The contribution of snowdrift sublimation to the surface mass balance of Antarctica

Abstract

This paper presents model calculations of snowdrift sublimation rates for year-round automatic weather station (AWS) data in Terre Adélie, Antarctica. The model calculates vertical profiles of wind speed, temperature, humidity and suspended-snow particles in the atmospheric surface layer, and takes into account the buoyancy effects induced by the stably stratified suspended-snow profile by means of an appropriate Richardson number. The model is able to simulate accurately vertical profiles of sublimation rate derived from direct measurements. The model is used to parameterise snowdrift-sublimation rates in terms of wind speed and air temperature. This parameterisation is then used to calculate snowdrift-sublimation rates from 3 hourly data of six AWSs along a transect from Dumont d'Urville to South Pole during one year. Results show that sublimation of suspended snow is negligible in the interior of Antarctica where wind speeds and temperatures are low, whereas near the windy and relatively warm coast its contribution is significant (up to 17cmw.e. a−1). Snowdrift-sublimation rates are highest during summer, when temperatures are highest, in spite of the fact that wind speeds are not as high as in winter. It is concluded that snowdrift sublimation is one of the major terms in the surface mass balance of Antarctica, in particular in the coastal regions.