Continued Investigation of the Extraordinary Katabatic Windsat Terra Nova

该项目是对南极地表和边界层风场成功调查的延续，特别强调了特拉诺瓦湾附近的极强下坡倾斜风。向外流动的地面空气是经向环流的组成部分，与高空的流入和辐合以及大陆上空的下沉运动一起。倾斜冰盖上的斜降风模式非常不规则，空气汇聚到几个狭窄的沿海地区，在当地产生了被认为是世界上最强、最持久的地面风。已知的例子是阿德利地的丹尼森角和马丁港（面向澳大利亚），以及罗斯海西海岸的特拉诺瓦湾。作为该项目的一部分，具体任务是完成具体地面事件的运动学、动力学和气候学分析，将高分辨率卫星图像整合到具体的案例研究中，并在各种空间尺度上开展广泛的数值模拟。现有的自动气象站阵列为这项研究提供了原始数据集；卫星图像将用于调查斜降气流的离岸传播，从而扩大了研究范围。建模工作正在扩展到使用40公里网格间距的全大陆模拟，以探索沿海汇流带动力学的气候影响。

This project is a continuation of a successful investigation into the antarctic surface and boundary layer wind field, with specific emphasis on the extremely strong down-slope katabatic winds in the vicinity of Terra Nova Bay. The outward flowing surface air is an integral part of the meridional circulation, together with inflow and convergence aloft, and generally sinking motion over the continent. The pattern of katabatic winds over the sloping ice sheet is highly irregular, with air converging into several narrow coastal regions to produce locally what are recognized as the strongest and most persistent surface winds in the world. Known examples are at Cape Denison and Port Martin in Adelie Land (facing Australia), and in Terra Nova Bay on the western coast of the Ross Sea. Specific tasks to be undertaken as part of this project are to complete the kinematic, dynamic, and climatological analysis of specific katabatic events, to integrate high resolution satellite imagery into specific case studies, and to carry out extensive numerical modeling at various spatial scales. An existing array of automatic weather stations has provided the primary data set for this study; it is being extended by the satellite imagery which will be used to investigate the offshore propagation of the katabatic air stream. The modeling effort is being extended to continent-wide simulations using a grid spacing of 40 kilometers in order to explore the climatic impacts of the coastal confluence zone dynamics.