Estimating radar reflectivity - Snowfall rate relationships and their uncertainties over Antarctica by combining disdrometer and radar observations

Souverijns, Niels; Gossart, Alexandra; Lhermitte, Stef; Gorodetskaya, Irina; Kneifel, Stefan; Maahn, Maximilian; Bliven, Francis; Lipzig, Nicole Van

doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2017.06.001

Cited by 71 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…A cold high pressure system is located over the continent, feeding the katabatic flows from the interior plateau toward the escarpment of the coast (van Lipzig, Turner, et al,). Apart from the katabatic flow, the large‐scale flow at the coastal margins of the AIS is dominated by the circumpolar vortex, that is, cyclonic activity near the coast of the AIS allowing for the transport of moisture and air from midlatitudes to the AIS at high wind speeds (Gorodetskaya et al, ; Souverijns et al, , ).…”

Section: Model Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Regional Climate Model for POLAR‐CORDEX: Evaluation of a 30‐Year Hindcast with COSMO‐CLM² Over Antarctica

et al. 2019

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Continent‐wide climate information over the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) is important to obtain accurate information of present climate and reduce uncertainties of the ice sheet mass balance response and resulting global sea level rise to future climate change. In this study, the COSMO‐CLM2 Regional Climate Model is applied over the AIS and adapted for the specific meteorological and climatological conditions of the region. A 30‐year hindcast was performed and evaluated against observational records consisting of long‐term ground‐based meteorological observations, automatic weather stations, radiosoundings, satellite records, stake measurements and ice cores. Reasonable agreement regarding the surface and upper‐air climate is achieved by the COSMO‐CLM2 model, comparable to the performance of other state‐of‐the‐art climate models over the AIS. Meteorological variability of the surface climate is adequately simulated, and biases in the radiation and surface mass balance are small. The presented model therefore contributes as a new member to the COordinated Regional Downscaling EXperiment project over the AIS (POLAR‐CORDEX) and the CORDEX‐CORE initiative.

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Section: Model Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Regional Climate Model for POLAR‐CORDEX: Evaluation of a 30‐Year Hindcast with COSMO‐CLM² Over Antarctica

et al. 2019

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“…The raw Doppler spectra is post-processed following Maahn and Kollias (2012) to calculate radar reflectivity profiles which are then linked to snowfall rates using the newly developed ZeSr relation for PE by Souverijns et al (2017). A full description of MRRs can be found in Klugmann et al (1996) and the radar set up at PE is described in Gorodetskaya et al (2015).…”

Section: The Cloud-precipitation Observatory At Pe Stationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blowing snow detection from ground-based ceilometers: application to East Antarctica

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Blowing snow impacts Antarctic ice sheet surface mass balance by snow redistribution and sublimation. However, numerical models poorly represent blowing snow processes, while direct observations are limited in space and time. Satellite retrieval of blowing snow is hindered by clouds and only the strongest events are considered. Here, we develop a blowing snow detection (BSD) algorithm for ground-based remote-sensing ceilometers in polar regions and apply it to ceilometers at Neumayer III and Princess Elisabeth (PE) stations, East Antarctica. The algorithm is able to detect (heavy) blowing snow layers reaching 30 m height. Results show that 78 % of the detected events are in agreement with visual observations at Neumayer III station. The BSD algorithm detects heavy blowing snow 36 % of the time at Neumayer (2011Neumayer ( -2015 and 13 % at PE station (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016). Blowing snow occurrence peaks during the austral winter and shows around 5 % interannual variability. The BSD algorithm is capable of detecting blowing snow both lifted from the ground and occurring during precipitation, which is an added value since results indicate that 92 % of the blowing snow is during synoptic events, often combined with precipitation. Analysis of atmospheric meteorological variables shows that blowing snow occurrence strongly depends on fresh snow availability in addition to wind speed. This finding challenges the commonly used parametrizations, where the threshold for snow particles to be lifted is a function of wind speed only. Blowing snow occurs predominantly during storms and overcast conditions, shortly after precipitation events, and can reach up to 1300 m a.g.l. in the case of heavy mixed events (precipitation and blowing snow together). These results suggest that synoptic conditions play an important role in generating blowing snow events and that fresh snow availability should be considered in determining the blowing snow onset.

