Mesoscale Cyclone Dynamics Around Antarctica

本项目是南极大陆太平洋沿岸中尺度气旋形成、演化和消散的观测研究。它将与印第安纳大学的一项补充工作共同进行。一段时间以来，人们已经知道南半球高纬度地区是天气尺度气旋的衰减区。然而，直到最近才发现，较小的中尺度气旋可以经常发生在南极洲的海冰和邻近的沿海地区，并对沿海气候产生重大影响。这项研究将包括中尺度气旋的气候学和动力学方面，并将以麦克默多站和帕尔默站记录的数字卫星数据以及罗斯海地区大量自动气象站和漂流海冰浮标为基础。具体任务包括确定与不同阶段有关的特征卫星特征，确定发展和消散区域，以及从罗斯海向东到南极半岛的首选路径。现有的高空探测和卫星衍生的大气剖面数据将用于研究罗斯海西南部的中尺度动力学，罗斯海是活跃地层区之一。量化结果将应用于影响南极半岛西侧和南美洲南部的中气旋预报问题。

This project is an observational study of the formation, evolution, and dissipation of mesoscale cyclones along the Pacific coastline of the antarctic continent. It will be carried out jointly with a complementary effort at Indiana University. It has been known for some time that the higher southern hemisphere latitudes are regions of decay for synoptic-scale cyclones. It has however only recently been found that smaller mesoscale cyclones can frequently occur over the sea ice and the adjacent coastal areas of Antarctica, and significantly affect the coastal climate. This study will include both climatological and dynamical aspects of mesoscale cyclones and will be based on the digital satellite data recorded at McMurdo and Palmer Stations and on the extensive array of automatic weather stations and drifting sea ice buoys in the Ross Sea area. Specific tasks to be undertaken include the definition of characteristic satellite signatures associated with various stages, the identification of development and dissipation regions, and preferred tracks from the Ross Sea eastward to the Antarctic peninsula. Existing upper air soundings and satellite-derived atmospheric profile data will be used to investigate mesoscale dynamics in the southwestern Ross Sea, one of the active formation regions. The quantified results will be applied to the problem of forecasting mesocyclones affecting the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula and southern South America.