Temporal variability of accumulation at Neumayer station, Antarctica, from stake array measurements and a regional atmospheric model

• Main Authors: Schlosser, E., van Lipzig, N., Oerter, Hans
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2002
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/4665/; https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/4665/1/Sch2002c.pdf; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.15236; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.15236.d001

In this study we investigate the ability of the regional atmospheric model RACMO to represent temporal variations of Antarctic accumulation using weekly stake array measurements from Neumayer Station. The model uses ECMWF reanalyses data to force the atmospheric variables at the lateral boundaries of the model domain. Accumulation is defined as precipitation minus sublimation. Generally the model represents the synoptic situations that lead to precipitation reasonably well. The amounts of accumulation are, however, usually lower in the model than in the measurements. It cannot be distinguished whether the model underestimates precipitation or whether this effect is due to the redistribution of snow by the wind, which is not taken into account in the model, but affects the accumulation at the measuring site. Significant differences between model and measurements also occur in cases of net ablation due to wind erosion or when accumulation was due to snowdrift from southwest without precipitation observed.