The representation of Föhn events to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula in simulations by the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS)
Föhn winds are warm, strong, downslope winds on the lee side of mountains, which can last from several hours to a few days. 1995 and 2002 saw the dramatic break‐up of huge parts of the Larsen Ice Shelf (LIS) on the east of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). It is widely accepted that hydrofracturing, the...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres |
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American Geophysical Union
2020
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:522350 2023-05-15T13:41:43+02:00 The representation of Föhn events to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula in simulations by the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) Kirchgaessner, Amelie King, John Gadian, Alan 2020-01-23 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522350/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522350/1/Kirchgaessner_et_al-2019-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research__Atmospheres.pdf https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2019JD030637 en eng American Geophysical Union https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522350/1/Kirchgaessner_et_al-2019-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research__Atmospheres.pdf Kirchgaessner, Amelie orcid:0000-0001-7483-3652 King, John orcid:0000-0003-3315-7568 Gadian, Alan. 2020 The representation of Föhn events to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula in simulations by the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS). Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124 (24). 13663-13679. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD030637 <https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD030637> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2020 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD030637 2023-02-04T19:47:50Z Föhn winds are warm, strong, downslope winds on the lee side of mountains, which can last from several hours to a few days. 1995 and 2002 saw the dramatic break‐up of huge parts of the Larsen Ice Shelf (LIS) on the east of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). It is widely accepted that hydrofracturing, the widening of crevasses due to the excess hydrostatic pressure exerted by meltwater which accumulates inside them, is the mechanism behind the break‐up of the Larsen A and Larsen B ice shelves. On the LIS, in the lee of the mountain range that runs along the spine of the AP, Föhn winds are thought to provide the atmospheric conditions for significant warming over the ice shelf, leading to the initial firn densification, and subsequently providing the melt water for hydrofracturing. Measurements provide evidence that in some cases Föhn events reach an Automatic Weather Station (AWS) on the LIS at over 100 km distance. In this paper, we examine the representation of Föhn events during 2011 as they were observed in measurements by an AWS, and in simulations with the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) as run for the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS). We find that, while the model generally simulates meteorological parameters very well, and shows good skill in capturing the occurrence, frequency and duration of Föhn events, it underestimates the temperature increase and humidity decrease during the Föhn significantly, and may thus underestimate the contribution of Föhn to driving surface melt on LIS. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Larsen Ice Shelf Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Larsen Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(-62.500,-62.500,-67.500,-67.500) Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 124 24 13663 13679 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
Föhn winds are warm, strong, downslope winds on the lee side of mountains, which can last from several hours to a few days. 1995 and 2002 saw the dramatic break‐up of huge parts of the Larsen Ice Shelf (LIS) on the east of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). It is widely accepted that hydrofracturing, the widening of crevasses due to the excess hydrostatic pressure exerted by meltwater which accumulates inside them, is the mechanism behind the break‐up of the Larsen A and Larsen B ice shelves. On the LIS, in the lee of the mountain range that runs along the spine of the AP, Föhn winds are thought to provide the atmospheric conditions for significant warming over the ice shelf, leading to the initial firn densification, and subsequently providing the melt water for hydrofracturing. Measurements provide evidence that in some cases Föhn events reach an Automatic Weather Station (AWS) on the LIS at over 100 km distance. In this paper, we examine the representation of Föhn events during 2011 as they were observed in measurements by an AWS, and in simulations with the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) as run for the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS). We find that, while the model generally simulates meteorological parameters very well, and shows good skill in capturing the occurrence, frequency and duration of Föhn events, it underestimates the temperature increase and humidity decrease during the Föhn significantly, and may thus underestimate the contribution of Föhn to driving surface melt on LIS. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kirchgaessner, Amelie King, John Gadian, Alan |
spellingShingle |
Kirchgaessner, Amelie King, John Gadian, Alan The representation of Föhn events to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula in simulations by the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) |
author_facet |
Kirchgaessner, Amelie King, John Gadian, Alan |
author_sort |
Kirchgaessner, Amelie |
title |
The representation of Föhn events to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula in simulations by the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) |
title_short |
The representation of Föhn events to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula in simulations by the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) |
title_full |
The representation of Föhn events to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula in simulations by the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) |
title_fullStr |
The representation of Föhn events to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula in simulations by the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) |
title_full_unstemmed |
The representation of Föhn events to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula in simulations by the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) |
title_sort |
representation of föhn events to the east of the antarctic peninsula in simulations by the antarctic mesoscale prediction system (amps) |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522350/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522350/1/Kirchgaessner_et_al-2019-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research__Atmospheres.pdf https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2019JD030637 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-62.500,-62.500,-67.500,-67.500) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Larsen Ice Shelf |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Larsen Ice Shelf |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Larsen Ice Shelf |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Larsen Ice Shelf |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522350/1/Kirchgaessner_et_al-2019-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research__Atmospheres.pdf Kirchgaessner, Amelie orcid:0000-0001-7483-3652 King, John orcid:0000-0003-3315-7568 Gadian, Alan. 2020 The representation of Föhn events to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula in simulations by the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS). Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124 (24). 13663-13679. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD030637 <https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD030637> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD030637 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres |
container_volume |
124 |
container_issue |
24 |
container_start_page |
13663 |
op_container_end_page |
13679 |
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1766154390426615808 |