Analysis of Boundary-Layer Statistical Properties at Dome C, Antarctica

Jean-François Rysman (1) , Sébastien Verrier (2) , Alain Lahellec (3) , Christophe Genthon (4)

1 SPACE - LATMOS
2 PARVATI - Processus de la variabilité climatique tropicale et impacts
3 LMD - Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539)
4 LGGE - Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement

The atmospheric boundary layer over the Antarctic Plateau is unique on account of its isolated location and extreme stability. Here we investigate the characteristics of the boundary layer using wind and temperature measurements from a 45-m high tower located at Dome C. First, spectral analysis reveals that both fields have a scaling behaviour from 30 min to 10 days (spectral slope β≈2 ). Wind and temperature time series also show a multifractal behaviour. Therefore, it is possible to fit the moment-scaling function to the universal multifractal model and obtain multifractal parameters for temperature ( α≈1.51,C1≈0.14 ) and wind speed ( α≈1.34,C1≈0.13 ). The same analysis is repeated separately in winter and summer at six different heights. The β parameter shows a strong stratification with height especially in summer, implying that properties of turbulence change surprisingly rapidly from the ground to the top of the tower.

Keywords: Statistical properties; Scaling; Meteorological tower; Dome C; Atmospheric boundary layer

Domains: Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]; Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]

Jean-François Rysman, Sébastien Verrier, Alain Lahellec, Christophe Genthon. Analysis of Boundary-Layer Statistical Properties at Dome C, Antarctica. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 2015, 156 (1), pp.145-155. ⟨10.1007/s10546-015-0024-x⟩. ⟨insu-01143166⟩