Comportamiento de la temperatura del aire superficial en el Glaciar Fleming, Península Antártica, derivado de un sensor in situ

Abstract

analysis of the air temperature behavior in the interior of Fleming Glacier (FG), located in Wordie Bay in the central west part of the Antarctic Peninsula, is presented in this study. For this, data obtained in situ by an automatic weather station (AWS) that continuously recorded (every hour) between December 2007 and October 2008, were used. The AWS was installed around 50 km from the glacier front and at 233 km to the southeast of Rothera station, at 1,057 m.a.s.l. These data were complemented with meteorological observations registered by AWSs nearby that operate in the peninsula. We found statistically significant correlations among AWSs deployed in FG and the surrounding ones. The mean air temperature at GF AWS range between -6.3 ± 0.1 y -22.3 ± 0.3 °C for the warmest month (January) and the coldest month (August), respectively. While the annual mean, the average between summer (December-January-February) and winter (June-July-August) 2008, was -12.6 ºC. The Zero Isotherm Altitude (ZIA) for those days with air temperature above 0 ºC during the summer at Rothera station was 390 m.a.s.l. The lineal tendency reveals a statistically significant positive trend of ~40 m for the 1978-2010 period. The 390 m height is found around 15-17 km up slope from the glacier front, revealing that the vast part of the FG and surrounding upper region are below the frozen temperature year-round