A Numerical Simulation Study of Strong Wind Event at Jangbogo Station, Antarctica

Abstract

Jangbogo station(74°37'S, 164°12'E) is located in Terra Nova Bay over the Antarctica, which is often affected by individual storms moving along nearby storm tracks. Strong wind is one the extream weather events at Jangbogo station caused by passage of the strong mesoscale cyclone. In this study, two strong wind events at Jangbogo station are simulated by using recent version of Polar Weather Research and Forecasting model (Polar WRF) with a high horizontal resolution of 3km. Then, simulation results are validated against near-surface meteorological observations and Era-Interim reanalysis data at Jangbogo station. Two high wind events with an hourly mean wind speed of ~30 m/s on 20, August and 9, September 2010 are selected for the Polar WRF simulation. The model employed physics options that include the Mellor-Yamada-Janjic TKE boundary layer scheme, the WRF Single Momentum 6-Class cloud microphysics scheme, the new version of the Rapid Radiative Transfer Model for both shortwave and longwave radiation, and the Noah land surface model. Verifying model results from 3km grid resolution simulation against AMOS observation showed that high skill in simulating high wind speed on 9, September 2010 case, but bad skill in simulation high wind speed on 20, August 2010.