Snow Temperature Profiles and Heat Fluses Measured on the Greenland Crest by an Automatic Weather Station

• Main Authors: Stearns, C. R., Weidner, G .A.
• Other Authors: WISCONSIN UNIV-MADISON DEPT OF METEOROLOGY
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1992
• Subjects: Meteorology; Information Science; Unmanned Spacecraft; *METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITES; *WEATHER STATIONS; *CLIMATE; *METEOROLOGICAL DATA; AIR PRESSURE; DENSITY; DEPTH; GREENLAND; HEAT FLUX; HEIGHT; HUMIDITY; ICE; SAMPLING; SNOW; SOLAR RADIATION; SURFACES; TEMPERATURE; VELOCITY; WIND; *Global climate change; Component Reports; Automatic weather stations; Snow temperature profiles; Fairbanks; Greenland; GRIP; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADP007291; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADP007291

In June 1989 three automatic weather station (AWS) units were installed on the Greenland crest at the GISP2 (78.58 N, 38.46 W, 3265 m) and GRIP (78.57 N, 37.62 W, 3230 m) ice coring sites and at Kenton (72.28 N, 38.80 W, 3185 m), the air sampling site. The purpose of the AWS units is to measure the local meteorological variables, including snow temperatures at various depths, in support of ice coring studies. The AWS units measure wind speed and direction, air temperature, and relative humidity at a nominal height of 3.6 meters, air pressure at the electronics enclosure, and air temperature difference between 3.6 m and 0.5 m. The AWS units at GISP2 and GRIP also measure solar radiation, and seven snow temperatures from the surface to a depth of approximately 4 m in the snow. The data are updated at 10-minute intervals and transmitted to the ARGOS data collection system on board the NOAA series of polar-orbiting satellites. The air temperature and snow temperatures are presented as a function of time for the period from June 8, 1989 to August 31, 1990 and as tautochrones at 30-day intervals. The heat flux into the snow is determined from the daily mean snow temperature between the day after and the day before using the volumetric heat capacity of the snow assuming a snow density of 300 kg m-3. The daily mean heat flux into the snow between the highest and the lowest levels of snow temperature is presented as a function of time. This article is from 'Proceedings of the International Conference on the Role of the Polar Regions in Global Change Held in Fairbanks, Alaska on 11-15 June 1990. Volume 1', AD-A253 027, p223-226. See also Volume 2, AD-A253 028.