Development of an automatic blowing-snow station

摘要

Blowing snow is a significant component of the mass and energy balance of the Antarctic ice sheet, and is an important factor when predicting the likely effects of global climate change. Nishimura and Nemoto (2005) carried out blowing snow observations at Mizuho Station, Antarctica in 2000 using Snow Particle Counters (SPCs) able to sense particle diameter as well as particle number. However, the SPC requires a large power supply and data are stored on computer. Deployment of an SPC is therefore not always practical for unmanned observations, particularly under the severe conditions in Antarctica. In this study, we developed a simpler device - the automatic blowing-snow station (ABS) - that measures the attenuation of light intensity, which is strongly influenced by the blowing snow flux. A small wind turbine and a cold-proof battery are used as the power source. We tested the performance of the ABS system in a cold wind-tunnel, in comparison with the SPC. We also undertook field testing of the ABS during the winter of 2009-2010 at Ishikari, Japan, which showed that the system performs well.