Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8kt4b Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-25T20:31:04.785Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

One-year records from automatic snow stations in western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2013

Onni Järvinen*
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki, Department of Physics, PO Box 48 (Erik Palménin aukio 1), FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
Matti Leppäranta
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki, Department of Physics, PO Box 48 (Erik Palménin aukio 1), FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
Juho Vehviläinen
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki, Department of Physics, PO Box 48 (Erik Palménin aukio 1), FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland

Abstract

Two automatic snow stations were deployed for one year (from December 2009–January 2011) in western Dronning Maud Land. The purposes of the experiment were: 1) to build a working snow station to measure the snow surface layer temperature, and 2) to use the data for snow heat and mass balance investigations. The data collection was successful and lasted about 400 days (9 December 2009–21 January 2011). The annual net snow accumulation at snow station 2 (continental ice sheet) was 86 cm (345 mm water equivalent) and at snow station 1 (ice shelf) more than 150 cm. The power spectra revealed daily cycle, synoptic scale variability, and variability in a low-frequency band of 60–120 days at a depth of 54 cm. The snow-air heat flux was estimated from the data, resulting in negative values (from snow to air) during autumn and winter and positive values (from air to snow) in spring and summer. The physical characterization of snow stratigraphy was done during installation and retrieval of the snow stations, including density, hardness (hand test), stratigraphy, and grain size and shape.

