Snowfall in high southern latitudes

Precipitation over Antarctica is an important climatic variable whose study has been limited by the frequent inability to discriminate between actual snow precipitation and drifting snow. Recent advances in point precipitation measurements promise to circumvent this problem. In addition, indirect estimates based upon the atmospheric water balance equation provide seasonal precipitation amounts for areas larger than 1×106 km². For broad-scale studies in the continental interior net snow accumulation closely approximates precipitation. Annual precipitation is relatively high over the marginal ice slopes in relation to amounts in the interior. This meridional distribution is due to the orographic lifting of moist air by the ice sheet. Zonal precipitation variations are related to the quasi-stationary cyclones in the circumpolar low-pressure trough. Most precipitation falls in winter, when the average moisture content of the air is low. The intensity of cyclonic activity is the key factor governing the amount of precipitation and its variations. Precipitation generation in coastal regions is strongly influenced by the fact that poleward moving, moist maritime air masses are deflected by the steep marginal ice slopes to blow parallel to the terrain contours. Direct orographic lifting with accompanying adiabatic cooling is the dominant precipitation formation mechanism inland of the 1-km elevation contour; intrusions of moist air far into the continent are accompanied by southerly winds through a deep tropospheric layer. Above 3000 m elevation where terrain slopes are gentle, radiative cooling is the primary mechanism by which saturation is maintained within moist air, and thus by which precipitation is formed. Most precipitation at these elevations falls from clear skies. This phenomenon does not differ from precipitation originating in clouds but is a direct result of the low moisture content of the air, and hence ice layers are optically too thin to be visible as clouds.

[1]  A. A. Sokolov,et al.  World water balance and water resources of the earth , 1978 .

[2]  M. Giovinetto,et al.  Analysis of a 200 year snow accumulation series from the South Pole , 1965 .

[3]  B. Alt,et al.  A GLOBAL OXYGEN ISOTOPE MODEL -SEMI-EMPIRICAL, ZONALLY AVERAGED , 1985 .

[4]  Ronald B. Smith.  The Influence of Mountains on the Atmosphere , 1979 .

[5]  W. Dansgaard.  Stable isotopes in precipitation , 1964 .

[6]  Noboru Sato,et al.  Some Characteristic Properties of Ice Crystal Precipitation in the Summer Season at South Pole Station, Antarctica , 1981 .

[7]  I. Whillans.  Surface Mass-Balance Variability Near “Byrd” Station, Antarctica, and its Importance to Ice Core Stratigraphy , 1978 .

[8]  K. Satow.  Variability of surface mass balance in the Mizuho Plateau, Antarctica , 1985 .

[9]  J. Eischeid,et al.  Precipitation Fluctuations over Northern Hemisphere Land Areas Since the Mid-19th Century , 1987, Science.

[10]  A. Baumgartner.  The world water balance , 1975 .

[11]  E. Mosley‐Thompson,et al.  Nine Centuries of Microparticle Deposition at the South Pole , 1982, Quaternary Research.

[12]  Y. Fujii,et al.  Possible Causes of the Variation in Microparticle Concentration in an Ice Core from Mizuho Station, Antarctica , 1982, Annals of Glaciology.

[13]  H. Loon,et al.  Climate of the Upper Air: Southern Hemisphere: Volume 1: Temperatures, Dew Points, and Heights at Selected Pressure Levels , 1969 .

[14]  A. Hogan.  Summer Ice Crystal Precipitation at the South Pole , 1975 .

[15]  K. Jayaweera,et al.  Observation of Ice Crystal Formation in Lower Arctic Atmosphere , 1982 .

[16]  R. L. Fauquet.  A synoptic/statistical analysis of summer season circulation patterns over eastern Antarctica during moist air intrusions. , 1982 .

[17]  R. Jenne.  Vector mean geostrophic winds : Isogon and Isotach analyses , 1971 .

[18]  M. Pourchet,et al.  Accumulation distribution in terre adélie, antarctica: effect of meteorological parameters , 1986, Journal of Glaciology.

