Surface layer response to topographic solar shading in Antarctica's dry valleys

Katurji, Marwan; Zawar-Reza, Peyman; Zhong, Shiyuan

doi:10.1002/2013jd020530

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…But due to its low elevation (elev. 171 m) and variable wind direction, temperatures in Miers Valley can reach above 0 °C in austral summers [ 35 ]. This likely leads to increased water availability from melt streams of Miers and Adams Glaciers, which can trigger rapid responses from local microorganisms [ 16 , 34 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Distribution and Identity of Edaphic Fungi in the McMurdo Dry Valleys

Dreesens

Lee

Cary

2014

Biology

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Contrary to earlier assumptions, molecular evidence has demonstrated the presence of diverse and localized soil bacterial communities in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Meanwhile, it remains unclear whether fungal signals so far detected in Dry Valley soils using both culture-based and molecular techniques represent adapted and ecologically active biomass or spores transported by wind. Through a systematic and quantitative molecular survey, we identified significant heterogeneities in soil fungal communities across the Dry Valleys that robustly correlate with heterogeneities in soil physicochemical properties. Community fingerprinting analysis and 454 pyrosequencing of the fungal ribosomal intergenic spacer region revealed different levels of heterogeneity in fungal diversity within individual Dry Valleys and a surprising abundance of Chytridiomycota species, whereas previous studies suggested that Dry Valley soils were dominated by Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. Critically, we identified significant differences in fungal community composition and structure of adjacent sites with no obvious barrier to aeolian transport between them. These findings suggest that edaphic fungi of the Antarctic Dry Valleys are adapted to local environments and represent an ecologically relevant (and possibly important) heterotrophic component of the ecosystem.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Distribution and Identity of Edaphic Fungi in the McMurdo Dry Valleys

Dreesens

Lee

Cary

2014

Biology

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“…A spatial interpolation method based on few sparsely installed stations cannot effectively capture the spatial heterogeneity of solar radiation in a mountainous area, which will exert significant influences on the spatial distribution of air and ground temperatures, ET, snowmelt, and mass balance of mountainous glaciers (Gruber et al, 2017;Harris et al, 2009;Hasler et al, 2015;Hoffman et al, 2016;Luo, Jin, Marchenko, et al, 2018;Luo, Jin, Wu, et al, 2018;van Pelt et al, 2012). According to observations in the Antarctica dry valley, the ground surface temperature dropped by about 10°C in less than 4 hr following the onset of topographic shadows (Katurji et al, 2013). Topographic shadows could also delay (speed up) the breakup (buildup) of air temperature inversion in the valleys (Colette et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influences of Topographic Shadows on the Thermal and Hydrological Processes in a Cold Region Mountainous Watershed in Northwest China

Zhang

Cheng

et al. 2018

J Adv Model Earth Syst

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The solar radiation incident in a mountainous area with a complex terrain has a strong spatial heterogeneity due to the variations in slope orientation (self‐shading) and shadows cast by surrounding topography agents (topographic shading). Although slope self‐shading has been well studied and considered in most land surface and hydrological models, topographic shading is usually ignored, and its influence on the thermal and hydrological processes in a cold mountainous area remains unclear. In this study, a topographic solar radiation algorithm with consideration for both slope self‐shading and topographic shadows has been implemented and incorporated into a distributed hydrological model with physically based descriptions for the energy balance. A promising model performance was achieved according to a vigorous evaluation. In a control model without considering the topographic shadows, the simulated solar radiation incident in the study area was about 14.3 W/m2 higher on average, which in turn led to a higher simulated annual mean ground temperature at 4 m (by 0.41 °C) and evapotranspiration (by 16.1 mm/a), and a smaller permafrost extent (reduced by about 8%), as well as smaller maximal snow depth and shorter snow duration. Although the simulation was not significantly improved for discharge hydrograph in the base model, higher river runoff peaks and an increased runoff depth were obtained. In areas with a rugged terrain and deep valleys, the influences of topographic shadows would even be stronger in reality than the presented results, which cannot be ignored in the simulation of the thermal and hydrological processes, especially in a refined model.

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“…In the polar regions a weaker, or absent, diurnal cycle in radiative forcing results in a less pronounced diurnal cycle in boundary layer evolution compared to that observed in lower latitudes, although some locations, such as the McMurdo Dry Valleys, do experience a pronounced diurnal 50 cycle during the austral summer (Katurji et al 2013). The presence of extensive ice covered surfaces reduces the amount of solar radiation absorbed at the surface during the day and weakens, or eliminates, the presence of convective boundary layer conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Antarctic atmospheric boundary layer observations with the Small Unmanned Meteorological Observer (SUMO)

Cassano¹,

Nigro²,

Seefeldt³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. Between January 2012 and June 2017 a small unmanned aerial system (UAS), known as the Small Unmanned Meteorological Observer (SUMO), was used to observe the state of the atmospheric boundary layer in the Antarctic. During 6 Antarctic field campaigns 116 SUMO flights were completed. These flights took place during all seasons over both permanent ice and ice free locations on the Antarctic continent and over sea ice in the western Ross Sea. Sampling was completed during spiral ascent and descent flight paths that observed the temperature, humidity, pressure and wind up to 1000 m above ground level and sampled the entire depth of the atmospheric boundary layer as well as portions of the free atmosphere above the boundary layer. A wide variety of boundary layer states were observed including very shallow, strongly stable conditions during the Antarctic winter and deep, convective conditions over ice free locations in the summer. The Antarctic atmospheric boundary layer data collected by the SUMO sUAS, described in this paper, can be retrieved from the United States Antarctic Program Data Center (https://www.usap-dc.org). The data for all flights conducted on the continent are available at https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601054 (Cassano 2017; https://doi.org/10.15784/601054) and data from the Ross Sea flights, are available at https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601191 (Cassano 2019; https://doi.org/10.15784/601191).

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Surface layer response to topographic solar shading in Antarctica's dry valleys

Cited by 13 publications

References 62 publications

The Distribution and Identity of Edaphic Fungi in the McMurdo Dry Valleys

The Distribution and Identity of Edaphic Fungi in the McMurdo Dry Valleys

Influences of Topographic Shadows on the Thermal and Hydrological Processes in a Cold Region Mountainous Watershed in Northwest China

Antarctic atmospheric boundary layer observations with the Small Unmanned Meteorological Observer (SUMO)

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