@article {1166, title = {Snow in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.}, journal = {International Journal of Climatology}, volume = {30}, year = {2010}, month = {04/2010}, pages = {633-642}, type = {Journal}, abstract = {

Snowfall was measured at 11 sites in the McMurdo Dry Valleys to determine its magnitude, its temporal changes, and spatial patterns. Annual values ranged from 3 to 50 mm water equivalent with the highest values nearest the coast and decreasing inland. A particularly strong spatial gradient exists in Taylor Valley, probably resulting from local uplift conditions at the coastal margin and valley topography that limits migration inland. More snow occurs in winter near the coast, whereas inland no seasonal pattern is discernable. This may be due, again, to local uplift conditions, which are common in winter. We find no influence of the distance to the sea ice edge. Katabatic winds play an important role in transporting snow to the valley bottoms and essentially double the precipitation. That much of the snow accumulation sublimates prior to making a hydrologic contribution underscores the notion that the McMurdo Dry Valleys are indeed an extreme polar desert. Copyright \© 2009 Royal Meteorological Society

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Biggie}, doi = {10.1002/joc.1933}, author = {Andrew G Fountain and Thomas H. Nylen and Andrew Monaghan and Hassan J. Basagic and David Bromwich} } @article {1374, title = {Valley floor climate observations from the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, 1986-2000}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research}, volume = {107}, year = {2002}, month = {12/2002}, pages = {4772-4784}, type = {Journal}, abstract = {

Climate observations from the McMurdo dry valleys, East Antarctica are presented from a network of seven valley floor automatic meteorological stations during the period 1986 to 2000. Mean annual temperatures ranged from \−14.8\°C to \−30.0\°C, depending on the site and period of measurement. Mean annual relative humidity is generally highest near the coast. Mean annual wind speed increases with proximity to the polar plateau. Site-to-site variation in mean annual solar flux and PAR is due to exposure of each station and changes over time are likely related to changes in cloudiness. During the nonsummer months, strong katabatic winds are frequent at some sites and infrequent at others, creating large variation in mean annual temperature owing to the warming effect of the winds. Katabatic wind exposure appears to be controlled to a large degree by the presence of colder air in the region that collects at low points and keeps the warm less dense katabatic flow from the ground. The strong influence of katabatic winds makes prediction of relative mean annual temperature based on geographical position (elevation and distance from the coast) alone, not possible. During the summer months, onshore winds dominate and warm as they progress through the valleys creating a strong linear relationship (r2\ = 0.992) of increasing potential temperature with distance from the coast (0.09\°C km\−1). In contrast to mean annual temperature, summer temperature lends itself quite well to model predictions, and is used to construct a statistical model for predicting summer dry valley temperatures at unmonitored sites.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Biggie}, doi = {10.1029/2001JD002045}, author = {Peter T. Doran and Christopher P. McKay and Gary D. Clow and Gayle L. Dana and Andrew G Fountain and Thomas H. Nylen and W. Berry Lyons} }