Thermal, pressure and wind fields at ground level in the area of the Italian base at Terra Nova Bay, Victoria Land, Antarctica, as observed by a network of automatic weather stations

[摘要] Ground temperature, pressure and wind speedmonthly averages in the area of the Italian Station at Terra Nova Bay,Antarctica, were analyzed for the period 1987–1991 by means of a network of nineAWS (automatic weather stations). Spatial configurations of temperature show awell-defined, relatively warm island in the area of Terra Nova Bay, betweenDrygalsky and Campbell ice tongues, throughout the year. A second warm island ispresent to the north along the coast, between Aviator and Mariner ice tongues,for most of the year. From February to March a rapid drop in temperature isobserved at all stations. A strong thermal gradient develops during February,March, April and October, November, December, between the coastal region andinner highlands. The baric configuration follows the elevation of the area.Annual average pressure and temperature as functions of stations altitude showlinear trends. Severe katabatic wind episodes are recorded at all stations, withwind speed exceeding 25 m s^–1 and direction following the orographicfeatures of the inner areas. Co-occurrences of these episodes were observed forstations located along stream lines of cold air drainage. The autocorrelationfunction of maximum wind speed time series shows wind persistence of 2–3 daysand wind periodicity of about one week.

[学科分类] 地球科学(综合)