The origin of Antarctic precipitation: a modelling approach

Gilles Delaygue; Valérie Masson; Jean Jouzel; Randal D. Koster; Richard J. Healy

doi:10.3402/tellusb.v52i1.16079

The origin of Antarctic precipitation: a modelling approach

Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology

Volume 52 (2000): Issue 1

By: Gilles Delaygue, Valérie Masson, Jean Jouzel, Randal D. Koster and Richard J. Healy

Open Access

|Jan 2000

Abstract

The contribution of different moisture sources to Antarctic precipitation for present-day and glacial conditions is estimated with the NASA/GISS Atmospheric General Circulation Model. Despite its low horizontal resolution (8°×10°), this model simulates reasonably well the broad features of the observed present-day hydrological cycle. Simulated present-day Antarctic precipitation is dominated throughout the year by moisture from a subtropical/midlatitude band (30°S^-60°S). The moisture supplied to a given coastal area of Antarctica originates mostly in the adjacent oceanic basin; closer to the pole, other oceanic basins can also contribute significantly. Replacing the present-day sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and sea ice cover in the GCM with those from the CLIMAP oceanic reconstruction for the last glacial maximum (LGM), greatly increases the simulated latitudinal temperature gradient, with the consequence of slightly enhancing the contribution of low latitude moisture to Antarctic precipitation. It also changes the seasonality of the different contributions and thus their budget, particularly in coastal regions. Because the nature of LGM tropical SSTs is still under debate, we performed an additional LGM simulation in which the tropical SSTs are reduced relative to those of CLIMAP. The resulting decrease in the latitudinal gradient brings the relative contributions to Antarctic precipitation more in line with those of the present-day simulation.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v52i1.16079 | Journal eISSN: 1600-0889

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Language: English

Page range: 19 - 36

Published on: Jan 1, 2000

Published by: Stockholm University Press

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© 2000 Gilles Delaygue, Valérie Masson, Jean Jouzel, Randal D. Koster, Richard J. Healy, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 52 (2000): Issue 1