Meteorology and snow transport at S17 near Syowa, Antarctica, in austral summer 2018/2019

Description

This dataset contains measurement and simulation data. The measurements characterize the standard meteorology, turbulence, and snow transport at the S17 site near Syowa Station in East Antarctica during an expedition in austral summer 2018/2019. Large-eddy simulations with sublimating particles provide additional insight into the latent and sensible heat exchange between snow and air in two example situations observed at the S17 site.

A part of the measurement data was recorded by an automatic measurement station from 10th January 2019 to 26th January 2019. This measurement station was equipped with standard meteorological sensors, a three-dimensional ultrasonic anemometer, an open-path infrared gas analyzer, a snow particle counter, an infrared radiometer for measurements of the surface temperature, and a sonic ranging sensor measuring changes in snow surface elevation.

At a horizontal distance of approximately 500 m, a Micro Rain Radar (MRR) was installed in a tilted configuration with an elevation angle of 7° for remote sensing of blowing snow between 25th December 2018 and 24th January 2019. In addition, near-surface in-situ measurements of snow transport were performed at the location of the MRR by deploying a snow particle counter from 27th December 2018 to 24th January 2019.

The simulations cover a 18 x 18 x 6 m³ domain and reproduce the steady-state conditions during a 10-min interval with significant snow transport and another 10-min interval with negligible snow transport. We provide the model source code and the post-processed simulation data, i.e., horizontally averaged quantities as a function of height and time.