Temperature and wind climate of the Antarctic Peninsula as simulated by a high-resolution Regional Atmospheric Climate Model

Jan Melchior Van Wessem, Carleen H. Reijmer, Willem Jan Van De Berg, Michiel R. Van Den Broeke, Alison J. Cook, Lambertus H. Van Ulft, Erik Van Meijgaard

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65 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The latest polar version of the Regional Atmospheric Climate Model (RACMO2.3) has been applied to the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). In this study, the authors present results of a climate run at 5.5 km for the period 1979-2013, in which RACMO2.3 is forced by ERA-Interim atmospheric and ocean surface fields, using an updated AP surface topography. The model results are evaluated with near-surface temperature and wind measurements from 12 manned and automatic weather stations and vertical profiles from balloon soundings made at three stations. The seasonal cycle of near-surface temperature and wind is simulated well, with most biases still related to the limited model resolution. High-resolution climate maps of temperature and wind showing that the AP climate exhibits large spatial variability are discussed. Over the steep and high mountains of the northern AP, large west-to-east climate gradients exist, while over the gentle southern AP mountains the near-surface climate is dominated by katabatic winds. Over the flat ice shelves, where katabatic wind forcing is weak, interannual variability in temperature is largest. Finally, decadal trends of temperature and wind are presented, and it is shown that recently there has been distinct warming over the northwestern AP and cooling over the rest of the AP, related to changes in sea ice cover.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7306-7326
Number of pages21
JournalJournal of Climate
Volume28
Issue number18
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Sept 2015

Keywords

  • Antarctica
  • Climatology
  • Ice sheets
  • Radiosonde observations
  • Regional models
  • Surface observations

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