(Table 2) Foehn characteristics of station in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica ...

• Main Authors: Speirs, Johanna C, Steinhoff, Daniel F, McGowan, Hamish A, Bromwich, David H, Monaghan, Andrew J
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2010
• Subjects: Event label; Station label; DATE/TIME; Date/time end; Comment; Temperature, air, minimum; Temperature, air, maximum; Humidity, relative, minimum; Wind direction; Wind speed, gust; Unmanned weather station/meteorological observation; International Polar Year 2007-2008 IPY; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; International Polar Year; IPY; McMurdo Dry Valleys
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.837426; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.837426

Foehn winds resulting from topographic modification of airflow in the lee of mountain barriers are frequently experienced in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs) of Antarctica. Strong foehn winds in the MDVs cause dramatic warming at onset and have significant effects on landscape forming processes; however, no detailed scientific investigation of foehn in the MDVs has been conducted. As a result, they are often misinterpreted as adiabatically warmed katabatic winds draining from the polar plateau. Herein observations from surface weather stations and numerical model output from the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) during foehn events in the MDVs are presented. Results show that foehn winds in the MDVs are caused by topographic modification of south-southwesterly airflow, which is channeled into the valleys from higher levels. Modeling of a winter foehn event identifies mountain wave activity similar to that associated with midlatitude foehn winds. These events are found to be caused by strong pressure ... : Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150 ...