Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T15:43:09.268Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Katabatic winds and polynya dynamics at Coats Land, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 November 2013

Lars Ebner ,
Günther Heinemann ,
Verena Haid  and
Ralph Timmermann
Lars Ebner*
Affiliation:
University of Trier, Department of Environmental Meteorology, Behringstrasse 21, 54286 Trier, Germany
Günther Heinemann
Affiliation:
University of Trier, Department of Environmental Meteorology, Behringstrasse 21, 54286 Trier, Germany
Verena Haid
Affiliation:
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Climate Dynamics, Bussestrasse 24, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
Ralph Timmermann
Affiliation:
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Climate Dynamics, Bussestrasse 24, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
*
[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Mesoscale model simulations were conducted for the Weddell Sea region for the autumn and winter periods of 2008 using a high-resolution, limited-area, non-hydrostatic atmospheric model. A sea ice–ocean model was run with enhanced horizontal resolution and high-resolution forcing data of the atmospheric model. Daily passive thermal and microwave satellite data was used to derive the polynya area in the Weddell Sea region. The focus of the study is on the formation of polynyas in the coastal region of Coats Land, which is strongly affected by katabatic flows. The polynya areas deduced from two independent remote sensing methods and data sources show good agreement, while the results of the sea ice simulation show some weaknesses. Linkages between the pressure gradient force composed of a katabatic and a synoptic component, offshore wind regimes and polynya area are identified. It is shown that the downslope surface offshore wind component of Coats Land is the main forcing factor for polynya dynamics, which is mainly steered by the offshore pressure gradient force, where the katabatic force is the dominant term. We find that the synoptic pressure gradient is opposed to the katabatic force during major katabatic wind events.

Keywords

atmospheric modellingboundary layersea ice–ocean interactionWeddell Sea
Type
Physical Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 26 , Issue 3 , June 2014 , pp. 309 - 326
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

