Snow Control Studies of Elevated Buildings in the Antarctic

Abstract

To elaborate design concepts of elevated buildings in an area of drifting snow, snow deposition and wind profiles around two buildings at Syowa station, Antarctica, were observed in 1978. To interpret the observed results in detail, wind-tunnel experiments on scale models were carried out. A wind-scooped snow deposit was formed behind the building and a sharp ridge was formed on the lee side. The highest point of the deposit was at a distance of 1 or 1.5 times the floor height (about 1.5 m) and the skirt of the snowdrift extended about 5 times the height of the roof. Wind profiles measured near one of the buildings (ionosphere hut) were expressed in terms of the logarithmic law. Two methods based on wind-tunnel experiments were used to estimate the development of snowdrifts around the building: one is to estimate the deposition from the difference in transport of blowing snow calculated from wind profiles and snowdrift flux profiles, the other is by deduction from the distribution of wind profiles. These experiments together with previous ones indicated that the optimum floor height was about 44% of the height of the building.