An analysis of temperatures and wind speeds above Dome C, Antarctica

¹ Laboratoire Universitaire d'Astrophysique de Nice, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice Cedex 2, France e-mail: aristidi@unice.fr
² School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia e-mail: tonyt@phys.unsw.edu.au
³ Department of Geography, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA

Received: 21 August 2004
Accepted: 24 September 2004

Abstract

A good astronomical site must fulfill several criteria including low atmospheric turbulence and low wind speeds. It is therefore important to have a detailed knowledge of the temperature and wind conditions of a location considered for future astronomical research. Antarctica has unique atmospheric conditions that have already been exploited at the South Pole station. Dome C, a site located on a local maximum of the Antarctic plateau, is likely to have even better conditions. In this paper we present the analysis of two decades of wind speed measurements taken at Dome C by an automated weather station (AWS). We also present temperature and wind speed profiles taken over four Antarctic summers using balloon-borne weather sondes. We will show that as well as having one of the lowest average wind speed ever recorded at an existing or potential observatory, Dome C also has an extremely stable upper atmosphere and a very low inversion layer.