Evidence of a Convective Boundary Layer Developingon the Antarctic Plateau during the Summer

Mastrantonio, G.; Malvestuto, V.; Argentini, Stefania; Georgiadis, T.; Viola, Angelo

doi:10.1007/s007030050050

Cited by 37 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…In spite of this, results from numerous dedicated off-pole meteorological experiments show a strong diurnal cycle of summertime Antarctic surface-layer climate and SEB (Liljequist, 1957;Ohata et al, 1985;Wendler et al, 1988;Heinemann and Rose, 1990; Van den Broeke and Bintanja, 1995;Bintanja and van den Broeke, 1995;Mastrantonio et al, 1999;Bintanja, 2000;Van As et al, 2005a;Argentini et al, 2005;King et al, 2006). Similar results have been reported on the basis of data from automatic weather stations (AWS, Kikuchi et al, 1988;Allison, 1985;Clow et al, 1988;Stearns and Weidner, 1993;Reijmer and Oerlemans, 2002;Renfrew and Anderson, 2002), as well as theoretical and numerical modelling studies (Gallée and Schayes, 1992;Parish et al, 1993;Sorbjan et al, 1986;.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Daily cycle of the surface energy balance in Antarctica and the influence of clouds

Broeke

Reijmer

et al. 2006

Intl Journal of Climatology

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We present the summertime daily cycle of the Antarctic surface energy balance (SEB) and its sensitivity to cloud cover. We use data of automatic weather stations (AWS) located in four major Antarctic climate zones: the coastal ice shelf, the coastal and interior katabatic wind zone and the interior plateau. Absorbed short wave radiation drives the daily cycle of the SEB, in spite of the high surface albedo (0.84-0.88). The dominant heat sink is the cooling by long wave radiation, but this flux is distributed more evenly throughout the day so that a pronounced daily cycle in net all-wave radiation remains with all-sky night-time heat losses of 20-30 W m −2 and noontime heat gains of 30-40 W m −2 . During the night, heat is re-supplied to the snow surface by the sensible heat flux, especially in the katabatic wind zone, and the sub-surface heat flux. Daytime radiative energy excess is removed from the surface by sublimation (except at the high plateau) and sub-surface heat transport. Daytime convection occurs at all sites around solar noon but is generally weak. Spatial differences in the SEB are largely controlled by differences in cloud cover. Clouds are associated with higher surface temperatures and near-surface wind speeds. This especially limits nocturnal cooling, so that the strongest daytime convection is found during overcast conditions on the interior plateau.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Daily cycle of the surface energy balance in Antarctica and the influence of clouds

Broeke

Reijmer

et al. 2006

Intl Journal of Climatology

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“…A regular daily ABL evolution, characterized by strong stability conditions during the night and convective activity around local midday, was observed in various experiments on the Antarctic plateau during the summer months (Mastrantonio et al 1999;Argentini et al 2005;Van As et al 2005). Mastrantonio et al (1999), using sodar, observed convective activity at Dome C during a 10-day experiment in summer 1998.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Mastrantonio et al (1999), using sodar, observed convective activity at Dome C during a 10-day experiment in summer 1998. At the same location, during a 2-month experiment that began in 1999, the presence of weak convective activity was confirmed (Argentini et al 2000.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurements and Parametrizations of the Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Height at Dome C, Antarctica

Pietroni

Argentini

Petenko

et al. 2011

Boundary-Layer Meteorol

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An experimental campaign, Study of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Environmental at Dome C, was held during 2005 at the French-Italian station of Concordia at Dome C. Ground-based remote sensors, as well as in situ instrumentation, were used during the experimental campaign. The measurements allowed the direct estimation of the polar atmospheric boundary-layer height and the test of several parametrizations for the unstable and stable boundary layers. During the months of January and February, weak convection was observed while, during the polar night, a long-lived stable boundary layer occurred continuously. Under unstable stratification the mixing-layer height was determined using the sodar backscattered echoes and potential temperature profiles. The two estimations are highly correlated, with the mixing height ranging between 30 and 350 m. A simple prognostic one-dimensional model was used to estimate the convective mixing-layer height, with the correlation coefficient between observations and model results being 0.66. The boundarylayer height under stable conditions was estimated from radiosounding profiles as the height where the critical Richardson number is reached; values between 10 and 150 m were found. A visual inspection of potential temperature profiles was also used as further confirmation of the experimental height; the results of the two methods are in good agreement. Six parametrizations from the literature for the stable boundary-layer height were tested. Only the parametrization that considers the long-lived stable boundary layer and takes into account the interaction of the stable layer with the free atmosphere is in agreement with the observations.

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“…During the summer months insolation increases at high latitudes and polar boundary layers are generally only weakly stably-stratified or even weakly unstable (Mastrantonio et al, 1999). However, SBLs can develop during summer as a result of relatively warm (T > 0 o C) air being advected over a snow or ice surface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Airborne Measurements in the Stable Boundary Layer over the Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarctica

King

Lachlan-Cope

Ladkin

et al. 2008

Boundary-Layer Meteorol

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Evidence of a Convective Boundary Layer Developingon the Antarctic Plateau during the Summer

Cited by 37 publications

References 4 publications

Daily cycle of the surface energy balance in Antarctica and the influence of clouds

Daily cycle of the surface energy balance in Antarctica and the influence of clouds

Measurements and Parametrizations of the Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Height at Dome C, Antarctica

Airborne Measurements in the Stable Boundary Layer over the Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarctica

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