This project is the continuation of an observational and numerical study of the surface wind field of the Siple Coast, Antarctica. the antarctic surface wind field is highly irregular, is strongly affected by the surface slope, and has marked areas of convergence and divergence inland from the coastal margins. the interior provides large reservoirs of cold, negatively buoyant air which produce a persistent katabatic wind system. These convergent features appear to dominate the antarctic surface climate regime. This current phase of the project is based on observations made in the confluence zone upslope from the Siple Coast, which offers a different dynamical setting from earlier experiments in the Terra Nova Bay region of East Antarctica. In addition, the lower average elevation of West Antarctica allows synoptic disturbances to penetrate more deeply into the interior and to affect the surface outflow. Specific tasks to be undertaken are to complete the analysis as the comprehensive data set collected under the previous grant, and to analyze the behavior of the katabatic winds over West Antarctica, as well as identifying how the observed changes are forced by the synoptic circulation. Numerical simulations using several mesoscale models will provide the integrating picture of the governing dynamics.
