The vertical structure of precipitation at two stations in East Antarctica derived from micro rain radars
<p>Precipitation over Antarctica is the main term in the surface mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet, which is crucial for the future evolution of the sea level worldwide. Precipitation, however, remains poorly documented and understood mainly because of a lack of observations in this extr...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2019-01-01
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| Series: | The Cryosphere |
| Online Access: | https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/247/2019/tc-13-247-2019.pdf |
| _version_ | 1830374011310178304 |
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| author | C. Durán-Alarcón B. Boudevillain C. Genthon J. Grazioli J. Grazioli N. Souverijns N. P. M. van Lipzig I. V. Gorodetskaya A. Berne |
| author_facet | C. Durán-Alarcón B. Boudevillain C. Genthon J. Grazioli J. Grazioli N. Souverijns N. P. M. van Lipzig I. V. Gorodetskaya A. Berne |
| author_sort | C. Durán-Alarcón |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Precipitation over Antarctica is the main term in the surface mass
balance of the Antarctic ice sheet, which is crucial for the future evolution
of the sea level worldwide. Precipitation, however, remains poorly documented
and understood mainly because of a lack of observations in this extreme
environment. Two observatories dedicated to precipitation have been set up at
the Belgian station Princess Elisabeth (PE) and at the French station Dumont
d'Urville (DDU) in East Antarctica. Among other instruments, both sites
have a vertically pointing micro rain radar (MRR) working at the K band.
Measurements have been continuously collected at DDU since the austral summer
of
2015–2016, while they have been collected mostly during summer seasons at PE
since 2010, with a full year of observation during 2012. In this study, the
statistics of the vertical profiles of reflectivity, vertical velocity, and
spectral width are analyzed for all seasons. Vertical profiles were separated
into surface precipitation and virga to evaluate the impact of virga on the
structure of the vertical profiles. The climatology of the study area plays
an important role in the structure of the precipitation: warmer and moister
atmospheric conditions at DDU favor the occurrence of more intense
precipitation compared with PE, with a difference of 8 dBZ between both
stations. The strong katabatic winds blowing at DDU induce a decrease in
reflectivity close to the ground due to the sublimation of the snowfall
particles. The vertical profiles of precipitation velocity show significant
differences between the two stations. In general, at DDU the vertical
velocity increases as the height decreases, while at PE the vertical velocity
decreases as the height decreases. These features of the vertical profiles of
reflectivity and vertical velocity could be explained by the more frequent
occurrence of aggregation and riming at DDU compared to PE because of the
lower temperature and relative humidity at the latter, located further in the
interior. Robust and reliable statistics about the vertical profile of
precipitation in Antarctica, as derived from MRRs for instance,
are necessary and valuable for the evaluation of precipitation estimates
derived from satellite measurements and from numerical atmospheric models.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T07:29:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3346acf6f1be4063a34e8c6a2fc30df6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1994-0416 1994-0424 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T07:29:46Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Cryosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-3346acf6f1be4063a34e8c6a2fc30df62022-12-21T19:48:27ZengCopernicus PublicationsThe Cryosphere1994-04161994-04242019-01-011324726410.5194/tc-13-247-2019The vertical structure of precipitation at two stations in East Antarctica derived from micro rain radarsC. Durán-Alarcón0B. Boudevillain1C. Genthon2J. Grazioli3J. Grazioli4N. Souverijns5N. P. M. van Lipzig6I. V. Gorodetskaya7A. Berne8CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP Institute of Engineering, Université Grenoble Alpes, IGE, 38000 Grenoble, FranceCNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP Institute of Engineering, Université Grenoble Alpes, IGE, 38000 Grenoble, FranceCNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP Institute of Engineering, Université Grenoble Alpes, IGE, 38000 Grenoble, FranceEnvironmental Remote Sensing Laboratory, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, SwitzerlandFederal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, MeteoSwiss, Locarno-Monti, SwitzerlandDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumCentre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Physics, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, PortugalEnvironmental Remote Sensing Laboratory, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland<p>Precipitation over Antarctica is the main term in the surface mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet, which is crucial for the future evolution of the sea level worldwide. Precipitation, however, remains poorly documented and understood mainly because of a lack of observations in this extreme environment. Two observatories dedicated to precipitation have been set up at the Belgian station Princess Elisabeth (PE) and at the French station Dumont d'Urville (DDU) in East Antarctica. Among other instruments, both sites have a vertically pointing micro rain radar (MRR) working at the K band. Measurements have been continuously collected at DDU since the austral summer of 2015–2016, while they have been collected mostly during summer seasons at PE since 2010, with a full year of observation during 2012. In this study, the statistics of the vertical profiles of reflectivity, vertical velocity, and spectral width are analyzed for all seasons. Vertical profiles were separated into surface precipitation and virga to evaluate the impact of virga on the structure of the vertical profiles. The climatology of the study area plays an important role in the structure of the precipitation: warmer and moister atmospheric conditions at DDU favor the occurrence of more intense precipitation compared with PE, with a difference of 8 dBZ between both stations. The strong katabatic winds blowing at DDU induce a decrease in reflectivity close to the ground due to the sublimation of the snowfall particles. The vertical profiles of precipitation velocity show significant differences between the two stations. In general, at DDU the vertical velocity increases as the height decreases, while at PE the vertical velocity decreases as the height decreases. These features of the vertical profiles of reflectivity and vertical velocity could be explained by the more frequent occurrence of aggregation and riming at DDU compared to PE because of the lower temperature and relative humidity at the latter, located further in the interior. Robust and reliable statistics about the vertical profile of precipitation in Antarctica, as derived from MRRs for instance, are necessary and valuable for the evaluation of precipitation estimates derived from satellite measurements and from numerical atmospheric models.</p>https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/247/2019/tc-13-247-2019.pdf |
| spellingShingle | C. Durán-Alarcón B. Boudevillain C. Genthon J. Grazioli J. Grazioli N. Souverijns N. P. M. van Lipzig I. V. Gorodetskaya A. Berne The vertical structure of precipitation at two stations in East Antarctica derived from micro rain radars The Cryosphere |
| title | The vertical structure of precipitation at two stations in East Antarctica derived from micro rain radars |
| title_full | The vertical structure of precipitation at two stations in East Antarctica derived from micro rain radars |
| title_fullStr | The vertical structure of precipitation at two stations in East Antarctica derived from micro rain radars |
| title_full_unstemmed | The vertical structure of precipitation at two stations in East Antarctica derived from micro rain radars |
| title_short | The vertical structure of precipitation at two stations in East Antarctica derived from micro rain radars |
| title_sort | vertical structure of precipitation at two stations in east antarctica derived from micro rain radars |
| url | https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/247/2019/tc-13-247-2019.pdf |
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