowing snow sublimation and transport over Antarctica from 11 years of CALIPSO observations

et al. 2017

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“…Thus, SEB/MB models that do not integrate parameterizations for snow drift are probably affected by a dry bias. They also overestimate surface sublimation (Barral et al, 2014). These feedback mechanisms have to be considered when interpreting the results of COSIMA for Zhadang glacier.…”

Section: Model Evaluation Through Time-lapse Photographymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the observation of wind-induced redistribution of snow in some regions of the glacier implies that the wind field is influenced by topography. Snowdrift is not only an important factor for the spatial variability of snow accumulation and ablation but also affects the energy budget of a snowpack (Barral et al, 2014). Increased sublimation by blowing snow raises the moisture content of the near-surface atmosphere.…”

Section: Model Evaluation Through Time-lapse Photographymentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of a Coupled Snow and Energy Balance Model for Zhadang Glacier, Tibetan Plateau, Using Glaciological Measurements and Time-Lapse Photography

Huintjes

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Schröter³

et al. 2015

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research

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“…contribution of blowing or drifting snow sublimation (King et al, 2001;Frezzotti et al, 2004;Barral et al, 2014) is not taken into account in the calculations here.…”

Section: Impact On Surface Sublimation Calculationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric moisture supersaturation in the near-surface atmosphere at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Supersaturation often occurs at the top of the troposphere where cirrus clouds form, but is comparatively unusual near the surface where the air is generally warmer and laden with liquid and/or ice condensation nuclei. One exception is the surface of the high Antarctic Plateau. One year of atmospheric moisture measurement at the surface of Dome C on the East Antarctic Plateau is presented. The measurements are obtained using commercial hygrometry sensors modified to allow air sampling without affecting the moisture content, even in the case of supersaturation. Supersaturation is found to be very frequent. Common unadapted hygrometry sensors generally fail to report supersaturation, and most reports of atmospheric moisture on the Antarctic Plateau are thus likely biased low. The measurements are compared with results from two models implementing cold microphysics parameterizations: the European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts through its operational analyses, and the Model Atmosphérique Régional. As in the observations, supersaturation is frequent in the models but the statistical distribution differs both between models and observations and between the two models, leaving much room for model improvement. This is unlikely to strongly affect estimations of surface sublimation because supersaturation is more frequent as temperature is lower, and moisture quantities and thus water fluxes are small anyway. Ignoring supersaturation may be a more serious issue when considering water isotopes, a tracer of phase change and temperature, largely used to reconstruct past climates and environments from ice cores. Because observations are easier in the surface atmosphere, longer and more continuous in situ observation series of atmospheric supersaturation can be obtained than higher in the atmosphere to test parameterizations of cold microphysics, such as those used in the formation of high-altitude cirrus clouds in meteorological and climate models.

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Blowing snow in coastal Adélie Land, Antarctica: three atmospheric-moisture issues

Cited by 51 publications

References 44 publications

Blowing snow sublimation and transport over Antarctica from 11 years of CALIPSO observations

Blowing snow sublimation and transport over Antarctica from 11 years of CALIPSO observations

Evaluation of a Coupled Snow and Energy Balance Model for Zhadang Glacier, Tibetan Plateau, Using Glaciological Measurements and Time-Lapse Photography

Atmospheric moisture supersaturation in the near-surface atmosphere at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau

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