Coreless winter characteristics observed with global positioning system receivers over antarctic and arctic regions

Abstract

Problem statement: The most recent warming trends occurred during the winter in Polar Regions had been attracted many researchers to study its impacts, which might affect the sensitivity of climate prediction in both regions, as well as on a global basis. Approach: The aims of this study were to observe the characteristics of coreless winter events using the GPS meteorology such as the Zenith Tropospheric Delay (ZTD), Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV), the surface meteorology and the solar radiation measurements. The periods of observations were within two years which from January 2008 to December 2009 for Antarctic and from July 2008 to June 2010 for the Arctic. Results: The occurrence of coreless winter had clearly detected in June and January for Antarctic and Arctic, respectively. During the winter period, PWV and ZTD, temperature and relative humidity variations in both regions demonstrate a significant unusual warming peak than with the surface pressure. During this event, the increasing of 1°C of temperature showed that the PWV in Arctic was observed twice larger compared to the Antarctic. Conclusion: The increased PWV during winter suggest that the coreless winters characteristic is signified when advection between the warm or cold air masses over the region tend to increase the formation of cyclonic activity that causes increasing in surface temperature. © 2012 Science Publications.