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“…These measurements are processed following Gorodetskaya et al (2013). Snowfall amounts are obtained from the MRR after applying the Ze-SR relation and methodology determined in Souverijns et al (2017).…”

Section: Local and Large Scale Meteorologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Its low overpass frequency, narrow swath width and ground clutter remains a limiting factor (Battaglia and Delanoë, 2013;Maahn et al, 2014;Casella et al, 2017). More locally, the operation of ground-based precipitation radars has proven to be an efficient way to detect snowfall over the AIS at several locations (Gorodetskaya et al, 2015;Souverijns et al, 2017;Grazioli et al, 2017a, b).…”

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How does the ice sheet surface mass balance relate to snowfall? Insights from a ground-based precipitation radar in East Antarctica

Souverijns¹,

Gossart²,

Gorodetskaya³

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Local surface mass balance (SMB) measurements are crucial for understanding changes in the total mass of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, including its contribution to sea level rise. Despite continuous attempts to decipher mechanisms controlling the local SMB, a clear understanding of the separate components is still lacking, while snowfall measurements are almost absent. In this study, the different terms are quantified at the Princess Elisabeth (PE) station in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Furthermore, the relation between snowfall and accumulation at the surface is investigated. To achieve this, a 5 unique collocated set of remote sensing instrumentation (Micro Rain Radar, ceilometer, Automatic Weather Station, among others) was established operating for an unprecedented time period of 37 months. Snowfall originates mainly from moist and warm air advected from lower latitudes associated with cyclone activity. However, snowfall events are much more common than accumulation events. During 38 % of the snowfall cases observed, the freshly-fallen snow is ablated by the wind during the course of the event. Generally, snow storms of longer duration have a higher chance to attain for accumulation at the local scale, 10 while shorter events usually attain for ablation (on average 17 and 12 hours respectively). As such, SMB records cannot be considered a good proxy for snowfall at the local scale. Accumulation and ablation also occur during non-snowfall conditions. A large part of the accumulation at the station takes place when preceding snowfall events were occurring in upstream coastal areas. This fresh snow is easily picked up and transported in shallow drifting snow layers to more inland locations, even when wind speed is relatively low (< 7 ms −1 ). Ablation events are mainly related to katabatic winds originating from the Antarctic 15 plateau and the mountain ranges in the south. These dry winds are able to remove snow and lead to a decrease in the local SMB. This work highlights that, even though observations are local, the SMB is strongly influenced by synoptic upstream conditions.

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Estimating radar reflectivity - Snowfall rate relationships and their uncertainties over Antarctica by combining disdrometer and radar observations

Cited by 71 publications

References 74 publications

A New Regional Climate Model for POLAR‐CORDEX: Evaluation of a 30‐Year Hindcast with COSMO‐CLM² Over Antarctica

A New Regional Climate Model for POLAR‐CORDEX: Evaluation of a 30‐Year Hindcast with COSMO‐CLM² Over Antarctica

Blowing snow detection from ground-based ceilometers: application to East Antarctica

How does the ice sheet surface mass balance relate to snowfall? Insights from a ground-based precipitation radar in East Antarctica

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Estimating radar reflectivity - Snowfall rate relationships and their uncertainties over Antarctica by combining disdrometer and radar observations

Cited by 71 publications

References 74 publications

A New Regional Climate Model for POLAR‐CORDEX: Evaluation of a 30‐Year Hindcast with COSMO‐CLM2 Over Antarctica

A New Regional Climate Model for POLAR‐CORDEX: Evaluation of a 30‐Year Hindcast with COSMO‐CLM2 Over Antarctica

Blowing snow detection from ground-based ceilometers: application to East Antarctica

How does the ice sheet surface mass balance relate to snowfall? Insights from a ground-based precipitation radar in East Antarctica

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A New Regional Climate Model for POLAR‐CORDEX: Evaluation of a 30‐Year Hindcast with COSMO‐CLM² Over Antarctica

A New Regional Climate Model for POLAR‐CORDEX: Evaluation of a 30‐Year Hindcast with COSMO‐CLM² Over Antarctica