Errors in wind direction data at Dome Fuji Station, and corrections

Abstract

Some kinds of error in surface wind direction data at Dome Fuji Station observed by the 38th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE-38) in 1997 are reported. The most serious error is that the wind direction data was shifted toward azimuths of 45-, 135-, 225- and 315-degrees. However. data correction is possible since the error is systematic. For example. the data in the 0-∿90-degrees azimuth domain are shifted toward 45-degrees. As a result of examining the correction method. though it is impossible to correct the data with the same resolution of 1 degree that the observed data had, it is possible to correct it at the resolution of 16 sectors. Wind direction data of the Auto Weather Station (AWS) at Dome Fuji Station are regarded as true values in this correction process. An empirical method comparing with the AWS data was proposed here. In the appendix, theoretical discussion on the correction is given, and corrections using exponential functions are demonstrated, which however, do not work well.