Vertical exchange of heat energy in the surface layer of antartic atmosphere

State and evolution of the thermal properties of atmospheric boundary layer at the air/ice interface under non stationary conditions can be studied by analyzing the vertical transfer of heat energy (sensible and latent components) as a function of different atmospheric forcings (wind, temperature, solar radiation). To this end, a prognostic enthalpy balance model, whose input data was the information collected during the XII Southern-Summer Antarctic expedition at Terra Nova Bay (1996-97), has been used to evaluate the relative role of the different terms of the heat energy budget under different meteorological conditions, ranging from moderate breeze to katabatic wind episodes. The data were collected at two locations, 2.6 km apart from each other, of Hells Gate ice shelf (inner mast: 74° 51' 3.7" S, 163° 47' 2.8" E; coastal mast: 74° 52' 20.2" S, 163° 49' 6.4 E) and refer to an uninterrupted period of four weeks, from December 15, 1996, to January 16, 1997. An unbalance has been found in the heat energy budget (made up by vertical divergences of net radiation and sensible and latent heat flux, thermal advection and local heating/cooling rate, evaluated at the same time), whose interpretation needs further investigation.