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Regional weather survey on Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2013

Manuel Bañón ,
Ana Justel ,
David Velázquez  and
Antonio Quesada
Manuel Bañón*
Affiliation:
Observatorio Meteorológico de Alicante, AEMET, Spain
Ana Justel
Affiliation:
Departamento de Matemáticas, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
David Velázquez
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
Antonio Quesada
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
*
mbanong@aemet.es
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Abstract

In 2001 the LIMNOPOLAR Project was launched with the aim of addressing the suitability of freshwater ecosystems as useful sentinels of climate change. In this project, an automatic weather station was deployed on Byers Peninsula (Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands) near several freshwater ecosystems under research. Here the multi-year data recorded are presented and compared with meteorological time series from the observatories at the Spanish Juan Carlos I Station, Deception Island and Bellingshausen Station. Lake freezing and thawing periods and snow cover are also investigated. The main results indicate that Byers Peninsula is affected by the very cloudy and wet Antarctic maritime climate. Mean annual temperature is -2.8°C and summer mean temperatures are above freezing. The region shows moderate winds over the year and with moderate, mostly liquid precipitation during the summer. There is a significant linear relationship with meteorological records obtained from Juan Carlos I Station located on the east of Livingston Island. Correlations between meteorological data from both sites are high but with colder and much windier conditions on Byers Peninsula. Therefore, the usefulness and accuracy of meteorological records in the interpretation of ecosystem dynamics are presented.

Keywords

climatologyglobal changeLIMNOPOLARmeteorology
Type
Research Articles
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 25 , Issue 2: Byers Peninsula – A New Reference Site For The Maritime Antarctic , April 2013 , pp. 146 - 156
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2013

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