Present weather sensor tests for measuring drifting snow

• Main Authors: Bellot, H., Trouvilliez, A., Naaim-Bouvet, F., Genthon, C., Gallée, H.
• Other Authors: CEMAGREF GRENOBLE ETGR, UNIVERSITE DE GRENOBLE I CNRS LGGE FRA
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: NEIGE AEROSOL; TRANSPORT DE NEIGE PAR LE VENT; BILAN DE MASSE; PRECIPITATION ATMOSPHERIQUE; BLOWING SNOW; DRIFTING SNOW; PRESENT WEATHER SENSOR; SNOW PARTICULE COUNTER; ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATION; WEIGHT BREAKDOWN; Dumont d'Urville; Dumont-d'Urville; Lac Blanc; Antarc*; Antarctica; Antarctique*
• Online Access: https://irsteadoc.irstea.fr/cemoa/PUB00032346

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.