On the climate of dome C, antarctica, in relation to its geographical setting
Abstract Automatic weather stations have been successfully deployed in the hostile climate of Antarctica, where temperatures can drop below −80°C and wind speeds are up to 100m.p.h. These stations use satellites for transmission of their data (Argos System). Three years of data had been collected at...
| Published in: | Journal of Climatology |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
1984
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/joc.3370040505 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fjoc.3370040505 https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/joc.3370040505 |
| Summary: | Abstract Automatic weather stations have been successfully deployed in the hostile climate of Antarctica, where temperatures can drop below −80°C and wind speeds are up to 100m.p.h. These stations use satellites for transmission of their data (Argos System). Three years of data had been collected at Dome C (3280m), East Antarctica, before breakdown of the equipment occurred in January 1983. These data were analysed and compared with data from other stations in Antarctica. Results show that the temperature at Dome C can drop very low (−84.6°C), a new absolute world minimum is not expected to be found, however. The annual course of the temperature displays the typical ‘coreless’ winter phenomenon, with no systematic temperature changes for 4 to 5 months, and mean temperatures of about −60°C during this time. This fits well into the picture found at other high altitude inland stations of Antarctica. The wind speeds observed at Dome C were the lightest, not only of all interior stations in Antarctica, but of all antarctic stations, including coastal and near‐coastal ones. This illustrates the well‐known dependence of the katabatic winds on slope angles and topography. Despite steep and deep surface inversions, katabatic winds generated at higher elevations on the continental slopes do not appear to override Dome C, but flow around it. By contrast, the winds observed in the coastal regions of Adelie Land, some 1000 km away from Dome C, belong to the strongest found anywhere on the earth. Another indication that Dome C is free from any gravity flow can be found in the fact that the winds display a diurnal maximum during the summer months around noon or early afternoon, at a time when the inversion strength is at a minimum. For gravity flow, one would expect a minimum in wind speed at that time, as observed in the coastal region. |
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