Present weather sensor tests for measuring drifting snow

• Main Authors: Bellot, H., Trouvilliez, A., Naaim-Bouvet, F., Genthon, C., Gallee, H.
• Other Authors: Érosion torrentielle, neige et avalanches (UR ETGR (ETNA)), Centre national du machinisme agricole, du génie rural, des eaux et forêts (CEMAGREF), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2011
• Subjects: DRIFTING SNOW; BLOWING SNOW; PRESENT WEATHER SENSOR; SNOW PARTICULE COUNTER; ANTARCTIQUE; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Dumont d'Urville; Dumont-d'Urville; Lac Blanc; Annals of Glaciology; Antarc*; Antarctica; Antarctique*
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02595322

International audience In Antarctica, blowing snow accounts for a major component of the surface mass balance near the coast. Measurements of precipitation and blowing snow are scarce, and therefore collecting data would allow testing numerical models on mass flux over this region. A present weather station (PWS), Biral VPF730, was set up at the coast in Cap Prud'homme station, 5 km from Dumont D'Urville (DDU), principally to quantify precipitation. Since we expected to be able to determine blowing snow fluxes from the PWS data, we first chose to test this device on our experimental site, the Lac Blanc Pass. An empirical calibration was made with a snow particle counter (SPC). Although the physics of the phenomenon was not well captured, the flux outputs were better than those from FlowCapts. The first data from Antarctica were re-analyzed. The new calibration seems to be accurate for estimating the high blowing snow flux with an interrogation of the precipitation effects.