Vertical Wind Disturbances during a Strong Wind Event Observed by the PANSY Radar at Syowa Station, Antarctica

Abstract

Abstract Characteristically strong vertical wind disturbances (VWDs) with magnitudes larger than 1 m s−1 were observed in the Antarctic troposphere using a new mesosphere–stratosphere–troposphere (MST) radar called the Program of the Antarctic Syowa MST/incoherent scatter (IS) Radar (PANSY) during 15–19 June 2012 at Syowa Station (69.0°S, 39.6°E). In the same period, two synoptic-scale cyclones approached Syowa Station and caused a strong wind event (SWE) at the surface. The VWDs observed during the SWE at Syowa Station had a nearly standing (i.e., no phase tilt with height) phase structure up to the tropopause and a power spectrum proportional to the − power of frequency. On the other hand, the observed VWDs were not associated with systematic horizontal momentum fluxes. Meteorological fields around Syowa Station during the SWE were successfully simulated using the Nonhydrostatic Icosahedral Atmospheric Model (NICAM). A strong VWD was also simulated at the model grid of 70.0°S, 40.0°E in NICAM, which had a standing phase structure similar to the observed ones. An analysis based on the Froude number showed that the simulated VWD was likely due to a hydraulic jump leeward of the coastal mountain ridge. The Scorer parameter analysis indicated that the observed VWDs at Syowa Station during 16–17 June 2012 were likely due to the hydraulic jump similar to that in NICAM. On the other hand, a possibility of lee waves was also suggested for the VWD observed on 18 June 2012.