| Issue |
EAS Publications Series
Volume 40, 2010
3rd ARENA Conference: An Astronomical Observatory at CONCORDIA (Dome C, Antarctica)
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Page(s) | 85 - 88 | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/eas/1040010 | |
| Published online | 23 December 2009 | |
L. Spinoglio and N. Epchtein (eds)
EAS Publications Series, 40 (2010) 85-88
Comparison of the atmosphere above the South Pole, Dome C and Dome A: first attempt
1
INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo Enrico Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze,
Italy
2
Uppsala University, Department of Earth Sciences, Villavägen 16, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
Corresponding authors: hagelin@arcetri.astro.it masciadri@arcetri.astro.it
The atmospheric properties above three sites (Dome A, Dome C and the South Pole) are investigated for astronomical applications using the monthly median of the analyses from the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). Radiosoundings extended on a yearly time-scale at the South Pole and Dome C are used to quantify the reliability of the ECMWF analyses in the free atmosphere as well as in the boundary and surface layers, and to characterize the median wind speed in the first 100 m above the two sites. Thermodynamic instabilities in the free atmosphere above the three sites are quantified with monthly median values of the Richardson number. We will present a ranking of the sites with respect to the thermodynamic stability, using the Richardson number, and with respect to the wind speed, in the free atmosphere (using ECMWF analyses) as well as in the surface layer (using radiosoundings).
© EAS, EDP Sciences, 2010