Meteorological parameter analysis above Dome C using data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts

摘要

We present a characterization of all the principal meteorological parameters (wind speed and direction, pressure, and absolute and potential temperature) that extends up to 25 km from the ground above Dome C, Antarctica, for 2 years (2003 and 2004). The data set is composed of "analyses" provided by the general circulation model (GCM) of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), and they are part of the MARS catalog. A monthly and seasonal (summer and winter) statistical analysis of the results is presented. The Richardson number is calculated for each month of the year over 25 km in order to study the relative stability of the atmosphere. This allows us to trace a map indicating where and when the optical turbulence has the highest probability of being triggered in the whole troposphere, tropopause, and stratosphere. Finally, we try to predict the best expected isoplanatic angle and wave-front coherence times (theta(0,max) and tau(0,max), respectively) by employing Richardson number maps, wind speed profiles, and simple analytical models of C-N(2) vertical profiles.