Understanding the drivers of near-surface winds in Adélie Land, East Antarctica
Near-surface winds play a crucial role in the climate of Antarctica, but accurately quantifying and understanding their drivers is complex. They result from the contribution of two distinct families of drivers: the large-scale pressure gradient and surface-induced pressure gradients known as katabat...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:bdf32637797d417abd42268f8ab49de5 2024-09-15T17:40:24+00:00 Understanding the drivers of near-surface winds in Adélie Land, East Antarctica C. Davrinche A. Orsi C. Agosta C. Amory C. Kittel 2024-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2239-2024 https://doaj.org/article/bdf32637797d417abd42268f8ab49de5 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/2239/2024/tc-18-2239-2024.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-18-2239-2024 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/bdf32637797d417abd42268f8ab49de5 The Cryosphere, Vol 18, Pp 2239-2256 (2024) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2024 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2239-2024 2024-08-05T17:49:27Z Near-surface winds play a crucial role in the climate of Antarctica, but accurately quantifying and understanding their drivers is complex. They result from the contribution of two distinct families of drivers: the large-scale pressure gradient and surface-induced pressure gradients known as katabatic and thermal wind. The extrapolation of vertical potential temperature above the boundary layer down to the surface enables us to separate and quantify the contribution of these different pressure gradients in the momentum budget equations. Using this method applied to outputs of the regional atmospheric model MAR at a 3-hourly resolution, we find that the seasonal and spatial variability in near-surface winds in Adélie Land is dominated by surface processes. On the other hand, high-frequency temporal variability (3-hourly) is mainly controlled by large-scale variability everywhere in Antarctica, except on the coast. In coastal regions, although the katabatic acceleration surpasses all other accelerations in magnitude, none of the katabatic or large-scale accelerations can be identified as the single primary driver of near-surface wind variability. The angle between the large-scale acceleration and the surface slope is a key factor in explaining strong wind speed events: the highest-wind-speed events happen when the katabatic and large-scale forcing are aligned, although each acceleration, when acting alone, can also cause strong wind speed. This study underlines the complexity of the drivers of Antarctic surface winds and the value of the momentum budget decomposition to identify drivers at different spatial and temporal scales. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles The Cryosphere 18 5 2239 2256 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 C. Davrinche A. Orsi C. Agosta C. Amory C. Kittel Understanding the drivers of near-surface winds in Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Near-surface winds play a crucial role in the climate of Antarctica, but accurately quantifying and understanding their drivers is complex. They result from the contribution of two distinct families of drivers: the large-scale pressure gradient and surface-induced pressure gradients known as katabatic and thermal wind. The extrapolation of vertical potential temperature above the boundary layer down to the surface enables us to separate and quantify the contribution of these different pressure gradients in the momentum budget equations. Using this method applied to outputs of the regional atmospheric model MAR at a 3-hourly resolution, we find that the seasonal and spatial variability in near-surface winds in Adélie Land is dominated by surface processes. On the other hand, high-frequency temporal variability (3-hourly) is mainly controlled by large-scale variability everywhere in Antarctica, except on the coast. In coastal regions, although the katabatic acceleration surpasses all other accelerations in magnitude, none of the katabatic or large-scale accelerations can be identified as the single primary driver of near-surface wind variability. The angle between the large-scale acceleration and the surface slope is a key factor in explaining strong wind speed events: the highest-wind-speed events happen when the katabatic and large-scale forcing are aligned, although each acceleration, when acting alone, can also cause strong wind speed. This study underlines the complexity of the drivers of Antarctic surface winds and the value of the momentum budget decomposition to identify drivers at different spatial and temporal scales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
C. Davrinche A. Orsi C. Agosta C. Amory C. Kittel |
author_facet |
C. Davrinche A. Orsi C. Agosta C. Amory C. Kittel |
author_sort |
C. Davrinche |
title |
Understanding the drivers of near-surface winds in Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_short |
Understanding the drivers of near-surface winds in Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_full |
Understanding the drivers of near-surface winds in Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Understanding the drivers of near-surface winds in Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Understanding the drivers of near-surface winds in Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_sort |
understanding the drivers of near-surface winds in adélie land, east antarctica |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2239-2024 https://doaj.org/article/bdf32637797d417abd42268f8ab49de5 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 18, Pp 2239-2256 (2024) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/2239/2024/tc-18-2239-2024.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-18-2239-2024 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/bdf32637797d417abd42268f8ab49de5 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2239-2024 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
2239 |
op_container_end_page |
2256 |
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1810486427581939712 |