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20th Century Antarctic Pressure Variability and Trends Using a Seasonal Spatial Pressure Reconstruction

Goergens, Chad A.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1491474158428459

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, Geography (Arts and Sciences).
Across Antarctica, most meteorological observations did not begin until the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58, making it difficult to understand Antarctic climate variability during the early 20th century. To overcome this hurdle, this thesis creates, evaluates, and analyzes several seasonal spatial pressure reconstructions that extend back to 1905 across the Antarctic continent. A kriging interpolation method is used to generate the seasonal spatial pressure reconstruction using 19 Antarctic stations as predictors. Multiple evaluation techniques were used to assess the reliability of the spatial pressure reconstructions when compared to ERA-Interim, which is deemed the most reliable gridded pressure dataset after 1979. From all these evaluation metrics, it is concluded that the most reliable spatial pressure reconstructions are for the summer and winter seasons, but all seasons have enough skill to be useful in interpreting pressure variability throughout the 20th century. Using the newly generated spatial reconstructions, it is clearly seen that the negative pressure trend in the late 20th century across the entire continent in DJF is unique when compared to the 100+ year record. Given this uniqueness and contemporary modeling studies, it is likely that stratospheric ozone depletion plays a leading role in the recent negative Antarctic pressure trends in summer. In contrast, the early 20th century in DJF and the entire 20th century for the other seasons are characterized by interannual variability, with strong decadal-scale variability especially prevalent in winter. This highlights the importance of natural variability in causing the majority of ongoing Antarctic circulation pattern changes.
Ryan Fogt (Advisor)
Gaurav Sinha (Committee Member)
Jana Houser (Committee Member)
278 p.
Atmosphere; Atmospheric Sciences; Climate Change; Geography; Meteorology
Antarctica; kriging; 20th century; Antarctic pressure variability; Interpolation; Climate

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Goergens, C. A. (2017). 20th Century Antarctic Pressure Variability and Trends Using a Seasonal Spatial Pressure Reconstruction [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1491474158428459

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Goergens, Chad. 20th Century Antarctic Pressure Variability and Trends Using a Seasonal Spatial Pressure Reconstruction. 2017. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1491474158428459.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Goergens, Chad. "20th Century Antarctic Pressure Variability and Trends Using a Seasonal Spatial Pressure Reconstruction." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1491474158428459

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1491474158428459
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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.