1. Observations and analysis of the far-infrared downwelling radiance from the Dome C site, Antarctica: a 7-year time series.
- Author
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Bianchini, Giovanni, Palchetti, Luca, and Natale, Gianluca Di
- Subjects
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RADIANCE , *ATMOSPHERIC radiation , *LOW temperatures , *SPECTRUM analysis , *TROPOSPHERE - Abstract
Since December, 2011 an integrated observation system based on the REFIR-PAD Fouriertransform spectroradiometer has been established at the station Concordia, on the EastAntarctic plateau (75∘06’S, 123∘23’E, 3233 m a. s. l.). The REFIR-PAD instrument provides spectrally-resolved measurements of thedownwelling atmospheric emitted radiance in the 100-1500 cm−1 range, thus including thefar-infrared region; together with a set of auxiliary sensors connected to a single dataacquisition and storage system these measurements provide a valuable tool for thecharacterization of the Antarctic troposphere. The observation system is operating in continuous acquisition mode since its installation,thus providing an unique, more than 7-year long, time series of atmospheric radiances andancillary data. Polar regions are the main radiative sink of the Earth system, thus the monitoring of theiratmosphere has a high relevance for climate studies. Broad band, spectrally resolved radiancemeasurements as those performed by REFIR-PAD fulfill a twofold task, providing acharacterization of the atmospheric radiation including the identification of its maincontributing components, but also allowing for the retrieval of the atmospheres structure andcomposition through the analysis of the measured spectra. This kind of analysis is particularly interesting in the polar context, since it includes thefar-infrared region of the spectrum in which, due to the low temperatures involved, a greatpart of the radiative exchange takes place. A description of the currently operating observation system will be presented, togetherwith some preliminary results from the analysis of the measurements performed in the2012-2018 period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019