Evaluation of the Antarctic Boundary Layer Thermodynamic Structure in MERRA2 Using Dropsonde Observations from the Concordiasi Campaign
Abstract Recent high‐resolution dropsonde observations from the 2010 Concordiasi field campaign in austral spring season show that surface‐based inversions (SBIs) over Antarctica are frequently eroded, with well‐mixed boundary layers occurring 33% and 18% of the time in West and East Antarctica, res...
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a14e45652ffc4778a74237ecf465ee8f 2023-05-15T13:56:49+02:00 Evaluation of the Antarctic Boundary Layer Thermodynamic Structure in MERRA2 Using Dropsonde Observations from the Concordiasi Campaign Manisha Ganeshan Yuekui Yang 2019-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EA000890 https://doaj.org/article/a14e45652ffc4778a74237ecf465ee8f EN eng American Geophysical Union (AGU) https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EA000890 https://doaj.org/toc/2333-5084 2333-5084 doi:10.1029/2019EA000890 https://doaj.org/article/a14e45652ffc4778a74237ecf465ee8f Earth and Space Science, Vol 6, Iss 12, Pp 2397-2409 (2019) Antarctic boundary layer MERRA2 thermodynamic structure reanalyses planetary boundary layer dropsondes Astronomy QB1-991 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EA000890 2022-12-31T03:55:23Z Abstract Recent high‐resolution dropsonde observations from the 2010 Concordiasi field campaign in austral spring season show that surface‐based inversions (SBIs) over Antarctica are frequently eroded, with well‐mixed boundary layers occurring 33% and 18% of the time in West and East Antarctica, respectively. In this study, using the dropsonde observations, we evaluate the performance of the Modern‐Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA2) in representing the Antarctic boundary layer thermodynamic structure. Results show that MERRA2 has a good overall representation of the Antarctic surface stability and correctly predicts 82% of the SBIs. However, an underprediction of less stable boundary layer occurrence, especially over the elevated East Antarctic plateau, is favored during conditions of increased lower tropospheric stability associated with model dynamics, indicating difficulty in parameterizing turbulence in very stable boundary layers. In addition, a lower tropospheric cool bias (first model level and above) is observed in the MERRA2 reanalysis, especially over West Antarctica, which amplifies in the boundary layer during mixed conditions. The near‐surface cold bias is most pronounced when the model fails to predict mixed layers over West Antarctica and is expected to negatively impact the representation of surface energy budget and melt processes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica West Antarctica Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Austral East Antarctica The Antarctic West Antarctica Earth and Space Science 6 12 2397 2409 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctic boundary layer MERRA2 thermodynamic structure reanalyses planetary boundary layer dropsondes Astronomy QB1-991 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Antarctic boundary layer MERRA2 thermodynamic structure reanalyses planetary boundary layer dropsondes Astronomy QB1-991 Geology QE1-996.5 Manisha Ganeshan Yuekui Yang Evaluation of the Antarctic Boundary Layer Thermodynamic Structure in MERRA2 Using Dropsonde Observations from the Concordiasi Campaign |
topic_facet |
Antarctic boundary layer MERRA2 thermodynamic structure reanalyses planetary boundary layer dropsondes Astronomy QB1-991 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Abstract Recent high‐resolution dropsonde observations from the 2010 Concordiasi field campaign in austral spring season show that surface‐based inversions (SBIs) over Antarctica are frequently eroded, with well‐mixed boundary layers occurring 33% and 18% of the time in West and East Antarctica, respectively. In this study, using the dropsonde observations, we evaluate the performance of the Modern‐Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA2) in representing the Antarctic boundary layer thermodynamic structure. Results show that MERRA2 has a good overall representation of the Antarctic surface stability and correctly predicts 82% of the SBIs. However, an underprediction of less stable boundary layer occurrence, especially over the elevated East Antarctic plateau, is favored during conditions of increased lower tropospheric stability associated with model dynamics, indicating difficulty in parameterizing turbulence in very stable boundary layers. In addition, a lower tropospheric cool bias (first model level and above) is observed in the MERRA2 reanalysis, especially over West Antarctica, which amplifies in the boundary layer during mixed conditions. The near‐surface cold bias is most pronounced when the model fails to predict mixed layers over West Antarctica and is expected to negatively impact the representation of surface energy budget and melt processes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Manisha Ganeshan Yuekui Yang |
author_facet |
Manisha Ganeshan Yuekui Yang |
author_sort |
Manisha Ganeshan |
title |
Evaluation of the Antarctic Boundary Layer Thermodynamic Structure in MERRA2 Using Dropsonde Observations from the Concordiasi Campaign |
title_short |
Evaluation of the Antarctic Boundary Layer Thermodynamic Structure in MERRA2 Using Dropsonde Observations from the Concordiasi Campaign |
title_full |
Evaluation of the Antarctic Boundary Layer Thermodynamic Structure in MERRA2 Using Dropsonde Observations from the Concordiasi Campaign |
title_fullStr |
Evaluation of the Antarctic Boundary Layer Thermodynamic Structure in MERRA2 Using Dropsonde Observations from the Concordiasi Campaign |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evaluation of the Antarctic Boundary Layer Thermodynamic Structure in MERRA2 Using Dropsonde Observations from the Concordiasi Campaign |
title_sort |
evaluation of the antarctic boundary layer thermodynamic structure in merra2 using dropsonde observations from the concordiasi campaign |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EA000890 https://doaj.org/article/a14e45652ffc4778a74237ecf465ee8f |
geographic |
Antarctic Austral East Antarctica The Antarctic West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Austral East Antarctica The Antarctic West Antarctica |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica West Antarctica |
op_source |
Earth and Space Science, Vol 6, Iss 12, Pp 2397-2409 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EA000890 https://doaj.org/toc/2333-5084 2333-5084 doi:10.1029/2019EA000890 https://doaj.org/article/a14e45652ffc4778a74237ecf465ee8f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EA000890 |
container_title |
Earth and Space Science |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
2397 |
op_container_end_page |
2409 |
_version_ |
1766264397160775680 |