| Summary: | Numerical three-dimensional weather simulations, satellite imagery and automatic weather station (AWS) data are used to study a real event of coastal polynya at Terra Nova Bay (TNB), Antarctica. The event, detected with satellite images, occurred in the period 12–17 July 2006. The atmospheric simulations are performed by the limited area Eta Model. Passive microwave satellite images, which are not affected by cloud cover, are used to evaluate the daily polynya size, while thermal infrared satellite images are only used to follow cloud dynamics. The synoptic and sub-synoptic fields are very well represented by the model results when they are compared with AVHRR imagery. Comparisons between simulated data and wind measurements by Manuela AWS are presented as well. The results are considered satisfactory. Simulation results show the striking relationship of surface winds and temperatures with the development of the polynya as inferred by satellite images
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