Abstract
The Italian “Mario Zucchelli” Station (-74° 41′ 55′′.6997 N, 164° 06′ 10′′. 5887 E), situated at Terra Nova Bay, Northern Victoria Land, is equipped with a permanent Global Positioning System receiver (TNB1), continuously observing since 1998. “Mario Zucchelli” is an Antarctic experimental facility where a large number of scientific observations are carried out, either permanently or seasonally. In particular, an observatory devoted to atmospheric physics is located at Campo Icaro, 2.5 km from the base: it is a Clean Air Facility where several atmospheric measurements are carried out. Since 2000, long-wave radiation measurements are performed routinely using a Kipp&Zonen CNR-1 net radiometer.
The GPS data set acquired over a six-year period spanning 2000–2005 by the permanent GPS station TNB1 is here analyzed, with the aim of retrieving the Precipitable Water (PW) content.
Water vapour radiative effects on the thermal radiation balance of the atmosphere are of basic importance for the energy budget of the surface-atmosphere system in Antarctica, even though Precipitable Water assumes in general appreciably lower values than in other areas of our planet.
Therefore, precise calculations and measurements of the mean long-wave radiation flux density reaching the surface at Terra Nova Bay are presented as a function of Precipitable Water, to give evidence of the relationship existing between this radiative balance term and the total atmospheric content of water vapour.
The GPS-derived PW values are compared with radiosonde-derived PW values measured at Terra Nova Bay. The radiosounding data were analyzed by correcting the temperature data for the errors due to radiation and heat exchange processes and lag effects; the air relative humidity data were corrected for the errors and various dry bias following an accurate procedure recently developed by Tomasi et al. (2006) to reduce the errors and bias affecting the moisture measurements.
The analysis strategies that have been applied to GPS and radiosonde data sets for computing PW are presented, including (i) the relation between the measured radiant-flux density and the GPS-derived PW, and (ii) the comparison with the predicted radiant-flux density derived by a model with five different profiles of temperature and humidity, computed from the set of radiosoundings performed at Terra Nova Bay. GPS- and radiosonde-derived water vapour contents at Terra Nova Bay show a good agreement over the whole sample period, with small discrepancies that will be opportunely discussed.
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Sarti, P., Negusini, M., Lanconelli, C., Lupi, A., Tomasi, C., Cacciari, A. (2008). GPS and Radiosonde Derived Precipitable Water Vapour Content and its Relationship with 5 Years of Long-Wave Radiation Measurements at “Mario Zucchelli” Station, Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica. In: Capra, A., Dietrich, R. (eds) Geodetic and Geophysical Observations in Antarctica. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74882-3_9
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