9218922 Bromwich This project is a one-year continuation of a successful investigation into the antarctic surface and boundary layer wind field, with specific emphasis on the extremely strong down-slope katabatic winds in the vicinity of Terra Nova Bay. The outward flowing surface air is an integral part of the meridional circulation, together with inflow and convergence aloft, and generally sinking motion over the continent. The pattern of katabatic winds over the sloping ice sheet is highly irregular, with air converging into several narrow coastal regions to produce locally what are recognized as the strongest and most persistent surface winds in the world. Known examples are at Cape Denison and Port Martin in Adelie Land (facing Australia), and in Terra Nova Bay on the western coast of the Ross Sea. Specific tasks to be undertaken as part of this project are to complete the kinematic, dynamic, and climatological analysis of specific katabatic events. Automatic weather station observations from the vicinity of Terra Nova Bay, satellite imagery collected at McMurdo Station, and synoptic weather analyses from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology will be examined for the period of 1988 to 1991 to determine the broadscale conditions associated with variations in the katabatic wind regime at Terra Nova Bay. ***