Type
Physical Sciences
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bindschadler, R. 1998. Monitoring ice sheet behavior from space. Reviews of Geophysics, 36, 79104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bintanja, R., Jonsson, S.Knap, W.H. 1997. The annual cycle of the surface energy balance of Antarctic blue ice. Journal of Geophysical Research, 102, 18671881.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boening, C., Lebsock, M., Landerer, F.Stephens, G. 2012. Snowfall-driven mass change on the East Antarctic ice sheet. Geophysical Research Letters, 10.1029/2012GL053316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curry, J.A.Webster, P.J. 1999. Thermodynamics of atmospheres and oceans. International Geophysics Series 65. London: Academic Press, 471 pp.Google Scholar
Fierz, C., Armstrong, R.L., Durand, Y., Etchevers, P., Greene, E., McClung, D.M., Nishimura, K., Satyawali, P.K.Sokratov, S.A. 2009. The international classification for seasonal snow on the ground. Technical Documents in Hydrology 83. Paris: UNESCO-International Hydrological Programme, 90 pp.Google Scholar
Gow, A.J.Rowland, R. 1965. On the relationship of snow accumulation to surface topography at ‘Byrd Station’, Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology, 5, 843847.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Granberg, H.B.Irwin, G. 1990. A geographic snow information system for vehicle mobility prediction. In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of the International Society for Terrain-Vehicle Systems, Kobe, Japan, 20–24 August 1990, Vol. 2. Durham, NC: International Society for Terrain-Vehicle Systems, 95–106.Google Scholar
Granberg, H.B., Cliche, P., Mattila, O.-P., Kanto, E.Leppäranta, M. 2009. A snow sensor experiment in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology, 55, 10411051.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, F.J. 1974. On the use of windows for harmonic analysis with discrete Fourier transform. Proceedings of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 66, 5183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmlund, P.Näslund, J.-O. 1994. The glacially sculptured landscape in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, formed by wet-based mountain glaciation and not by the present ice sheet. Boreas, 23, 139148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isaksson, E. 1992. Spatial and temporal patterns in snow accumulation and oxygen isotopes, western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Report STOU-NG 87. Stockholm: Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, 86 pp.Google Scholar
Isaksson, E.Karlén, W. 1994a. Spatial and temporal patterns in snow accumulation and oxygen isotopes, western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology, 40, 399409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isaksson, E.Karlén, W. 1994b. High-resolution climatic information obtained from short firn cores, western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Climatic Change, 26, 421434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isaksson, E., Karlén, W., Gundestrup, N., Mayewski, P., Whitlow, S.Twickler, M. 1996. A century of accumulation and temperature changes in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research, 101, 70857094.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnsen, S.J. 1977. Stable isotope homogenization of polar firn and ice. International Association of Hydrological Sciences Publication, 188, 210219.Google Scholar
Kanto, E. 2006. Snow characteristics in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. PhD thesis, University of Helsinki, Report Series in Geophysics, No. 49, 34 pp. http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/mat/fysik/vk/kanto/snowchar.pdfGoogle Scholar
Kärkäs, E. 2004. Meteorological conditions of the Basen nunatak in western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, during the years 1989–2001. Geophysica, 40, 3952.Google Scholar
Kärkäs, E., Martma, T.Sonninen, E. 2005. Physical properties and stratigraphy of surface snow in western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Polar Research, 24, 5567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kärkäs, E., Granberg, H.B., Lavoie, C., Kanto, K., Rasmus, K.Leppäranta, M. 2002. Physical properties of the seasonal snow cover in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 34, 8994.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, J.C.Turner, W.M. 1997. Antarctic meteorology and climatology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, New York, 409 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumar, S., Singh, K.Saxena, R. 2011. Analysis of Dirichlet and generalized ‘‘Hamming’’ window functions in the fractional Fourier transform domains. Signal Process, 91, 600606.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Legrand, M.Mayewski, P. 1997. Glaciochemistry of polar ice cores: a review. Reviews of Geophysics, 35, 219243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liston, G.E.Elder, E. 2006. A distributed snow-evolution modeling system (SnowModel). Journal of Hydrometeorology, 3, 646659.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melvold, K., Hagen, J.O., Pinglot, J.F.Gundestrup, N. 1998. Large spatial variations in accumulation rate in Jutulstraumen ice stream, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 27, 231238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noone, D., Turner, J.Mulvaney, R. 1999. Atmospheric signals and characteristics of accumulation in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research, 104, 19 191–19 211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Omega 1992. The temperature handbook, vol. 28. Stamford, CT: Omega Engineering, 1153 pp.Google Scholar
Paterson, W.S.B. 1994. The physics of glaciers, 3rd ed. Oxford: Pergamon, 496 pp.Google Scholar
Petit, J.R., Jouzel, J., Raynaud, D., Barkov, N.I., Barnola, J.-M., Basile, I., Bender, M., Chappellaz, J., Davis, M., Delaygue, G., Delmotte, M., Kotlyakov, V.M., Legrand, M., Lipenkov, V.Y., Lorius, C., Pépin, L., Ritz, C., Saltzman, E.Stievenard, M. 1999. Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica. Nature, 399, 429436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasmus, K., Granberg, H.B., Kanto, K., Kärkäs, E., Lavoie, C.Leppäranta, M. 2003. Seasonal snow in Antarctica. Report Series in Geophysics, No. 47. Helsinki: Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, 100 pp.Google Scholar
Reijmer, C.H.Oerlemans, J. 2002. Temporal and spatial variability of the surface energy balance in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research, 10.1029/2000JD000110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reijmer, C.H.van Den Broeke, M.R. 2003. Temporal and spatial variability of the surface mass balance in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, as derived from automatic weather stations. Journal of Glaciology, 49, 512520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richardson, C., Aarholt, E., Hamran, S.-E., Holmlund, P.Isaksson, E. 1997. Spatial distribution of snow in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, mapped by a ground-based snow radar. Journal Geophysical Research, 102, 20 343–20 353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richardson-Näslund, C. 2004. Spatial characteristics of snow accumulation in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Global and Planetary Change, 42, 3143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rignot, E.Thomas, R.H. 2007. Mass balance of polar ice sheets. Science, 297, 15021506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlosser, E.Oerter, H. 2002. Seasonal variations of accumulation and the isotope record in ice cores: a study with surface snow samples and firn cores from Neumayer station, Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 35, 97101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schytt, V. 1958. Glaciology II. The inner structure of the ice shelf at Maudheim as shown by core drilling. Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition, 1949–52, Scientific Results, IV, 113151.Google Scholar
Van Den Broeke, M.R. 2004b. On the role of Antarctica as heat sink for the global atmosphere. Journal de Physique IV, 121, 115124.Google Scholar
Van Den Broeke, M.R., Reijmer, C.H.van De Wal, R.S.W. 2004a. A study of the surface mass balance in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, using automatic weather stations. Journal of Glaciology, 50, 565582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Den Broeke, M.R., Reijmer, C.H., van As, D.Boot, W. 2006. Daily cycle of the surface energy balance in Antarctica and the influence of clouds. International Journal of Climatology, 26, 15871605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Den Broeke, M.R., Reijmer, C.H., van As, D., van De Wal, R.Oerlemans, J. 2005. Seasonal cycles of Antarctic surface energy balance from automatic weather stations. Annals of Glaciology, 41, 131139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Den Broeke, M.R., Winther, J.-G., Isaksson, E., Pinglot, J.F., Karlöf, L., Eiken, T.Conrads, L. 1999. Climate variables along a traverse line in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology, 45, 295302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Lipzig, N.P.M., van Meijgaard, E.Oerlemans, J. 2002a. The effect of temporal variations in the surface mass balance and temperature inversion strength on the interpretation of ice-core signals. Journal of Glaciology, 48, 611621.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Lipzig, N.P.M., van Meijgaard, E.Oerlemans, J. 2002b. The spatial and temporal variability of the surface mass balance in Antarctica: results from a regional climate model. International Journal of Climatology, 22, 11971217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vehviläinen, J. 2010. Snow modeling on Tellbreen, Svalbard with snowpack snow physical model during winter and spring 2009. Report Series in Geophysics, No. 65. Helsinki: Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, 81 pp.Google Scholar
Yen, Y.-C. 1981. Review of thermal properties of snow, ice and sea ice. Report 81-10. Hanover, NH: US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 27 pp.Google Scholar