Turbulence characteristics determined in the Surface Layer on NIS (Nansen Ice Sheet ), upwind a steep obstacle, in 1998-1999.

Measurements have been performed at 2 and 10 m above ground level, that is about 20m over mean sea level.The measuring site is frequently beaten by katabatic winds flowing from the Antarctic Plateau toward the Ross sea along the Reeves and Priestley glaciers. They characterize the local climatology as well the exchange mechanisms of sensible and latent heat of momentum and mass.

In regions like that taken into account in this experiment, the ice mass balance is compromised by the action of katabatic winds in terms of enhanced snow drift, iceberg calving and thermal exchanges at the air-ice interface in a stably stratified atmospheric Boundary Layer . The final result is the formation of blue ice areas on the NIS (Nansen Ice Sheet) and of a polynya in the Ross sea.