Meteorological observations at Syowa Station in 2016 by the 57th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition

Abstract

This report describes the results of meteorological observations at Syowa Station from February 1st, 2016 to January 31st, 2017, carried out by the Meteorological Observation Team of the 57th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE-57). The observation methods, instruments, and statistical methods used by JARE-57 were almost the same as those used by the JARE-56 observation team. The special notes during JARE-57 are as follows. 1) The automatic surface weather observation system was updated from the JMA-95 type surface weather observation system to the JMA-10 type surface weather observation system. 2) There were 33 blizzards, exceeding the average number of blizzard occurrences from 1981 to 2010, 24.6. A large number of blizzards updated many the monthly records of the deepest monthly snowfall, the total depth of daily snowfall, and the total depth of monthly snowfall fell within the 10th place. 3) From March to April, the temperature above 200 hPa was lower than normal at the standard pressure levels above Syowa Station. The temperature below 300 hPa was higher than normal for the same period. Especially, the highest monthly average temperature at 400 hPa for 00 UTC and the lowest monthly average temperature at 30 hPa (for 00 UTC) were breaking records in April. 4) Total ozone over Syowa Station was frequently less than 220 m atm-cm, which was used as a baseline value to observe the ozone hole, from mid-August to mid-November. The value for September 25 was 148 m atm-cm, which marked the minimum value of the year 2016.

Keywords

• meteorology
• wintering
• syowa station