Turbulent variables measured at 2.0 m on the top of a steeply sloping ridge in 1998/99.

The measuring site (2.0 m over ground level, the ground level is about 315 m over MSL) is frequently beaten by katabatic winds flowing from the Antarctic Plateau toward the Ross sea along the Reeves glacier. The interaction of the flow with the obstacle strongly perturbs the turbulent structure in the inner layer and enhances turbulent fluxes.

These perturbing effects can also be observed downstream of the obstacle in the Hells Gate area and in the coastal sea, where the strength of heat exchange forms a polynya.katabatic winds and the obstacles strongly characterize the local climatology and affect the ice mass equilibrium. In the coastal areas, like Nansen Ice Sheet and Hells Gate, the loss terms prevail on gain terms and, thus, they are particularly important to understand the climatic trend in Antarctic region.