Cyclonically Forced Barrier Winds along the Transantarctic Mountains near Ross Island

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Abstract
The effect of the Transantarctic Mountains on cyclonically forced boundary-layer winds in the vicinity of Ross Island, Antarctica (77.5°S, 167°E), is discussed. When cyclones are present over the western Ross Ice Shelf and Ross Sea, the low-level easterly airflow is toward the mountains. A barrier wind regime is set up as the flow is turned northward and becomes parallel to the mountain range. IT is found that cyclonically forced barrier winds occurred around 5% and 8% of the time during 1984 and 1985, respectively. The case histories of two well-defined barrier wind events lasting for 24 h are discussed in detail, with regional analyses based on satellite photographs and automatic weather station data. One case is for a katabatic wind-forced mesoscale cyclone forming to the north of Ross Island, and the other is for a synoptic-scale cyclone moving through the western Ross Ice Shelf-Ross Sea region. A numerical model for the vertically integrated boundary-layer flow that calculates two horizontal... Abstract The effect of the Transantarctic Mountains on cyclonically forced boundary-layer winds in the vicinity of Ross Island, Antarctica (77.5°S, 167°E), is discussed. When cyclones are present over the western Ross Ice Shelf and Ross Sea, the low-level easterly airflow is toward the mountains. A barrier wind regime is set up as the flow is turned northward and becomes parallel to the mountain range. IT is found that cyclonically forced barrier winds occurred around 5% and 8% of the time during 1984 and 1985, respectively. The case histories of two well-defined barrier wind events lasting for 24 h are discussed in detail, with regional analyses based on satellite photographs and automatic weather station data. One case is for a katabatic wind-forced mesoscale cyclone forming to the north of Ross Island, and the other is for a synoptic-scale cyclone moving through the western Ross Ice Shelf-Ross Sea region. A numerical model for the vertically integrated boundary-layer flow that calculates two horizontal...

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