The surface energy and mass balance at Halley, Antarctica during winter

We present measurements of the components of the energy and mass balance of the snow surface at Halley Research Station, Antarctica. During the winter months, when insolation is small or zero, the surface energy balance is dominated by radiative cooling. This is mostly balanced by a downward transport of atmospheric sensible heat, with an upward conductive flux of heat through the snowpack making a secondary contribution. The average flux of atmospheric latent heat is downward but of negligible importance in the surface energy balance. During the winter, a significant imbalance is seen in the measured energy budget, with insufficient sensible and conductive heat fluxes to balance the radiative cooling. The wintertime surface mass balance is dominated by precipitation. Sublimation of blowing snow makes a small negative contribution to the budget and is observed to be highly dependent on wind speed. It is suggested that this may be an important mechanism for removing surface mass in some parts of Antarctica.

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