Seasonal Patterns of Air Surface Temperature and Pressure Change in Different Regions of Antarctica

Abstract

In the context of global warming, increases in Antarctic surface air temperatures are expected, and have been found to be larger than in lower latitudes, both from modelling experiments and analysis of instrumental records. Nevertheless, Antarctic warming has not been evenly spread through the seasons or regionally. In this paper, we identify different regional responses to changes in temperature and pressure through the comparison of daily air surface temperature and pressure for two periods 1957–1973 (PI) and 1979–1995 (P2) for four Antarctic Stations (Faraday, Mawson, Halley and South Pole). These stations are characterised respectively with Antarctic Oceanic Climate, Ice Shelf Climate, Antarctic Katabatic Climate and Cold Continental Climate of the Eastern Plateau, four of the eight climatic types described for Antarctica by a multivariate analysis of the output of NCEP/NCAR Reanalyses (Aguilar, 2000).