The Measurement of the Surface Temperature at Mizuho Station, East Antarctica

In 1979,the measurement of the surface temperature was made at Mizuho Station (70°42′S, 44°20′E, and 2230m above sea level), East Antarctica, by employing three different methods, a platinum resistance thermometer, a pyrgeometer and a radiation thermometer. These instruments were installed at different sites, on the drift snow, on the sastrugi and on the glazed surface. In winter the surface temperature measured by these different methods is roughly similar, but in spring and summer the surface temperature depends upon the density of snow and the wind speed. Namely, the surface temperature on the glazed surface (multi-year eroded surface with density twice as large as that of the surface of drift snow and sastrugi) is different from that on the surface of drift snow and sastrugi. Mizuho Station is located in the katabatic wind area where the various forms of snow surface coexist. Therefore, in this paper, it is pointed out that in order to understand the heat exchange at the surface of Antarctica, especially in the katabatic wind area, the distribution of the types of the snow surface and its variation must be studied in addition to the investigation of the micro process of heat exchange for the different types of the surface