[19]  Specification of Monthly Precipitation over the United States from the Surrounding 700 mb Height Field , 1987 .

[20]  Tsing-Chang Chen,et al.  Global Water Vapor Flux and Maintenance during FGGE , 1985 .

[21]  D. Howarth.  Seasonal Variations in the Vertically Integrated Water Vapor Transport Fields over the Southern Hemisphere , 1983 .

[22]  G. E. Birchfield,et al.  The dependence of antarctic accumulation rates on surface temperature and elevation , 1985 .

[23]  J. Peixoto,et al.  The Atmospheric Branch Of The Hydrological Cycle And Climate , 1983 .

[24]  F. Bryan,et al.  Seasonal variation of the global water balance based on aerological data , 1984 .

[25]  C. R. Mechoso.  The Atmospheric Circulation Around Antarctica: Linear Stability and Finite-Amplitude Interactions with Migrating Cyclones , 1980 .

[26]  W. Schwerdtfeger,et al.  Weather and climate of the Antarctic , 1984 .

[27]  Vern N. Smiley,et al.  Lidar Determinations of Atmospheric Ice Crystal Layers at South Pole during Clear-Sky Precipitation , 1980 .

[28]  N. A. Streten,et al.  A synoptic climatology of satellite observed cloud vortices over the Southern Hemisphere , 1973 .

[29]  J. Jouzel,et al.  Climatic information over the last century deduced from a detailed isotopic record in the south pole snow , 1983 .

[30]  M. Giovinetto.  Snow Accumulation in Central West Antarctica as Related to Atmospheric and Topographic Factors MOaTON J. RusN Polar Meteorology Research Project U.S. Weather Bureau, Washington, D. C. , 1962 .

[31]  J. Oerlemans.  Effect of irregular fluctuations in Antarctic precipitation on global sea level , 1981, Nature.

[32]  O. Watanabe,et al.  Oxygen Isotopic Composition of the Surface Snow in Mizuho Plateau , 1978 .

[33]  M. Sinclair.  Record-High Temperatures in the Antarctic–A Synoptic Case Study , 1981 .

[34]  Y. Fujii,et al.  The role of sublimation and condensation in the formation of ice sheet surface at Mizuho Station, Antarctica , 1982 .

[35]  D. Bromwich,et al.  The Inversion Wind Pattern over West Antarctica , 1986 .

[36]  Some Synoptic Indices of the Southern Hemisphere Mean Sea Level Circulation 1972–77 , 1980 .

[37]  David H. Bromwich,et al.  The surface windfield over the Antarctic ice sheets , 1987, Nature.

[38]  Summer precipitation onto the South Polar plateau , 1984 .

[39]  D. Bromwich,et al.  Latitudinal displacement from main moisture source controls δ18O of snow in coastal Antarctica , 1983, Nature.

[40]  Jeffery C. Rogers,et al.  Spatial Variability of Sea Level Pressure and 500 mb Height Anomalies over the Southern Hemisphere , 1982 .

[41]  B. Lettau.  The transport of moisture into the antarctic interior , 1969 .

[42]  E. L. Andreas,et al.  Energy exchange over Antarctic sea ice in the spring , 1985 .

[43]  E. Rasmusson.  Hydrological application of atmospheric vapour-flux analyses , 1977 .

[44]  J. Oerlemans.  RESPONSE' OF THE ANTARCTIC ICE" SHEET TO A CLIMATIC WARMING,: A MODEL STUDY , 1982 .

[45]  Kikuo Kato,et al.  Factors controlling oxygen isotopic composition of fallen snow in Antarctica , 1978, Nature.

[46]  T. Parish.  Barrier Winds Along the Sierra Nevada Mountains , 1982 .

[47]  M. Giovinetto,et al.  Summary and Analyses of Surface Mass Balance Compilations for Antarctica, 1960-1985 , 1987 .

[48]  N. Streten.  Some Aspects of High Latitude Southern Hemisphere Summer Circulation as Viewed by ESSA 3 , 1968 .