Antarctic Meteorology

Transcription

1 ANTARCTIC Volume 9 RESEARCH SERIES Studies in Antarctic Meteorology Morton J. Rubin, Editor Published with the aid o[ a grant [rom the National Science Foundation PUBLISHER AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION OF TIlE National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council Publication

2 ANTARCTIC Volume 9 RESEARCH SERIES STUDIES IN ANTARCTIC METEOROLOGY Morton J. Rubin, Editor 1966 by the American Geophysical Union Suite 506, 1145 Nineteenth Street, N. W. Washington, D.C Library of Congress Catalog Card No List Price, $14.00 Printed by The William Byrd Press, Inc. Richmond, Virginia

3 THE ANTARCTIC RESEARCH SERIES During the International Geophysical Year discussions were held among geophysicists, biologists, and geologists aimed at developing a medium for the publication of the papers resulting from the intensive research work being done in Antarctica. The Antarctic Research Series is designed to provide this medium, presenting authoritative work with uniformly high scientific and editorial standards from leading scientists engaged in antarctic research. In a sense the series continues a tradition dating from the earliest days of geographic exploration and scientific expeditions--the tradition of the expeditionary volumes which set forth in rich detail everything that was seen and studied. But in much of the present antarctic work one expedition blends into the next, and it is no longer scientifically meaningful to separate them. However, antarctic research in all disciplines has a large degree of coherence and deserves the modern counterpart of the expeditionary volumes of past decades and centuries. Papers appearing in the series represent original contributions too len hy or otherwise inappropriate for publication in the standard scientific journals. The material published is directed not only to scientists actively engaged in the work but to graduate students and scientists in closely related fields as well. The series will serve as a source of information both for the specialist and for the layman versed in the biological and physical sciences. Many of the early volumes are cohesive collections of research papers grouped around a central theme. An editor for each book is drawn from the discipline it represents, as are the reviewers on whom each editor relies. Early in 1963 the National Science Foundation made a grant to the American Geophysical Union to initiate the series, and a Board of Associate Editors was appointed to implement it. To represent the broad nature of the series, the members of the Board were chosen from all fields of antarctic research. At the present time they include Eugene L. Boudette, representing geology and solid Earth geophysics; Martin A. Pomerantz, aeronomy and geomagnetism; A. P. Crary, seisinology and glaciology; George A. Llano, botany and zoology; Waldo L. Schmitt, marine biology and oceanography; and Morton J. Rubin, meteorology. Earlier members of the Board, since resigned, were Harry W. Wells and Jarvis B. Hadley. AGU staff members responsible for the series are Judith S. McCombs, managing editor, and Marie L. Webner, style editor. MORTON J. RUBIN Chairman, Board of Associate Editor Antarctic Research Series

4 ANTARCTIC RESEARCH SERIES American Geophysical Union Volume 1 BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS Milton O. Lee, Editor Volume 2 ANTARCTIC SNOW AND ICE STUDIES Malcom Mellor, Editor Volume 3 Vol me 4 POLYCHAETA ERRANTIA OF ANTARCTICA Olga Hartman A. H. Waynick, Editor Volume 5 Volume 6 Volume BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS George A. Llano, Editor GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC.Jarvis B. Hadley, Editor?' Volume 3 Volume 9 POLYCI-IAETA MYZOSTOMIDAE AND SEDENTARIA OF ANTARCTICA Olga Hartman ANTARCTIC SOILS AND SOIL FORMING PROCESSES.[. C. F. Tedrow, Editor s ms IS N Uc Ic OUOnOC¾ Mor on ]. Rubin, Editor

5 Antarctic Research Series Studies in Antarctic Meteorology Vol. 9 PREFACE Since the beginning of the International Geophysical Tear In 1957, a new phase of scientific exploration has turned Antarctica into a unique laboratory. Earlier concepts of Antarctica had been mainly preliminary, even confused, having heen based upon interul~ttent, nonconteinporaneous, and insufficient observations 111llited mainly to the periphery of the continent. Through programs supported by international activity, a coordinated and well-founded effort has been directed to the observation, analysis, and interpretation of a broad spectrum of geophysical and biological phenomena and processes. RIan began to open up new horizons in his quest for understanding and mastery of Nature. For meteorology, as for other scientific disciplines, Antarctica has provided conditions not found elsewhere on this planet: a high circumpolar continent, very low ambient temperatures, a seemingly limitless expanse of snow and ice aliilost con~pletely devoid of exposed rock, soil, and vegetation. Even before the IGJ7 it was realized that these circumstances would provide an unexcelled opportunity to study atiriospheric turbulence and energy exchanges, radiative fluxes, snow drift, precipitation mechanisms and accumulation, and other significant physical and dynaniical phenomena. The continuing and varied observational and analytical studics soon began to clarify the earlier concepts, substantiating sonic and correcting others. This volume is tlie first collection of nieteorological studies in the Antarctic Research Series. -4s the reader will see, they are based upon data obtained by laborious and exacting field work, some of it by the authors themsel~es. These illustrate clearly, as do other recent studies, the inagnitude of the advance of knowledge and the extent to which our understanding of antarctic ineteorological phenomena and processes has developed in a few short years. The first paper (by Lettau) describes and explains a rare phenomenon on the polar plateau, katabatic flow. It is based upon data obtained from a inicromcteorological program at South Pole, the broader results of which are presented in the second paper (by Dalrymple, Lettau, and Wollaston). In that paper the authors discuss the features of the wind and teiilperature profiles, surface friction, eddy flux, heat flux, and the surface energy budget. The third paper (by Budd) extends the theory of steady-state turbulent snow drift to snow consisting of particles of different sizes. In the fourth paper, Budd, Dingle, and Radok describe the techniques used in a study of 129 snow drift gagings at Byrd station and analyze the results in terms of u-ind profiles, roughness profiles, and snow surface texture. The fifth paper (by Trickers) is an attempt to determine tlie distlibution of snow accuinulation in western Antarctica and to relate it to synoptic nieteorological factors; it is a good example of the interrelationship between glaciological and lneteorological phenomena. In the sixth paper, Bull describes the clin~atological characteristics of the ice-free Wright and Victoria valley systems, a relatively unique phenomenon in Antarctica, and accounts for the continued ice-free nature of the region. Dalryinple, in the last paper, presents a regional climatic classification for the interior of Antarctica and discusses the nlicro~neteorology of the region. MORTON J. RUBIN Copyright American Geophysical Union

6 CONTENTS The Antarctic Research Series Morton J. Rubin.. iii Preface Morton J. Rubin... A Case Study of Katabatic Flow on the South Polar Plateau Heinz H. Lettau... South Pole Micrometeorology Program: Data Analysis Paul C. Dalrymple, Heinz H. Lettau, and Sarah H. Wollaston. 13 The Drifting of Nonuniform Snow Particles W. F. Budd The Byrd Snow Drift Project: Outline and Basic Results W. F. Budd, W. R. J. Dingle, and U. Radok. A Study of Ice Accumulation and Tropospheric Circulation in Western Antarctica William W. Vickers Climatological Observations in Ice-Free Areas of Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica Colin Bull A Physical Climatology of the Antarctic Plateau Paul C. Dalrymple