Record low surface air temperature at Vostok Station, Antarctica
The lowest recorded air temperature at the surface of the Earth was a measurement of −89.2°C made at Vostok station, Antarctica, at 0245 UT on 21 July 1983. Here we present the first detailed analysis of this event using meteorological reanalysis fields, in situ observations and satellite imagery. S...
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American Geophysical Union
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:9656 2023-05-15T14:05:16+02:00 Record low surface air temperature at Vostok Station, Antarctica Turner, John Anderson, Philip Lachlan-Cope, Thomas Colwell, Steve Phillips, Tony Kirchgaessner, Amélie Marshall, Gareth J. King, John C. Bracegirdle, Tom Vaughan, David G. Lagun, Victor Orr, Andrew 2009-12-27 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/9656/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/9656/1/jgrd15635.pdf https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2009JD012104 en eng American Geophysical Union https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/9656/1/jgrd15635.pdf Turner, John orcid:0000-0002-6111-5122 Anderson, Philip; Lachlan-Cope, Thomas orcid:0000-0002-0657-3235 Colwell, Steve; Phillips, Tony orcid:0000-0002-3058-9157 Kirchgaessner, Amélie orcid:0000-0001-7483-3652 Marshall, Gareth J. orcid:0000-0001-8887-7314 King, John C. orcid:0000-0003-3315-7568 Bracegirdle, Tom orcid:0000-0002-8868-4739 Vaughan, David G. orcid:0000-0002-9065-0570 Lagun, Victor; Orr, Andrew orcid:0000-0001-5111-8402 . 2009 Record low surface air temperature at Vostok Station, Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research, 114 (D24), D24102. 14, pp. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012104 <https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012104> Meteorology and Climatology Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2009 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012104 2023-02-04T19:26:14Z The lowest recorded air temperature at the surface of the Earth was a measurement of −89.2°C made at Vostok station, Antarctica, at 0245 UT on 21 July 1983. Here we present the first detailed analysis of this event using meteorological reanalysis fields, in situ observations and satellite imagery. Surface temperatures at Vostok station in winter are highly variable on daily to interannual timescales as a result of the great sensitivity to intrusions of maritime air masses as Rossby wave activity changes around the continent. The record low temperature was measured following a near-linear cooling of over 30 K over a 10 day period from close to mean July temperatures. The event occurred because of five specific conditions that arose: (1) the temperature at the core of the midtropospheric vortex was at a near-record low value; (2) the center of the vortex moved close to the station; (3) an almost circular flow regime persisted around the station for a week resulting in very little warm air advection from lower latitudes; (4) surface wind speeds were low for the location; and (5) no cloud or diamond dust was reported above the station for a week, promoting the loss of heat to space via the emission of longwave radiation. We estimate that should a longer period of isolation occur the surface temperature at Vostok could drop to around −96°C. The higher site of Dome Argus is typically 5–6 K colder than Vostok so has the potential to record an even lower temperature. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Antarctica Journal Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Vostok Station ENVELOPE(106.837,106.837,-78.464,-78.464) Dome Argus ENVELOPE(77.000,77.000,-81.000,-81.000) Journal of Geophysical Research 114 D24 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
topic |
Meteorology and Climatology |
spellingShingle |
Meteorology and Climatology Turner, John Anderson, Philip Lachlan-Cope, Thomas Colwell, Steve Phillips, Tony Kirchgaessner, Amélie Marshall, Gareth J. King, John C. Bracegirdle, Tom Vaughan, David G. Lagun, Victor Orr, Andrew Record low surface air temperature at Vostok Station, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Meteorology and Climatology |
description |
The lowest recorded air temperature at the surface of the Earth was a measurement of −89.2°C made at Vostok station, Antarctica, at 0245 UT on 21 July 1983. Here we present the first detailed analysis of this event using meteorological reanalysis fields, in situ observations and satellite imagery. Surface temperatures at Vostok station in winter are highly variable on daily to interannual timescales as a result of the great sensitivity to intrusions of maritime air masses as Rossby wave activity changes around the continent. The record low temperature was measured following a near-linear cooling of over 30 K over a 10 day period from close to mean July temperatures. The event occurred because of five specific conditions that arose: (1) the temperature at the core of the midtropospheric vortex was at a near-record low value; (2) the center of the vortex moved close to the station; (3) an almost circular flow regime persisted around the station for a week resulting in very little warm air advection from lower latitudes; (4) surface wind speeds were low for the location; and (5) no cloud or diamond dust was reported above the station for a week, promoting the loss of heat to space via the emission of longwave radiation. We estimate that should a longer period of isolation occur the surface temperature at Vostok could drop to around −96°C. The higher site of Dome Argus is typically 5–6 K colder than Vostok so has the potential to record an even lower temperature. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Turner, John Anderson, Philip Lachlan-Cope, Thomas Colwell, Steve Phillips, Tony Kirchgaessner, Amélie Marshall, Gareth J. King, John C. Bracegirdle, Tom Vaughan, David G. Lagun, Victor Orr, Andrew |
author_facet |
Turner, John Anderson, Philip Lachlan-Cope, Thomas Colwell, Steve Phillips, Tony Kirchgaessner, Amélie Marshall, Gareth J. King, John C. Bracegirdle, Tom Vaughan, David G. Lagun, Victor Orr, Andrew |
author_sort |
Turner, John |
title |
Record low surface air temperature at Vostok Station, Antarctica |
title_short |
Record low surface air temperature at Vostok Station, Antarctica |
title_full |
Record low surface air temperature at Vostok Station, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Record low surface air temperature at Vostok Station, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Record low surface air temperature at Vostok Station, Antarctica |
title_sort |
record low surface air temperature at vostok station, antarctica |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/9656/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/9656/1/jgrd15635.pdf https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2009JD012104 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(106.837,106.837,-78.464,-78.464) ENVELOPE(77.000,77.000,-81.000,-81.000) |
geographic |
Vostok Station Dome Argus |
geographic_facet |
Vostok Station Dome Argus |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Antarctica Journal |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Antarctica Journal |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/9656/1/jgrd15635.pdf Turner, John orcid:0000-0002-6111-5122 Anderson, Philip; Lachlan-Cope, Thomas orcid:0000-0002-0657-3235 Colwell, Steve; Phillips, Tony orcid:0000-0002-3058-9157 Kirchgaessner, Amélie orcid:0000-0001-7483-3652 Marshall, Gareth J. orcid:0000-0001-8887-7314 King, John C. orcid:0000-0003-3315-7568 Bracegirdle, Tom orcid:0000-0002-8868-4739 Vaughan, David G. orcid:0000-0002-9065-0570 Lagun, Victor; Orr, Andrew orcid:0000-0001-5111-8402 . 2009 Record low surface air temperature at Vostok Station, Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research, 114 (D24), D24102. 14, pp. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012104 <https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012104> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012104 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research |
container_volume |
114 |
container_issue |
D24 |
_version_ |
1766277088383336448 |