Validation of ECMWF and NCEP-NCAR reanalysis data in Antarctica

The European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA-40) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR) ECMWF (ERA-40) and NCEP-NCAR reanalysis data were compared with Antarctic station observations, including surface-layer and upper-layer atmospheric observations, on intraseasonal and interannual timescales. At the interannual timescale, atmospheric pressure at different height levels in the ERA-40 data are in better agreement with observed pressure than that in the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis data.

ERA-40 reanalysis also outperforms NCEP-NCAR reanalysis in atmospheric temperature, except in the surface layer where the biases are somewhat larger. The wind velocity fields in both datasets do not agree well with surface- and upper-layer atmospheric observations. At intraseasonal timescales, both datasets capture the observed intraseasonal variability in pressure and temperature during austral winter.