Synoptic conditions and atmospheric moisture pathways associated with virga and precipitation over coastal Adélie Land in Antarctica
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 path...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:eb8f66f1cf5c4c36b62e0028a9f46acb 2023-05-15T13:45:16+02:00 Synoptic conditions and atmospheric moisture pathways associated with virga and precipitation over coastal Adélie Land in Antarctica N. Jullien É. Vignon M. Sprenger F. Aemisegger A. Berne 2020-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1685-2020 https://doaj.org/article/eb8f66f1cf5c4c36b62e0028a9f46acb EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.the-cryosphere.net/14/1685/2020/tc-14-1685-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-14-1685-2020 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/eb8f66f1cf5c4c36b62e0028a9f46acb The Cryosphere, Vol 14, Pp 1685-1702 (2020) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1685-2020 2022-12-31T15:18:54Z 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 different phases of the event. Virga cases more often precede surface precipitation. They sometimes follow surface precipitation in the warm sector of the cyclone's frontal system, when the associated cyclone has moved to the east of Adélie Land and the precipitation intensity has weakened. On their way to DDU, the air parcels that ultimately precipitate above the station experience a large-scale lifting across the warm front. The lifting generally occurs earlier in time and farther from the station for virga than for precipitation. It is further shown that the water contained in the snow falling above DDU during pre-precipitation virga has an oceanic origin farther away (about 30 ∘ more to the west) from Adélie Land than the one contained in the snow that precipitates down to the ground surface. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica East Antarctica The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Dumont d'Urville ENVELOPE(140.017,140.017,-66.667,-66.667) Dumont d'Urville Station ENVELOPE(140.000,140.000,-66.667,-66.667) Dumont-d'Urville ENVELOPE(140.013,140.013,-66.667,-66.667) East Antarctica The Cryosphere 14 5 1685 1702 |
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 N. Jullien É. Vignon M. Sprenger F. Aemisegger A. Berne Synoptic conditions and atmospheric moisture pathways associated with virga and precipitation over coastal Adélie Land in Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
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 different phases of the event. Virga cases more often precede surface precipitation. They sometimes follow surface precipitation in the warm sector of the cyclone's frontal system, when the associated cyclone has moved to the east of Adélie Land and the precipitation intensity has weakened. On their way to DDU, the air parcels that ultimately precipitate above the station experience a large-scale lifting across the warm front. The lifting generally occurs earlier in time and farther from the station for virga than for precipitation. It is further shown that the water contained in the snow falling above DDU during pre-precipitation virga has an oceanic origin farther away (about 30 ∘ more to the west) from Adélie Land than the one contained in the snow that precipitates down to the ground surface. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
N. Jullien É. Vignon M. Sprenger F. Aemisegger A. Berne |
author_facet |
N. Jullien É. Vignon M. Sprenger F. Aemisegger A. Berne |
author_sort |
N. Jullien |
title |
Synoptic conditions and atmospheric moisture pathways associated with virga and precipitation over coastal Adélie Land in Antarctica |
title_short |
Synoptic conditions and atmospheric moisture pathways associated with virga and precipitation over coastal Adélie Land in Antarctica |
title_full |
Synoptic conditions and atmospheric moisture pathways associated with virga and precipitation over coastal Adélie Land in Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Synoptic conditions and atmospheric moisture pathways associated with virga and precipitation over coastal Adélie Land in Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Synoptic conditions and atmospheric moisture pathways associated with virga and precipitation over coastal Adélie Land in Antarctica |
title_sort |
synoptic conditions and atmospheric moisture pathways associated with virga and precipitation over coastal adélie land in antarctica |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1685-2020 https://doaj.org/article/eb8f66f1cf5c4c36b62e0028a9f46acb |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(140.017,140.017,-66.667,-66.667) ENVELOPE(140.000,140.000,-66.667,-66.667) ENVELOPE(140.013,140.013,-66.667,-66.667) |
geographic |
Dumont d'Urville Dumont d'Urville Station Dumont-d'Urville East Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Dumont d'Urville Dumont d'Urville Station Dumont-d'Urville East Antarctica |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica East Antarctica The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica East Antarctica The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 14, Pp 1685-1702 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/14/1685/2020/tc-14-1685-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-14-1685-2020 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/eb8f66f1cf5c4c36b62e0028a9f46acb |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1685-2020 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1685 |
op_container_end_page |
1702 |
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1766217932303499264 |