Surface Airflow Over East Antarctica

Abstract

Surface winds over the Antarctic interior occur mainly due to the strong radiational cooling of the ice slopes. As a consequence, such winds exhibit a high degree of persistence with a predominant direction closely related to the terrain orientation. Using detailed contour maps of the interior ice topography and representative values of the mean wintertime strength of the temperature inversion, it is possible to infer the terrain-induced accelerations. A simple diagnostic equation system is formulated, from which a time-averaged surface airflow pattern of East Antarctica is generated. The results appear consistent with observations. The occurrence of localized, anomalously strong katabatic winds is explained as a result of typographically forced patterns of cold-air convergence depicted in the airflow analysis.