Atmospheric conditions influencing Antarctic ice sheet surface mass balance ...

• Main Author: Reid, Phillip A.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: University Of Tasmania 2023
• Subjects: Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25959/23244953.v1; https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/Atmospheric_conditions_influencing_Antarctic_ice_sheet_surface_mass_balance/23244953/1

An analysis is made on climate variables to establish the role of dynamic and thermodynamic processes involved in the movement of water vapour southward to the high southern latitudes. Atmospheric moisture fluxes over the Southern Hemisphere are analysed and decomposed into covariant components to obtain an understanding of the dynamical processes involved in the southward transport of moisture to the Antarctic continent. A method is used such that space and time covariant components of mixing ratio and wind velocities are calculated enabling an analysis of water vapour fluxes attributed to separate transient and quasi-stationary cyclonic activity and a mean flow component. Particular emphasis is placed on the snow accumulation rate over the Antarctic. Two data sets are used for this study: global assimilated analyses from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's Global Assimilation and Prediction Scheme (GASP) and output from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's (CSIRO) nine ...