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Publication
Comparison of the Atmosphere above the South Pole, Dome C and Dome A:. First Attempt

Hagelin, S. et al., 2009, Optical Turbulance: Astronomy Meets Meteorology, 240 | View on ADS (2009otam.conf..240H) | Access via DOI

Abstract

In this contribution we briefly summarize the results recently published in Ref.1. The atmosphere above three sites on the Internal Antarctic Plateau (Dome A, Dome C and the South Pole) is investigated for astronomical applications using the analysis-data from the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) for an entire year (2005). The monthly median of several meteorological parameters, such as wind speed and potential temperature, are calculated. Radiosoundings from Dome C and the South Pole are used to verify the reliability of the analyses and to study the wind speed in the first 100 m as the analysis-data are not optimized for this altitude-range. The wind speed in the free atmosphere is obtained from the ECMWF-analyses for all three sites. In this context a fourth site, Dome F, is also discussed. In the free atmosphere the stability is studied using the Richardson number, which is an indicator of the probability to trigger thermodynamical instabilities. We find that the free atmosphere over the Internal Antarctic Plateau is more stable than at mid-latitude sites. Dome C shows worse thermodynamic instability conditions than those predicted above the South Pole and Dome A in the same vertical slab. Finally we provide a ranking of the three sites with respect to wind speed, in the free atmosphere (ECMWF analyses) as well as in the surface layer (radiosoundings)