Atmospheric response to a realistic coastal polynya in Terra Nova Bay (Antarctica) simulated by ETA model

Coastal polynyas are areas of open water (and/or very thin ice) which form adjacent to coasts or blocking feature in polar regions during the wintertime, when the sea water is expected to be ice covered. They are thought to be maintained by strong offshore winds blowing over these area and/or by oce...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: MORELLI, Sandra, G. Casini, F. Parmiggiani
Other Authors: Morelli, Sandra, G., Casini, F., Parmiggiani
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2009
Subjects:
Eta
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11380/598230
Description
Summary:Coastal polynyas are areas of open water (and/or very thin ice) which form adjacent to coasts or blocking feature in polar regions during the wintertime, when the sea water is expected to be ice covered. They are thought to be maintained by strong offshore winds blowing over these area and/or by ocean currents. Sea ice is removed as it forms and drifted offshore. In polynya areas a direct contact is established between the relatively warm sea water and the cold, dry atmosphere. As a consequence, the physical characteristics of the atmospheric boundary layer change. The work presented here concerns a real polynya event in the region of Terra Nova Bay (TNB), Antarctica, where a recurring coastal polynya occurs nearby the Italian Antarctic Base. The aim is the study of atmospheric response to the presence of a open water area of realistic size by three-dimensional numerical simulations. Atmospheric numerical modelling is a fundamental tool for the study of air - polynya interactions in the remote polar regions, where observational data are difficult. The numerical model used for the simulations is a recent version of ETA model (Mesinger et al., 2006), with the addition of a piecewise linear advection for the wind field. ECMWF and NCEP data provided the initial and boundary conditions. A previous version of the model had already been successfully used in the Antarctic area (De Carolis et al, 2006, Casini and Morelli, 2007). As a first step to analyze the polynya event, numerical simulation was performed for the period from 12 to 17 July 2006 in order to study the development of the katabatic wind (Morelli and Casini, 2008; Morelli, 2008). Daily satellite images, concerning the period, display that a sea ice free area formed on 15 and 16 July, reaching its maximum extension of about 4000 km2 on 16 July (Morelli et al.,2007). In order to gain insight on the atmospheric response to open water area within a sea ice field, ETA model runs were carried out from 15 to 17 July 2006 both with and without the polynya (as ...