Variability of biothermal conditions in the vicinity of the Polish Antarctic station in the South Shetlands, West Antarctica
There are nine year-round and 11 seasonal scientific stations in the South Shetland Islands, an area often visited by cruise ships and sailing yachts. Although this is the warmest part of Antarctica, the weather conditions may be demanding for humans. We analysed the variability of biothermal condit...
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Norwegian Polar Institute
2023
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Online Access: | https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/9108 https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v42.9108 |
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ftjpolarres:oai:journals.openacademia.net:article/9108 2023-09-05T13:14:49+02:00 Variability of biothermal conditions in the vicinity of the Polish Antarctic station in the South Shetlands, West Antarctica Plenzler, Joanna Piotrowicz, Katarzyna Rymer, Weronika Budzik, Tomasz 2023-08-22 text/html application/pdf application/epub+zip text/xml https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/9108 https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v42.9108 eng eng Norwegian Polar Institute https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/9108/15928 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/9108/15932 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/9108/15929 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/9108/15930 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/9108 doi:10.33265/polar.v42.9108 Copyright (c) 2023 Joanna Plenzler, Katarzyna Piotrowicz, Weronika Rymer, Tomasz Budzik https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 Polar Research; Vol. 42 (2023) 1751-8369 Bioclimate work environment work hazards polar occupational medicine wind chill index frostbite info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2023 ftjpolarres https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v42.9108 2023-08-23T22:52:37Z There are nine year-round and 11 seasonal scientific stations in the South Shetland Islands, an area often visited by cruise ships and sailing yachts. Although this is the warmest part of Antarctica, the weather conditions may be demanding for humans. We analysed the variability of biothermal conditions near Henryk Arctowski Station Polish Antarctic Station, on King George Island, during the period 2013–2021, using the wind chill index (WCI), which combines air temperature and wind speed, to determine thermal sensation. WCI values were interpreted using two cold sensation categorisations. Hourly WCI values were assigned to thermal sensation classes that ranged from “comfortable” to “frosty.” The most favourable biothermal conditions occurred from December to February. The “cold” sensation was dominant in all months, its average occurrence frequency ranging from 56.4% (in January) to 84.4% (in July). From November to March, there was no risk of frostbite to uncovered body parts. Such conditions occurred only from April to October, with a frequency of 0.2–6.8%; biothermal conditions were also the most variable in this period. Maximal WCI hourly values show that dangerous weather conditions may occur throughout the day in June and for most of the day from July to September. An abrupt change in biothermal conditions was more often caused by wind speed change than by air temperature change. The most marked WCI changes occurred from April to September, on average five times per year. Our results indicate that biothermal conditions in the vicinity of Arctowski Station are predominantly favourable for outdoor work only if a person wears proper winter clothing. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica King George Island Polar Research South Shetland Islands West Antarctica Polar Research (E-Journal) Antarctic King George Island West Antarctica South Shetland Islands Arctowski ENVELOPE(-58.467,-58.467,-62.167,-62.167) Arctowski Station ENVELOPE(-58.482,-58.482,-62.153,-62.153) Polar Research 42 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Polar Research (E-Journal) |
op_collection_id |
ftjpolarres |
language |
English |
topic |
Bioclimate work environment work hazards polar occupational medicine wind chill index frostbite |
spellingShingle |
Bioclimate work environment work hazards polar occupational medicine wind chill index frostbite Plenzler, Joanna Piotrowicz, Katarzyna Rymer, Weronika Budzik, Tomasz Variability of biothermal conditions in the vicinity of the Polish Antarctic station in the South Shetlands, West Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Bioclimate work environment work hazards polar occupational medicine wind chill index frostbite |
description |
There are nine year-round and 11 seasonal scientific stations in the South Shetland Islands, an area often visited by cruise ships and sailing yachts. Although this is the warmest part of Antarctica, the weather conditions may be demanding for humans. We analysed the variability of biothermal conditions near Henryk Arctowski Station Polish Antarctic Station, on King George Island, during the period 2013–2021, using the wind chill index (WCI), which combines air temperature and wind speed, to determine thermal sensation. WCI values were interpreted using two cold sensation categorisations. Hourly WCI values were assigned to thermal sensation classes that ranged from “comfortable” to “frosty.” The most favourable biothermal conditions occurred from December to February. The “cold” sensation was dominant in all months, its average occurrence frequency ranging from 56.4% (in January) to 84.4% (in July). From November to March, there was no risk of frostbite to uncovered body parts. Such conditions occurred only from April to October, with a frequency of 0.2–6.8%; biothermal conditions were also the most variable in this period. Maximal WCI hourly values show that dangerous weather conditions may occur throughout the day in June and for most of the day from July to September. An abrupt change in biothermal conditions was more often caused by wind speed change than by air temperature change. The most marked WCI changes occurred from April to September, on average five times per year. Our results indicate that biothermal conditions in the vicinity of Arctowski Station are predominantly favourable for outdoor work only if a person wears proper winter clothing. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Plenzler, Joanna Piotrowicz, Katarzyna Rymer, Weronika Budzik, Tomasz |
author_facet |
Plenzler, Joanna Piotrowicz, Katarzyna Rymer, Weronika Budzik, Tomasz |
author_sort |
Plenzler, Joanna |
title |
Variability of biothermal conditions in the vicinity of the Polish Antarctic station in the South Shetlands, West Antarctica |
title_short |
Variability of biothermal conditions in the vicinity of the Polish Antarctic station in the South Shetlands, West Antarctica |
title_full |
Variability of biothermal conditions in the vicinity of the Polish Antarctic station in the South Shetlands, West Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Variability of biothermal conditions in the vicinity of the Polish Antarctic station in the South Shetlands, West Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Variability of biothermal conditions in the vicinity of the Polish Antarctic station in the South Shetlands, West Antarctica |
title_sort |
variability of biothermal conditions in the vicinity of the polish antarctic station in the south shetlands, west antarctica |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/9108 https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v42.9108 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-58.467,-58.467,-62.167,-62.167) ENVELOPE(-58.482,-58.482,-62.153,-62.153) |
geographic |
Antarctic King George Island West Antarctica South Shetland Islands Arctowski Arctowski Station |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic King George Island West Antarctica South Shetland Islands Arctowski Arctowski Station |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica King George Island Polar Research South Shetland Islands West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica King George Island Polar Research South Shetland Islands West Antarctica |
op_source |
Polar Research; Vol. 42 (2023) 1751-8369 |
op_relation |
https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/9108/15928 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/9108/15932 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/9108/15929 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/9108/15930 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/9108 doi:10.33265/polar.v42.9108 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2023 Joanna Plenzler, Katarzyna Piotrowicz, Weronika Rymer, Tomasz Budzik https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v42.9108 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
42 |
_version_ |
1776196737850933248 |