A Mesoscale Modeling Study of the Atmospheric Circulation of High Southern Latitudes

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Abstract
The meteorology of high Southern latitudes during winter is simulated using a cloud-free version of The Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model version 4 (MM4) with a 100-km horizontal resolution. Comparisons between idealized simulations of Antarctica with MM4 and with the mesoscale model of Parish and Waight reveal that both models produce similarly realistic velocity fields in the boundary layer. The latter model tends to produce slightly faster drainage winds over East Antarctica. The intensity of the katabatic winds produced by MM4 is sensitive to parameterizations of boundary layer fluxes. Two simulation are performed with MM4 using analyses from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts for June 1988 as initial and boundary conditions. A simulation of the period from 0000 UTC 2 June to 0000 UTC 8 June produces realistic synoptic phenomena including ridge development over East Antarctica, frontogenesis over the Amundsen Sea, and a ... Abstract The meteorology of high Southern latitudes during winter is simulated using a cloud-free version of The Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model version 4 (MM4) with a 100-km horizontal resolution. Comparisons between idealized simulations of Antarctica with MM4 and with the mesoscale model of Parish and Waight reveal that both models produce similarly realistic velocity fields in the boundary layer. The latter model tends to produce slightly faster drainage winds over East Antarctica. The intensity of the katabatic winds produced by MM4 is sensitive to parameterizations of boundary layer fluxes. Two simulation are performed with MM4 using analyses from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts for June 1988 as initial and boundary conditions. A simulation of the period from 0000 UTC 2 June to 0000 UTC 8 June produces realistic synoptic phenomena including ridge development over East Antarctica, frontogenesis over the Amundsen Sea, and a ...

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