In this study, 3265 multiyear averaged in situ observations and 29 observational records at annual time scale are used to examine the performance of recent reanalysis and regional atmospheric climate model products [ERA-Interim, JRA-55, MERRA, the Polar version of MM5 (PMM5), RACMO2.1, and RACMO2.3] for their spatial and interannual variability of Antarctic surface mass balance (SMB), respectively. Simulated precipitation seasonality is also evaluated using three in situ observations and model intercomparison. All products qualitatively capture the macroscale spatial variability of observed SMB, but it is not possible to rank their relative performance because of the sparse observations at coastal regions with an elevation range from 200 to 1000 m. In terms of the absolute amount of observed snow accumulation in interior Antarctica, RACMO2.3 fits best, while the other models either underestimate (JRA-55, MERRA, ERA-Interim, and RACMO2.1) or overestimate (PMM5) the accumulation. Despite underestimated precipitation by the three reanalyses and RACMO2.1, this feature is clearly improved in JRA-55. However, because of changes in the observing system, especially the dramatically increased satellite observations for data assimilation, JRA-55 presents a marked jump in snow accumulation around 1979 and a large increase after the late 1990s. Although precipitation seasonality over the whole ice sheet is common for all products, ERA-Interim provides an unrealistic estimate of precipitation seasonality on the East Antarctic plateau, with high precipitation strongly peaking in summer. ERA-Interim shows a significant correlation with interannual variability of observed snow accumulation measurements at 28 of 29 locations, whereas fewer than 20 site observations significantly correlate with simulations by the other models. This suggests that ERA-Interim exhibits the highest performance of interannual variability in the observed precipitation.

Abstract. The spatial and temporal distribution of surface mass balance (SMB) and δ 18 O were investigated in the first comprehensive study of a set of 76 firn cores retrieved by various expeditions during the past 3 decades in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. The large number of cores was used to calculate stacked records of SMB and δ 18 O, which considerably increased the signal-to-noise ratio compared to earlier studies and facilitated the detection of climatic signals. Considerable differences between cores from the interior plateau and the coastal cores were found. The δ 18 O of both the plateau and the ice shelf cores exhibit a slight positive trend over the second half of the 20th century. In the corresponding period, the SMB has a negative trend in the ice shelf cores, but increases on the plateau. Comparison with meteorological data from Neumayer Station revealed that for the ice shelf regions, atmospheric dynamic effects are more important than thermodynamics while on the plateau; the temporal variations of SMB and δ 18 O occur mostly in parallel, and thus can be explained by thermodynamic effects. The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) has exhibited a positive trend since the mid-1960s, which is assumed to lead to a cooling of East Antarctica. This is not confirmed by the firn core data in our data set. Changes in the atmospheric circulation that result in a changed seasonal distribution of precipitation/accumulation could partly explain the observed features in the ice shelf cores.

Abstract. The spatial and temporal distribution of surface mass balance (SMB) and δ18O were investigated in the first comprehensive study of a set of 76 firn cores retrieved by various expeditions during the past three decades in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. The large number of cores was used to calculate stacked records of SMB and δ18O, which considerably increased the signal-to-noise ratio compared to earlier studies and facilitated the detection of climatic signals. Considerable differences between cores from the interior plateau and the coastal cores were found. The δ18O of both the plateau and the ice shelf cores exhibit a slight positive trend over the second half of the 20th century. In the corresponding period, the SMB has a negative trend in the ice shelf cores, but increases on the plateau. Comparison with meteorological data from Neumayer Station revealed that for the ice shelf regions atmospheric dynamic effects are more important than thermodynamics, while on the plateau, the temporal variations of SMB and δ18O occur mostly in parallel, thus can be explained by thermodynamic effects. The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) exhibits a positive trend since the mid-1960s, which is assumed to lead to a cooling of East Antarctica. This is not confirmed by the firn core data in our data set. Changes in the atmospheric circulation that result in a changed seasonal distribution of precipitation/accumulation could partly explain the observed features in the ice shelf cores.