On the Relationship of Snow Accumulation to Surface Topography at “Byrd Station”, Antarctica

Abstract

ABSTRACT. R ecent measurements of snow acc umulation on undulat ing surfaces around " Byrd station " , Antarctica indicate that the undulations a re tending to be filled in. These resu lts are discussed in the lig ht of c urrent knowledge of the or igin and migration of such features.RESU ME. Relalion mire I' accwnulalion de la "eige el la lopographie sllperjicielle cl la statioll " By rd" , Anlarctique. D e recentes m esures d' accumu lation de la neige sur la surface ondu lee a utour de la station " Byrd", indiquent que les ondulati ons ont une tendan ce it etre comblees. Ces resu lta ts sont discutes it la lumiere de la con naissance courante de l'origin e et de la m igration d e re li es formes. STEPPED surfaces and undulations of wavelengths of 5-30 km . are now know n to characterize much of the surface of the Greenland a nd Antarctic I ce Sheets, particularl y the latter, and there has been som e speculation as to how these features might form. Nye ( 1959) for example would attribute surface waves of these dimensions (mea n amplitudes of about 20 m. ) to irregularities in the underlying bedrock, but Bader ( 196 1) believes that drifting snow is responsible for the formation of wavy surfaces in the high interior of Greenland.A fairly considerable surface relief is to be observed in the general area of new " Byrd station" , Antarctica. New " Byrd station " was constructed under the snow near the bottom of a broad depression and between it and the old " Byrd sta tion" located 10 km . to the west there are two smaller valleys. An examination of the surface in February 1 962 indicated that the valleys were accumulating much m ore snow than the crests of these undulations. In order to obtain some quantitative data on this r elationship between accumul ation a nd surface topography, two stake lines were set up, one oriented pa ra llel to the prevailing wind direction and the other normal to it. The " east-west" line, (Fig. I) comprising 21 stakes emplaced at intervals of 0·5 km. extended from the south-east corner o f the stake farm at o ld " Byrd" to a point about a kilometer north of the radio noise tower at new " Byrd station". The second line of 22 stakes was begun just to the east of the V .L.F. antenna and extended d own-wind in a southerly direction for a distance of 10·5 km . The elevati on at each stake was measured barometrically. In Figures 1 and 2 these elevations have been conve rted to absolute values based on the elevation at the gravity pier at new "Byrd station".As indicated in Figure I , the "east-west" line traversed two small valleys superimposed on a surface that sloped upward to the east. The relief along the " north-south " line of stakes (Fig. 2) differed somewhat in that it took the form of a fa irly steeply sloping surface intersected by two small steps. The impression gained in the field was that the " north-south" stakes traversed a major structural feature of the surface a nd that the undulations a long the "eastwest" line were superimposed upon this structure. However , it is diffic...

Spatial distribution of snow in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, mapped by a ground‐based snow radar

“…Variations in snow layer thickness were observed in association with topographic features, which suggest that wind redistribution have a major influence on the local accumulation pattern. This relation has also been recognized in several previous studies, such as Black and Budd [1964] and Gow and Rowland [1965]. The considerable spatial variability in snow accumulation observed indicates that the accumulation pattern is complex and that broad-scale Antarctic snow accumulation is difficult to describe by parameterization of air [1990], who found that they were able to make reliable parameterizations only for the ice sheet interior.…”

WindSat Passive Microwave Polarimetric Signatures of the Greenland Ice Sheet

“…The dune crests are oriented orthogonally to the wind direction, while the sastrugi are oriented parallel to the wind direction. They become more level during the summer by sublimation and deflation [16], [17]. Albert and Hawley [3] showed that surface roughness heights are less than 8 cm from late June to later December but started to increase around January.…”

A snow sensor experiment in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

“…Relationships between the spatial variations in snow accumulation and the katabatic outflow have long been recognized (Gow and Rowland, 1965) and have been further elucidated by ground-probing radar profiles and firn cores, but they are still poorly understood (Melvold and others, 1998), particularly on an event-by-event basis. Consequently, a more detailed quantitative understanding of the spatio-temporal aspects of accumulation is desirable.…”