Trends in Atmospheric Humidity and Temperature above Dome C, Antarctica Evaluated from Observations and Reanalyses

• Published in: Atmosphere
• Main Authors: Ricaud, Philippe, Grigioni, Paolo, Roehrig, Romain, Durand, Pierre, Veron, Dana
• Other Authors: Centre national de recherches météorologiques (CNRM), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Météo France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: radiosondes; microwave radiometer; meteorological reanalyses; precipitable water; temperature; SAM index; trends; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03043267; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03043267/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03043267/file/atmosphere-11-00836-v3.pdf; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11080836

International audience The time evolution of humidity and temperature above Dome C (Antarctica) has been investigated by considering data from (1) meteorological radiosondes (2005-2017), (2) the microwave radiometer HAMSTRAD (2012-2017), (3) four modern meteorological reanalyses (1980-2017) and (4) the southern annular mode (SAM) index (1980-2017). From these observations (2005-2017), a significant moistening trend (0.08 ± 0.06 kg m −2 dec −1) is associated with a significant warming trend (1.08 ± 0.55 K dec −1) in summer. Conversely, a significant drying trend of −0.04 ± 0.03 kg m −2 dec −1 (−0.05 ± 0.03 kg m −2 dec −1) is associated with a significant cooling trend of −2.4 ± 1.2 K dec −1 (−5.1 ± 2.0 K dec −1) in autumn (winter), with no significant trends in the spring. We demonstrate that 1) the trends identified in the radiosondes (2005-2017) are also present in the reanalyses and 2) the multidecadal variability of integrated water vapor and near-surface temperature (1980-2017) is strongly influenced by variability in the SAM index for all seasons but spring. Our study suggests that the decadal trends observed in humidity and near-surface temperature at Dome C (2005-2017) reflect the multidecadal variability of the atmosphere, and are not indicative of long-term trends that may be related to global climate change.