Precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift in the Antarctic Peninsula region from a regional atmospheric model
A regional atmospheric model, with a horizontal grid spacing (Deltax) of 14 km, is used to study the surface mass balance components ( precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift) in the region of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). An integration is performed for the 7-year period 1987-1993, using a reali...
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2004
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:12501 2023-05-15T13:45:11+02:00 Precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift in the Antarctic Peninsula region from a regional atmospheric model van Lipzig, N.P.M. King, J.C. Lachlan-Cope, T.A. van den Broeke, M.R. 2004 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/12501/ unknown American Geophysical Union van Lipzig, N.P.M.; King, J.C. orcid:0000-0003-3315-7568 Lachlan-Cope, T.A. orcid:0000-0002-0657-3235 van den Broeke, M.R. 2004 Precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift in the Antarctic Peninsula region from a regional atmospheric model. Journal of Geophysical Research, 109 (D24), D24106. 16, pp. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004701 <https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004701> Meteorology and Climatology Atmospheric Sciences Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2004 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004701 2023-02-04T19:28:00Z A regional atmospheric model, with a horizontal grid spacing (Deltax) of 14 km, is used to study the surface mass balance components ( precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift) in the region of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). An integration is performed for the 7-year period 1987-1993, using a realistic forcing at the lateral model boundaries and at the sea surface. Output from this integration indicates that the precipitation reaches its maximum value on the northwestern slope of the AP, where the upward motion in the atmosphere is largest. Uplift occurs upstream of the barrier, affecting the precipitation distribution over sea. The effect of the barrier on the precipitation distribution over the Bellingshausen Sea might have important implications for the ocean circulation in this region. The mean precipitation over the grounded ice of the AP (1.20 m water eq yr(-1)) is 6 times larger than the mean value over all the grounded ice of Antarctica. Our estimates for the surface sublimation and wind transport of snow over the grounding line toward the sea are 9% and 6 +/- 1% of the precipitation, respectively. In situ data of the wind distribution at three coastal sites located on the northern, eastern, and western sides of the AP are used to evaluate the modeled wind field, which is important for the snow drift calculations. For two of the three sites considered, the prevailing wind direction and bimodal wind distribution are correctly represented by the model. The calculated distribution of accumulation and ablation due to snow drift shows a complex pattern. The wind removes snow from the spine of the AP, where the near-surface flow field diverges, whereas deposition occurs mainly on the eastern slopes, where the near-surface flow field converges. An intercomparison between two 7-year integrations at different horizontal resolution (Deltax = 14 km and Deltax = 55 km) shows that the precipitation on the northwestern slope is very sensitive to the model resolution: In the Deltax = 14 km integration, precipitation ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Bellingshausen Sea Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Bellingshausen Sea Journal of Geophysical Research 109 D24 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Meteorology and Climatology Atmospheric Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Meteorology and Climatology Atmospheric Sciences van Lipzig, N.P.M. King, J.C. Lachlan-Cope, T.A. van den Broeke, M.R. Precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift in the Antarctic Peninsula region from a regional atmospheric model |
topic_facet |
Meteorology and Climatology Atmospheric Sciences |
description |
A regional atmospheric model, with a horizontal grid spacing (Deltax) of 14 km, is used to study the surface mass balance components ( precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift) in the region of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). An integration is performed for the 7-year period 1987-1993, using a realistic forcing at the lateral model boundaries and at the sea surface. Output from this integration indicates that the precipitation reaches its maximum value on the northwestern slope of the AP, where the upward motion in the atmosphere is largest. Uplift occurs upstream of the barrier, affecting the precipitation distribution over sea. The effect of the barrier on the precipitation distribution over the Bellingshausen Sea might have important implications for the ocean circulation in this region. The mean precipitation over the grounded ice of the AP (1.20 m water eq yr(-1)) is 6 times larger than the mean value over all the grounded ice of Antarctica. Our estimates for the surface sublimation and wind transport of snow over the grounding line toward the sea are 9% and 6 +/- 1% of the precipitation, respectively. In situ data of the wind distribution at three coastal sites located on the northern, eastern, and western sides of the AP are used to evaluate the modeled wind field, which is important for the snow drift calculations. For two of the three sites considered, the prevailing wind direction and bimodal wind distribution are correctly represented by the model. The calculated distribution of accumulation and ablation due to snow drift shows a complex pattern. The wind removes snow from the spine of the AP, where the near-surface flow field diverges, whereas deposition occurs mainly on the eastern slopes, where the near-surface flow field converges. An intercomparison between two 7-year integrations at different horizontal resolution (Deltax = 14 km and Deltax = 55 km) shows that the precipitation on the northwestern slope is very sensitive to the model resolution: In the Deltax = 14 km integration, precipitation ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
van Lipzig, N.P.M. King, J.C. Lachlan-Cope, T.A. van den Broeke, M.R. |
author_facet |
van Lipzig, N.P.M. King, J.C. Lachlan-Cope, T.A. van den Broeke, M.R. |
author_sort |
van Lipzig, N.P.M. |
title |
Precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift in the Antarctic Peninsula region from a regional atmospheric model |
title_short |
Precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift in the Antarctic Peninsula region from a regional atmospheric model |
title_full |
Precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift in the Antarctic Peninsula region from a regional atmospheric model |
title_fullStr |
Precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift in the Antarctic Peninsula region from a regional atmospheric model |
title_full_unstemmed |
Precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift in the Antarctic Peninsula region from a regional atmospheric model |
title_sort |
precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift in the antarctic peninsula region from a regional atmospheric model |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/12501/ |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Bellingshausen Sea |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Bellingshausen Sea |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Bellingshausen Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Bellingshausen Sea |
op_relation |
van Lipzig, N.P.M.; King, J.C. orcid:0000-0003-3315-7568 Lachlan-Cope, T.A. orcid:0000-0002-0657-3235 van den Broeke, M.R. 2004 Precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift in the Antarctic Peninsula region from a regional atmospheric model. Journal of Geophysical Research, 109 (D24), D24106. 16, pp. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004701 <https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004701> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004701 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research |
container_volume |
109 |
container_issue |
D24 |
_version_ |
1766215119937732608 |