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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ftethz:oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/418970 2023-08-20T04:00:19+02:00 Synoptic conditions and atmospheric moisture pathways associated with virga and precipitation over coastal Adélie Land in Antarctica Jullien, Nicolas Vignon, Étienne Sprenger, Michael Aemisegger, Franziska Berne, Alexis 2020 application/application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/418970 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000418970 en eng Copernicus info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/tc-14-1685-2020 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000537703600003 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/418970 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000418970 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International The Cryosphere, 14 (5) info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2020 ftethz https://doi.org/20.500.11850/41897010.3929/ethz-b-00041897010.5194/tc-14-1685-2020 2023-07-30T23:52:15Z 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. ISSN:1994-0416 ISSN:1994-0424 Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica East Antarctica The Cryosphere ETH Zürich Research Collection 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 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
ETH Zürich Research Collection |
op_collection_id |
ftethz |
language |
English |
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. ISSN:1994-0416 ISSN:1994-0424 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jullien, Nicolas Vignon, Étienne Sprenger, Michael Aemisegger, Franziska Berne, Alexis |
spellingShingle |
Jullien, Nicolas Vignon, Étienne Sprenger, Michael Aemisegger, Franziska Berne, Alexis Synoptic conditions and atmospheric moisture pathways associated with virga and precipitation over coastal Adélie Land in Antarctica |
author_facet |
Jullien, Nicolas Vignon, Étienne Sprenger, Michael Aemisegger, Franziska Berne, Alexis |
author_sort |
Jullien, Nicolas |
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 |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/418970 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000418970 |
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, 14 (5) |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/tc-14-1685-2020 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000537703600003 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/418970 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000418970 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11850/41897010.3929/ethz-b-00041897010.5194/tc-14-1685-2020 |
_version_ |
1774717564835856384 |