Adams, S., Willmes, S., Schröder, D., Heinemann, G., Bauer, M. Krumpen, T. 2013. Improvement and sensitivity analysis of thermal thin-ice thickness retrievals. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 51, 3306–3318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adolphs, U. Wendler, G. 1995. A pilot study on the interactions between katabatic winds and polynyas at the Adélie Coast, eastern Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 7, 307–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amante, C. Eakins, B.W. 2009. ETOPO1 1 arc-minute global relief model: procedures, data sources and analysis. NOAA Technical Memorandum NESDIS NGDC-24. Boulder: National Geophysical Data Centre, 19 pp.Google Scholar
Ball, F.K. 1956. The theory of strong katabatic winds. Australian Journal of Physics, 9, 373–386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barber, D.G. Massom, R.A. 2007. Chapter 1. The role of sea ice in arctic and Antarctic polynyas. In Smith, W.O. & Barber, D., eds. Polynyas: windows to the world. Oxford: Elsevier Science, 1–54.Google Scholar
Bromwich, D.H. 1989. Satellite analyses of Antarctic katabatic wind behavior. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 70, 738–749.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cassano, J.J., Parish, T.R. King, J.C. 2001. Evaluation of turbulent surface flux parameterizations for the stable surface layer over Halley, Antarctica. Monthly Weather Review, 129, 26–46.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doms, G., Förstner, J., Heise, E., Herzog, H.-J., Mironov, D., Raschendorfer, M., Reinhardt, T., Ritter, B., Schrodin, R., Schulz, J.-P. Vogel, G. 2011. A description of the nonhydrostatic regional COSMO model. Part II: physical parameterization. Offenbach: Consortium for small-scale modelling, 154 pp.Google Scholar
Haid, V. Timmermann, R. 2013. Simulated heat flux and sea ice production at coastal polynyas in the southwestern Weddell Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans, 118, 2640–2652.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinemann, G. 1997. Idealized simulations of the Antarctic katabatic wind system with a three-dimensional mesoscale model. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, 102, 13 825–13 834.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinemann, G. 1999. The KABEG'97 field experiment: an aircraft-based study of katabatic wind dynamics over the Greenland ice sheet. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 93, 75–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinemann, G. 2008. The polar regions: a natural laboratory for boundary layer meteorology – a review. Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 17, 589–601.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinemann, G. Klein, T. 2002. Modelling and observations of the katabatic flow dynamics over Greenland. Tellus Series A – Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography, 54, 542–554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, J.C. 1989. Low-level wind profiles at an Antarctic coastal station. Antarctic Science, 1, 169–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, J.C., Varley, M.J. Lachlan-Cope, T.A. 1998. Using satellite thermal infrared imagery to study boundary layer structure in an Antarctic katabatic wind region. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 19, 3335–3348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, J.C., Connolley, W.M. Derbyshire, S.H. 2001. Sensitivity of modelled Antarctic climate to surface and boundary-layer flux parametrizations. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 127, 779–794.Google Scholar
Klein, T., Heinemann, G., Bromwich, D.H., Cassano, J.J. Hines, K.M. 2001. Mesoscale modeling of katabatic winds over Greenland and comparisons with AWS and aircraft data. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics, 78, 115–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Louis, J.F. 1979. Parametric model of vertical eddy fluxes in the atmosphere. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 17, 187–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luijting, H. 2009. Numerical simulations of katabatic flow in Coats Land, Antarctica. PhD thesis, University of East Anglia, 159 pp. [Unpublished].Google Scholar
Majewski, D., Liermann, D., Prohl, P., Ritter, B., Buchhold, M., Hanisch, T., Paul, G., Wergen, W. Baumgardner, J. 2002. The operational global icosahedral-hexagonal gridpoint model GME: description and high-resolution tests. Monthly Weather Review, 130, 319–338.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Markus, T., Kottmeier, C. Fahrbach, E. 1998. Ice formation in coastal polynyas in the Weddell Sea and their impact on oceanic salinity. Antarctic Research Series, 74, 273–292.Google Scholar
Mellor, G.L. Yamada, T. 1982. Development of a turbulence closure-model for geophysical fluid problems. Reviews of Geophysics, 20, 851–875.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parish, T.R. 1984. A numerical study of strong katabatic winds over Antarctica. Monthly Weather Review, 112, 545–554.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parish, T.R. Bromwich, D.H. 1987. The surface windfield over the Antarctic ice sheets. Nature, 328, 51–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parish, T.R. Cassano, J.J. 2001. Forcing of the wintertime Antarctic boundary layer winds from the NCEP–NCAR global reanalysis. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 40, 810–821.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parish, T.R. Cassano, J.J. 2003. The role of katabatic winds on the Antarctic surface wind regime. Monthly Weather Review, 131, 317–333.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parmiggiani, F. 2006. Fluctuations of Terra Nova Bay polynya as observed by active (ASAR) and passive (AMSR-E) microwave radiometers. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 27, 2459–2467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Renfrew, I.A. 2004. The dynamics of idealized katabatic flow over a moderate slope and ice shelf. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 130, 1023–1045.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Renfrew, I.A. Anderson, P.S. 2002. The surface climatology of an ordinary katabatic wind regime in Coats Land, Antarctica. Tellus Series A – Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography, 54, 463–484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Renfrew, I.A. Anderson, P.S. 2006. Profiles of katabatic flow in summer and winter over Coats Land, Antarctica. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 132, 779–802.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schröder, D., Heinemann, G. Willmes, S. 2011. The impact of a thermodynamic sea-ice module in the COSMO numerical weather prediction model on simulations for the Laptev Sea, Siberian Arctic. Polar Research, 30, 10.3402/polar.v30i0.6334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spreen, G., Kaleschke, L. Heygster, G. 2008. Sea ice remote sensing using AMSR-E 89-GHz channels. Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans, 113, 10.1029/2005JC003384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steppeler, J., Doms, G., Schättler, U., Bitzer, H.W., Gassmann, A., Damrath, U. Gregoric, G. 2003. Meso-gamma scale forecasts using the nonhydrostatic model LM. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics, 82, 75–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Timmermann, R., Danilov, S., Schröter, J., Böning, C., Sidorenko, D. Rollenhagen, K. 2009. Ocean circulation and sea ice distribution in a finite element global sea ice–ocean model. Ocean Modelling, 27, 114–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van den Broeke, M.R., van de Wal, R.S.W. Wild, M. 1997. Representation of Antarctic katabatic winds in a high-resolution GCM and a note on their climate sensitivity. Journal of Climate, 10, 3111–3130.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van den Broeke, M.R. van Lipzig, N.P.M. 2003. Factors controlling the near-surface wind field in Antarctica. Monthly Weather Review, 131, 733–743.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Lipzig, N.P.M., King, J.C., Lachlan-Cope, T.A. van den Broeke, M.R. 2004a. Precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift in the Antarctic Peninsula region from a regional atmospheric model. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, 109, 10.1029/2004JD004701.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Lipzig, N.P.M., Turner, J., Colwell, S.R. van den Broeke, M.R. 2004b. The near-surface wind field over the Antarctic continent. International Journal of Climatology, 24, 1973–1982.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wacker, U., Ries, H. Schättler, U. 2009. Precipitation simulation for Dronning Maud Land using the COSMO model. Antarctic Science, 21, 643–662.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yu, Y., Cai, X.M., King, J.C. Renfrew, I.A. 2005. Numerical simulations of katabatic jumps in Coats Land, Antarctica. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 114, 413–437.CrossRefGoogle Scholar