ALBERT

Description: The thermal conductivity and diffusivity of natural snow computed from Fourier-type analyses of annual snow temperature variations are shown to be strongly temperature dependent. The computed temperature coefficients of-0.007 and -0.012 deg-1 respectively, agree well with older laboratory experiments carried out on polycrystalline ice.

Description: The general large-scale circulation of the global atmosphere has its basic driving mechanism in the equator-poleward temperature gradients in both hemispheres. It has become increasingly obvious over the last few decades that to understand and predict the behaviour of the atmosphere at any point, it is essential to understand the behaviour of the total global fluid system. The Global Atmospheric Research Project (GARP) is an outcome of this recognition. Studies of the heat sinks (the polar regions) are therefore just as important as studies of the heat source (the equatorial regions) to understand the meteorology of the planet. Interest in polar meteorology has undergone many cyclic fluctuations, peaking during the various international polar years and, more recently, during the International Geophysical Year, 1957–58. At the present, the focus of GARP's first objective (improved extended weather forecasts) is on the tropical heat source, where convection and cloud formation and dissipation are still relatively little understood processes. However, the second GARP objective (better understanding of the physical basis of climate) requires more attention to be devoted to the cryosphere, its long-term interaction with oceans and atmosphere, and its role as an indicator of climatic change. The idea of a polar experiment (POLEX) was initially introduced by Treshnikov and others (1968) and by Borisenkov and Treshnikov (1971). A summary of the early history of POLEX was recently given by Weller and Bierly (1973). The two closely related objectives of POLEX that most directly pertain to GARP may be restated in their simplest terms as (1) a better understanding of energy transfer processes and the heat budgets of the polar regions for the purpose of parameterizing them properly in general circulation models and climate models, and (2) provision of adequate data from the polar regions during the First GARP Global Experiment (FGGE) in 1978.

Description: The thermal conductivity and diffusivity of natural snow computed from Fourier-type analyses of annual snow temperature variations are shown to be strongly temperature dependent. The computed temperature coefficients of-0.007 and -0.012 deg-1 respectively, agree well with older laboratory experiments carried out on polycrystalline ice.

Description: The heat-balance components of the faces of snow blocks were measured at “Plateau” station on the Antarctic plateau using micro-meteorological instrumentation. Heat-balance considerations and sublimation observations indicate considerable mass loss from the sloping snow surfaces during summer but little loss from horizontal surfaces. This process tends to level the irregularities of the snow surface. The conclusions are applicable to the snow dunes forming the general accumulation pattern on the Antarctic plateau.

Description: The heat-balance components of the faces of snow blocks were measured at “Plateau” station on the Antarctic plateau using micro-meteorological instrumentation. Heat-balance considerations and sublimation observations indicate considerable mass loss from the sloping snow surfaces during summer but little loss from horizontal surfaces. This process tends to level the irregularities of the snow surface. The conclusions are applicable to the snow dunes forming the general accumulation pattern on the Antarctic plateau.

Description: Ice temperatures were measured on the ice plateau at Mawson, Antarctica, for one year down to depths of 11 m. and through a floating sea-ice cover for six months. The plateau data were examined by harmonic analysis and the thermal diffusivity of the ice was obtained from the classical model of heat diffusion. An improved model of heat diffusion proposed by Lettau (1954) was also used to derive the diffusivity. The results show that absorbed radiation affects the computed diffusivity values down to 6–8 in. depth and a model is put forward to explain these apparent changes with depth. Data on the extinction of radiation in the ice have been published elsewhere (Weller and Schwerdtfeger, in press). The diffusivity of the ice is determined for periods with no radiation in winter and the value of 0.011 cm2. sec−1 agrees well with values at 8 m. depth where the effect of radiation becomes negligible.Heat-flux plates embedded in the ice were used to determine the diffusivity independently and also to give numerical values of the heat flux at any moment. The geometry and characteristics of these flux plates are discussed elsewhere (Schwerdtfeger and Weller, 1967). They are also used to derive the diffusivity of sea ice and enable a detailed analysis of the diurnal heat flux in such complex substances as sea ice to be made.

Description: Ice temperatures were measured on the ice plateau at Mawson, Antarctica, for one year down to depths of 11 m. and through a floating sea-ice cover for six months. The plateau data were examined by harmonic analysis and the thermal diffusivity of the ice was obtained from the classical model of heat diffusion. An improved model of heat diffusion proposed by Lettau (1954) was also used to derive the diffusivity. The results show that absorbed radiation affects the computed diffusivity values down to 6–8 in. depth and a model is put forward to explain these apparent changes with depth. Data on the extinction of radiation in the ice have been published elsewhere (Weller and Schwerdtfeger, in press). The diffusivity of the ice is determined for periods with no radiation in winter and the value of 0.011 cm2. sec−1agrees well with values at 8 m. depth where the effect of radiation becomes negligible.Heat-flux plates embedded in the ice were used to determine the diffusivity independently and also to give numerical values of the heat flux at any moment. The geometry and characteristics of these flux plates are discussed elsewhere (Schwerdtfeger and Weller, 1967). They are also used to derive the diffusivity of sea ice and enable a detailed analysis of the diurnal heat flux in such complex substances as sea ice to be made.

Description: On the McCall Glacier, an Arctic glacier in the eastern Brooks Range, northern Alaska, a heat balance study was carried out during the summer of 1970 to investigate quantitatively the relationship between energy transfer, climatic parameters and melting processes. Considering the individual energy balance terms, it was found that radiation is the most important heat source for snow and ice melt. The melting period itself is only 11 weeks long, which is quite short. The evaporation overcompensates for what little condensation occurs, and amounts to about 2% of the total ablation. Evaporation is more important in the spring, but becomes decreasingly so during the summer. The melt water which percolates into the snow-pack and refreezes at a lower level is a more effective way of transporting energy into the ground than conduction, and is of importance during the beginning of the melt period. The summer balance is considerably less energetic than over the tundra north of the Brooks Range. The main difference is a higher surface albedo, and to a lesser extent the protected nature of the glacier in a deep valley on a N–S axis, which reduces the duration of possible sunshine by 39% in summer. These are the important factors in maintaining the McCall Glacier and other similar glaciers in an otherwise low precipitation area.

Description: On the McCall Glacier, an Arctic glacier in the eastern Brooks Range, northern Alaska, a heat balance study was carried out during the summer of 1970 to investigate quantitatively the relationship between energy transfer, climatic parameters and melting processes. Considering the individual energy balance terms, it was found that radiation is the most important heat source for snow and ice melt. The melting period itself is only 11 weeks long, which is quite short. The evaporation overcompensates for what little condensation occurs, and amounts to about 2% of the total ablation. Evaporation is more important in the spring, but becomes decreasingly so during the summer. The melt water which percolates into the snow-pack and refreezes at a lower level is a more effective way of transporting energy into the ground than conduction, and is of importance during the beginning of the melt period. The summer balance is considerably less energetic than over the tundra north of the Brooks Range. The main difference is a higher surface albedo, and to a lesser extent the protected nature of the glacier in a deep valley on a N–S axis, which reduces the duration of possible sunshine by 39% in summer. These are the important factors in maintaining the McCall Glacier and other similar glaciers in an otherwise low precipitation area.