Precipitation regime of Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, derived from Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) archive data

The precipitation regime of Dronning Maud Land (DML), Antarctica, was studied using Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) archive data. Precipitation is the most important component of the mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet. Precipitation studies of DML are particularly important because two deep ice core drilling sites, Kohnen Station and Dome Fuji, are located in this region. For the correct interpretation of the ice core properties a thorough understanding of the precipitation regime is necessary. We used the high-resolution AMPS archive data for the years 2001-2006 to investigate the temporal and spatial distribution of precipitation. The results were compared to a recently published mass balance map derived from glaciological data of western DML. The mass balance map and the AMPS mean annual precipitation field show fairly similar patterns, which are mostly related to topography and prevailing wind systems. Precipitation is found to generally decrease from the coast to the inland plateau. Along the escarpment between the low-altitude coastal areas and the interior plateau, local minima and maxima in precipitation correspond to the leeward and windward sides of topographical ridges. Interannual variability of monthly sums of precipitation is fairly high owing to the influence of cyclone activity on precipitation, which affects not only the coastal regions, but also the interior of the continent more than previously thought.