Surface Flux Measurements at King Sejong Station in West Antarctica: 1. Turbulent Characteristics and Sensible Heat Flux

Abstract

The Antarctic Peninsula is important in terms of global warming research due to pronounced increase of air temperature over the last century. The first eddy covariance system was established at King Sejong Station located in the northern region of the Antarctic Peninsula in December of 2002 and has been operated over one year. Here, we analyze turbulent characteristics to determine quality control criteria for turbulent sensible heat flux data as well as to diagnose the possibility of long term eddy covariance measurement under extreme weather conditions of the Antarctic Peninsula. We also report the preliminary result on sensible heat flux. Based on the analyses on turbulent characteristics such as integral turbulence characteristics of vertical velocity (w) and heat (T), stationarity test and investigation of correlation coefficient, they follow the Monin-Obukhov similarity and eddy covariance flux data were reliable. ~47% of total retrieved sensible heat flux data could be used for further analysis. Daytime averaged sensible heat flux showed a pronounced seasonal variation, with a maximum of up to 300 Wm-2 in summer. In conclusion, continuous and long-term eddy covariance measurement may be possible at the study site and the land surface may influence the atmosphere significantly through heat transport in summer.