Climate of West Antarctica and influence of marine air intrusions

Abstract

High-resolution numerical weather forecasts from the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) archive are used to investigate the climate of West Antarctica (WA) during 2006-07. A comparison with observations from West Antarctic automatic weather stations confirms the skill of the model at simulating near-surface variables. AMPS cloud cover is also compared with estimates of monthly cloud fractions over Antarctica derived from spaceborne lidar measurements, revealing close agreement between both datasets. Comparison with 20-yr averages from the Interim ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) dataset demonstrates that the 2006-07 time period as a whole is reflective of the West Antarctic climate from the last two decades. On the 2006-07 annual means computed from AMPS forecasts, the most salient feature is a tongue-shaped pattern of higher cloudiness, accumulation, and 2-m potential temperature stretching over central WA. This feature is caused by repeated intrusions of marine air inland linked to the sustained cyclonic activity in the Ross and western Amundsen Seas. It is further enhanced by the ice sheet's topography and by the mid-low-tropospheric wind flow on either side of the central ice divide. Low pressures centered over the Ross Sea (as opposed to the Bellingshausen Sea) are found to be most effective in conveying heat and moisture into WA. This study offers a perspective on how recent and projected changes in cyclonic activity in the South Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean may affect the climate and surface mass balance of WA. © 2011 American Meteorological Society.