Antarctic Boundary Layer Structure Under Cloudy and Blowing Snow Conditions: a Study with CALIOP and Dropsonde Observations

By connecting the atmosphere and the cryosphere, the Antarctic Boundary Layer plays a key role in the continental climate system. Due to the surface energy imbalance ensued from radiative cooling, the Antarctic boundary layer is predominantly stable, characterized by the long lasting surface based inversion (SBI), but under certain conditions SBIs can be destroyed, which leads to a mixed boundary layer. In this study, we combine CALIPSO observations and dropsonde data from the Concordiasi Antarctic Campaign in 2010 to study the boundary layer structure and the corresponding atmospheric profile under cloudy and blowing snow conditions. We will show that clouds and blowing snow play an important role in Antarctic boundary layer mixing through longwave radiative heating. Blowing snow is an indicator of boundary layer mechanical turbulence, which is also a mechanism of mixing.