Study of Antarctic precipitation by radar remote sensing, in-situ measurements, and intercomparison of climate models

• Main Author: Palerme, Cyril
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Grenoble, Christophe Genthon, Chantal Claud
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: French
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: Antarctic precipitation; Radar remote sensing; In-situ measurements; Evaluation of climate models; Précipitations antarctiques; Télédétection radar; Mesures in-situ; Évaluation de modèles de climat; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; Antarctique*; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://theses.hal.science/tel-01229382; https://theses.hal.science/tel-01229382/document; https://theses.hal.science/tel-01229382/file/PALERME_2014_archivage.pdf

During the 21st century, precipitation is expected to increase in polar regions. In Antarctica, this would lead to an increase in snow accumulation over the continent, which would represent a positive contribution to the ice sheet mass balance, and thus a negative contribution to sea level. Almost all the climate models predict a precipitation increase in Antarctica during the 21st century, but this change differs widely according to the models. Moreover, the current precipitation rate simulated by these models diverge greatly. However, because no reliable observation of Antarctic precipitation was available so far, it was not possible to benchmark climate models. In this study, data from the cloud profiling radar onboard CloudSat satellite have been used to produce the first climatology of Antarctic precipitation from observations. This climatology agrees well with ERA Interim reanalysis, the production of which is constrained by various in situ and satellite observations, but does not use any data from CloudSat. The mean snowfall rate from CloudSat observations is 171 mm/an over the Antarctic ice sheet, north of 82°S. The maximum snowfall rate is observed during the fall, while the minimum snowfall rate occurs in spring. Because in-situ measurements are necessary to evaluate remote sensing observations, a field experiment has been developed at Dumont d'Urville station in Antarctica for measuring precipitation. Optical sensors have been set up at different levels on a 73-meter tower in order to separate snowfall from blowing snow events. Snow flux measured at different heights should be similar during snowfall without blowing snow, whereas a gradient shoud be observed if blowing snow occurs. The system has been evaluated and compared to the ECMWF operational analysis. Finally, simulations from the climate models used for the last IPCC report have been compared to the new satellite climatology. All the models produce a higher snowfall rate than the snowfall observed with CloudSat. Precipitation increase ...