Synoptic conditions and atmospheric moisture pathways associated with virga and precipitation over coastal Adélie Land in Antarctica ...

• Main Authors: Jullien, Nicolas, Vignon, Étienne, Sprenger, Michael, Aemisegger, Franziska, Berne, Alexis
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2020
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctica; East Antarctica
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000418970; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/418970

Precipitation falling over the coastal regions of Antarctica often experiences low-level sublimation within the dry katabatic layer. The amount of water that reaches the ground surface is thereby considerably reduced. This paper investigates the synoptic conditions and the atmospheric transport pathways of moisture that lead to either virga – when precipitation is completely sublimated – or actual surface precipitation events over coastal Adélie Land, East Antarctica. For this purpose, the study combines ground-based lidar and radar measurements at Dumont d'Urville station (DDU), Lagrangian back trajectories, Eulerian diagnostics of extratropical cyclones and fronts, and moisture source estimations. It is found that precipitating systems at DDU are associated with warm fronts of cyclones that are located to the west of Adélie Land. Virga – corresponding to 36 % of the hours with precipitation above DDU – and surface precipitation cases are associated with the same precipitating system but they correspond to ... : The Cryosphere, 14 (5) ...