Antarctic Automatic Weather Station Program: 30 Years of Polar Observation

Lazzara, Matthew A.; Weidner, George A.; Keller, Linda M.; Thom, Jonathan E.; Cassano, John J.

doi:10.1175/bams-d-11-00015.1

Cited by 151 publications

(174 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The temperature readings were collected by professional weather observers until the 1970s, providing a robust anchor for the early portion of record. The operation of the AWS has proved more challenging in the harsh Antarctic environment, but the origins of the data gaps are well understood 21 . Global atmospheric reanalyses are, in principle, uniquely suited for our reconstruction.…”

Section: Improved Temperature Estimatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The observations from the initial year-round occupied station (1957)(1958)(1959)(1960)(1961)(1962)(1963)(1964)(1965)(1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971)(1972)(1973)(1974)(1975) are combined with updated and corrected data from the automatic weather station (AWS) maintained since 1980 by the US Antarctic AWS Program 21 . Missing observations are estimated using adjusted temperature data from the ERA-Interim reanalysis 22 for 1979-2012 and, before 1979, a combination of global reanalysis data and spatially interpolated observations from other Antarctic sites.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Central West Antarctica among the most rapidly warming regions on Earth

et al. 2012

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There is clear evidence that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is contributing to sea-level rise. In contrast, West Antarctic temperature changes in recent decades remain uncertain. West Antarctica has probably warmed since the 1950s, but there is disagreement regarding the magnitude, seasonality and spatial extent of this warming. This is primarily because long-term near-surface temperature observations are restricted to Byrd Station in central West Antarctica, a data set with substantial gaps. Here, we present a complete temperature record for Byrd Station, in which observations have been corrected, and gaps have been filled using global reanalysis data and spatial interpolation. The record reveals a linear increase in annual temperature between 1958 and 2010 by 2.4±1.2 • C, establishing central West Antarctica as one of the fastest-warming regions globally. We confirm previous reports of West Antarctic warming, in annual average and in austral spring and winter, but find substantially larger temperature increases. In contrast to previous studies, we report statistically significant warming during austral summer, particularly in December-January, the peak of the melting season. A continued rise in summer temperatures could lead to more frequent and extensive episodes of surface melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. These results argue for a robust long-term meteorological observation network in the region.

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Section: Improved Temperature Estimatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Central West Antarctica among the most rapidly warming regions on Earth

et al. 2012

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“…The data used in the analysis are the interpolated dataset to 0.1258 from the native T255 horizontal using Meteorological Archival and Retrieval System (MARS). Surface meteorological observations are obtained from the University of Wisconsin (UW) automatic weather station program (Lazzara et al 2012) to understand meteorological conditions as well as the synoptic background associated with SWE. Further details regarding UWAWSs used in this study can be found in Table 1.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Strong Wind Event on the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica: A Case Study of Scale Interactions

Chenoli

Turner

Samah

2015

Monthly Weather Review

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In situ observations, satellite imagery, numerical weather prediction, and reanalysis fields are used to investigate the synoptic and mesoscale environment of a strong wind event (SWE) at McMurdo Station/Ross Island region on the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica, on 10 October 2003. The SWE occurred during the passage of a sequence of three mesoscale low pressure systems from the central Ross Ice Shelf to the southwest Ross Sea. A potential vorticity (PV) analysis showed that the lows drew air of continental origin down the glacial valleys of the Transantarctic Mountains and onto the ice shelf as a katabatic drainage flow. However, the analysis indicated that the air mass associated with the SWE was of recurved maritime origin drawn in by the second mesoscale low (L2). This air mass approached McMurdo Station from the south where interactions with the orography played a critical role. In the early stages of the event, when the wind speed was less than 10 m s 21 , the air was deflected around the topographical features, such as Minna Bluff and Black and White Islands. As the pressure gradient increased, winds of more than 10 m s 21 crossed the orography and developed mountain waves along the lee slopes. When the Froude number became larger than 1, large-amplitude vertically propagating mountain waves developed over the McMurdo Station/Ross Island area, increasing the wind to 16 m s 21 . The reanalysis fields did not resolve the mesoscale lows; however, the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) model was able to simulate important characteristics of the SWE such as the mesoscale low pressure system, flow around the topographical barrier, and the mountain wave.

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“…The model is forced by a long-term surface temperature trend based on published records by Van Ommen et al (1999), DahlJensen et al (1999) and Orsi et al (2012). A generic Antarctic seasonal cycle derived from a ~8-10-year climatology of 15 automatic weather station observations at WAIS Divide and Law Dome (Lazzara et al, 2012) is superimposed on this trend.…”

Section: Thermal Fractionation and The Temperature Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of layering and barometric pumping on firn air transport in a 2D model

Birner¹,

Buizert²,

Wagner³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Abstract. Ancient air trapped in ice core bubbles has been paramount to developing our understanding of past climate and atmospheric composition. Before air bubbles become isolated in ice, the atmospheric signal is altered in the firn column by transport processes such as advection and diffusion. However, the influence of impermeable layers and barometric pumping (driven by surface pressure variability) on firn air transport is not well understood and cannot be captured in conventional 1-10 dimensional firn air models. Here we present a 2-dimensional (2D) trace gas advection-diffusion-dispersion model that accounts for discontinuous horizontal layers of reduced permeability. We find that layering and barometric pumping individually yield too small a reduction in gravitational settling to match observations. In contrast, a combination of both effects more strongly supresses gravitational fractionation. Layering locally focuses airflows in the 2D model and thus amplifies the dispersive mixing resulting from barometric pumping. Hence, the representation of both factors is needed to 15 obtain a more natural emergence of the lock-in zone. Moreover, we find that barometric pumping in the layered 2D model does not substantially change the differential kinetic fractionation of fast and slow diffusing trace gases, which is observed in nature. This suggests that further subgrid-scale physics may be missing in the current generation of firn air transport models.However, we find robust scaling relationships between kinetic isotope fractionation of different noble gas isotope and elemental ratios. These relationships may be used to correct for kinetic fractionation in future high precision ice core studies. 20The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi

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Antarctic Automatic Weather Station Program: 30 Years of Polar Observation

Cited by 151 publications

References 29 publications

Central West Antarctica among the most rapidly warming regions on Earth

Central West Antarctica among the most rapidly warming regions on Earth

A Strong Wind Event on the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica: A Case Study of Scale Interactions

The influence of layering and barometric pumping on firn air transport in a 2D model

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