Meteorological Observations at Syowa Station in 1976 by the 17th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition

Abstract

Meteorological observations at Syowa Station for the 17th expedition were made from February 1, 1976 to January 31, 1977. General and characteristic features in the meteorological observations are summarized as follows : 1) Suface observation : 3-hourly observations were made throughout the whole year and all observations were transmitted by telegram to the Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology in Melbourne via Mawson Station four times a day. 2) Upper air observation : Twice daily (00 Z and 12 Z) Rawinsonde observations were made throughout the year. All observations were transmitted in the same way as the surface observations. Various types of figures and tables are shown in this report relating to annual variation of mean heights and temperatures, monthly average upper air temperatures, monthly average upper wind profile, wind component, velocity and so on at Syowa Station in 1976. 3) Ozone observation : Total ozone observations were made by using Dobson ozone spectrophotometer throughout the year except from April to August. 4) Significant feature of the weather for that year is that, every monthly average temperature of the year was below the normal value of the respective monthly average, except December. A minimum temperature -42.5℃ recorded on September 1 was the second lowest temperature since the observation had begun in Syowa Station. In other words, fine weather causing the lower temperature has dominated the climate for most part of all the year. 5) It is difficult to make a weather forecast in Antarctica due to not only scanty observations but also changeable weather. We made a special effort to forecast for blizzards, for the safety of the life of our parties and for the benefit of our operations using the satellite pictures and FAX weather charts which were broadcasted by Molodezhnaya Station of the Soviet Union. 6) D-55B type Automatic Direction Finder was renewed on January 26, 1976 and worked favorably.