Extreme temperatures in the Antarctic
We present the first Antarctic-wide analysis of extreme near-surface air temperatures based on data collected up to the end of 2019 as part of the synoptic meteorological observing programs. We consider temperatures at 17 stations on the Antarctic continent and nearby sub-Antarctic islands. We exami...
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American Meteorological Society
2021
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:528167 2023-05-15T13:41:45+02:00 Extreme temperatures in the Antarctic Turner, John Lu, Hua King, John Marshall, Gareth J. Phillips, Tony Bannister, Dan Colwell, Steve 2021-04-01 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528167/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528167/1/%5B15200442%20-%20Journal%20of%20Climate%5D%20Extreme%20Temperatures%20in%20the%20Antarctic.pdf https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/34/7/JCLI-D-20-0538.1.xml en eng American Meteorological Society https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528167/1/%5B15200442%20-%20Journal%20of%20Climate%5D%20Extreme%20Temperatures%20in%20the%20Antarctic.pdf Turner, John orcid:0000-0002-6111-5122 Lu, Hua orcid:0000-0001-9485-5082 King, John orcid:0000-0003-3315-7568 Marshall, Gareth J. orcid:0000-0001-8887-7314 Phillips, Tony orcid:0000-0002-3058-9157 Bannister, Dan orcid:0000-0002-2982-3751 Colwell, Steve. 2021 Extreme temperatures in the Antarctic. Journal of Climate, 34 (7). 2653-2668. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0538.1 <https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0538.1> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0538.1 2023-02-04T19:50:55Z We present the first Antarctic-wide analysis of extreme near-surface air temperatures based on data collected up to the end of 2019 as part of the synoptic meteorological observing programs. We consider temperatures at 17 stations on the Antarctic continent and nearby sub-Antarctic islands. We examine the frequency distributions of temperatures and the highest and lowest individual temperatures observed. The variability and trends in the number of extreme temperatures were examined via the mean daily temperatures computed from the 0, 6, 12 and 18 UTC observations, with the thresholds for extreme warm and cold days taken as the 5th and 95th percentiles. The five stations examined from the Antarctic Peninsula region all experienced a statistically significant increase (p < 0.01) in the number of extreme high temperatures in the late Twentieth Century part of their records, although the number of extremes decreased in subsequent years. For the period after 1979 we investigate the synoptic background to the extreme events using ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis fields. The majority of record high temperatures were recorded after the passage of airmasses over high orography, with the air being warmed by the Föhn effect. At some stations in coastal East Antarctica the highest temperatures were recorded after air with a high potential temperature descended from the Antarctic plateau, resulting in an airmass 5-7°C warmer than the maritime air. Record low temperatures at the Antarctic Peninsula stations were observed during winters with positive sea ice anomalies over the Bellingshausen and Weddell Seas. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica East Antarctica Sea ice Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula East Antarctica Weddell Journal of Climate 34 7 2653 2668 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
We present the first Antarctic-wide analysis of extreme near-surface air temperatures based on data collected up to the end of 2019 as part of the synoptic meteorological observing programs. We consider temperatures at 17 stations on the Antarctic continent and nearby sub-Antarctic islands. We examine the frequency distributions of temperatures and the highest and lowest individual temperatures observed. The variability and trends in the number of extreme temperatures were examined via the mean daily temperatures computed from the 0, 6, 12 and 18 UTC observations, with the thresholds for extreme warm and cold days taken as the 5th and 95th percentiles. The five stations examined from the Antarctic Peninsula region all experienced a statistically significant increase (p < 0.01) in the number of extreme high temperatures in the late Twentieth Century part of their records, although the number of extremes decreased in subsequent years. For the period after 1979 we investigate the synoptic background to the extreme events using ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis fields. The majority of record high temperatures were recorded after the passage of airmasses over high orography, with the air being warmed by the Föhn effect. At some stations in coastal East Antarctica the highest temperatures were recorded after air with a high potential temperature descended from the Antarctic plateau, resulting in an airmass 5-7°C warmer than the maritime air. Record low temperatures at the Antarctic Peninsula stations were observed during winters with positive sea ice anomalies over the Bellingshausen and Weddell Seas. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Turner, John Lu, Hua King, John Marshall, Gareth J. Phillips, Tony Bannister, Dan Colwell, Steve |
spellingShingle |
Turner, John Lu, Hua King, John Marshall, Gareth J. Phillips, Tony Bannister, Dan Colwell, Steve Extreme temperatures in the Antarctic |
author_facet |
Turner, John Lu, Hua King, John Marshall, Gareth J. Phillips, Tony Bannister, Dan Colwell, Steve |
author_sort |
Turner, John |
title |
Extreme temperatures in the Antarctic |
title_short |
Extreme temperatures in the Antarctic |
title_full |
Extreme temperatures in the Antarctic |
title_fullStr |
Extreme temperatures in the Antarctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Extreme temperatures in the Antarctic |
title_sort |
extreme temperatures in the antarctic |
publisher |
American Meteorological Society |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528167/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528167/1/%5B15200442%20-%20Journal%20of%20Climate%5D%20Extreme%20Temperatures%20in%20the%20Antarctic.pdf https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/34/7/JCLI-D-20-0538.1.xml |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula East Antarctica Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula East Antarctica Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica East Antarctica Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica East Antarctica Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528167/1/%5B15200442%20-%20Journal%20of%20Climate%5D%20Extreme%20Temperatures%20in%20the%20Antarctic.pdf Turner, John orcid:0000-0002-6111-5122 Lu, Hua orcid:0000-0001-9485-5082 King, John orcid:0000-0003-3315-7568 Marshall, Gareth J. orcid:0000-0001-8887-7314 Phillips, Tony orcid:0000-0002-3058-9157 Bannister, Dan orcid:0000-0002-2982-3751 Colwell, Steve. 2021 Extreme temperatures in the Antarctic. Journal of Climate, 34 (7). 2653-2668. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0538.1 <https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0538.1> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0538.1 |
container_title |
Journal of Climate |
container_volume |
34 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
2653 |
op_container_end_page |
2668 |
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1766156969736929280 |