30 September 2017, Volume 28 Issue 3

    

• Select all
  |

Contents
• Select
  Contents of No.3 Vol.28 2017

  Editorial Office of Advances in Polar Science

  Advances in Polar Science. 2017, 28(3): 0-0.

  Abstract ( ) Download PDF ( ) Knowledge map Save
Reviews
• Select
  Overview of China’s Antarctic research progress 1984–2016

  CHEN Liqi, LIU Xiaohan, BIAN Lingen, CHEN Bo, HUANG Hongliang, HU Hongqiao, LUO Wei, SHI Guitao, SHI Jiuxin, XU Chengli, YANG Guang, ZHAO Yue, ZHANG Shaohua

  Advances in Polar Science. 2017, 28(3): 151-160. https://doi.org/10.13679/j.advps.2017.3.00151

  Abstract ( ) Download PDF ( ) Knowledge map Save

  It is more than 30 years since the first Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE) landed in Antarctica in 1984, representing China’s initiation in polar research. This review briefly summarizes the Chinese Antarctic scientific research and output accomplished over the past 30 years. The developments and progress in Antarctic research and the enhancement of international scientific cooperation achieved through the implementation of the CHINARE program have been remarkable. Since the 1980s, four permanent Chinese Antarctic research stations have been established successively and 33 CHINAREs have been completed. The research results have been derived from a series of spatiotemporal observations in association with various projects and multidisciplinary studies in the fields of oceanography, glaciology, geology, eophysics, geochemistry, atmospheric science, upper atmospheric physics, Antarctic astronomy, biology and ecology, human medicine, polar environment observation, and polar engineering.
  
  
  
• Select
  Chinese radioglaciological studies on the Antarctic ice sheet: progress and prospects

  CUI Xiangbin, WANG Tiantian, SUN Bo, TANG Xueyuan, GUO Jingxue

  Advances in Polar Science. 2017, 28(3): 161-171. https://doi.org/10.13679/j.advps.2017.3.000161

  Abstract ( ) Download PDF ( ) Knowledge map Save

  Chinese radioglaciological studies on the Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) began in 2004/05 when the 21st Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE 21) team arrived at Dome A for the first time and radio echo sounding (RES) was conducted along the inland traverse and in the Dome A region. Subsequently, more field surveys were conducted along the traverse and in the Dome A region using different radar systems targeting different scientific purposes, such as revealing the landscape of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains by detailed grid RES, or locating a deep ice core drilling site by mapping and studying internal structures, bedrock topography and subglacial conditions in the Dome A region. Furthermore, the evolution of the AIS was inferred from the typical mountain glaciation topography beneath Dome A, and the age of the deep ice core at Kunlun Station was estimated through numerical modeling. Recently, the Snow Eagle 601 airplane was acquired and an airborne geophysical system was constructed to survey the AIS in Princess Elizabeth Land during CHINARE 32 (2015/16) and CHINARE 33 (2016/17) in order to fill the large data gap there. In this paper, we review both the recent progress of Chinese radioglaciological science in Antarctica and future proposed work.
  
  
Articles
• Select
  Mechanisms associated with winter intraseasonal extreme sea ice extent in the Weddell Sea

  Fabio Ullmann Furtado de LIMA, Leila M. V. CARVALHO

  Advances in Polar Science. 2017, 28(3): 171-184. https://doi.org/10.13679/j.advps.2017.3.00171

  Abstract ( ) Download PDF ( ) Knowledge map Save

  Previous studies have shown evidence of atmospheric extratropical wave trains modulating sea ice area in the Weddell and Amundsen/Bellingshausen seas on intraseasonal time-scales (20–100 d). Here we investigate mechanisms relating intraseasonal extreme sea ice extent and Ekman layer dynamics with emphasis on the Weddell Sea. This study extends from 1989 to 2013 and focuses on the winter season. Wind stress τ is calculated with winds from the Climate Forecast System reanalysis (CFSR) to evaluate momentum transfer between the atmosphere and the Ekman layer. Lag-composites of the anomalies of Ekman transport and the Ekman pumping indicate that divergence of mass in the Ekman layer and upwelling lead the occurrence of extreme sea ice contraction on intraseasonal time-scales in the Weddell Sea. Opposite conditions (i.e., convergence of the mass and downwelling) lead extreme sea ice expansion on intraseasonal time-scales. This study suggests that the Ekman pumping resulting from the anomalous wind stress on intraseasonal time-scales can transport these warmer waters to the surface contributing to sea ice melting. Additionally, high resolution sea ice fraction and ocean currents obtained from satellite and in situ data are used to investigate in detail mechanisms associated with persistent extreme sea ice expansion and contraction on intraseasonal time-scales. These case studies reveal that atmospheric circumpolar waves on intraseasonal time-scales can induce contrasting anomalies of about ±20% in sea ice concentration at the Weddell and western Antarctica Peninsula margins within less than 30 d. This study shows that extreme anomalies in sea ice may lag between 5–25 d (1–5 pentads) the ocean-atmospheric forcing on intraseasonal time-scales.
  
  
  
• Select
  Mass change of the Antarctic ice sheet inferred from ICESat and CryoSat-2

  ZHANG Baojun, WANG Zemin, AN Jiachun, LIU Yanxia

  Advances in Polar Science. 2017, 28(3): 185-195. https://doi.org/10.13679/j.advps.2017.3.000185

  Abstract ( ) Download PDF ( ) Knowledge map Save

  This study examined the mass change of the Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) based on ICESat and CryoSat-2 observations. We estimated the AIS exhibited mass losses of −101±15 Gt·a^-1 during the ICESat period (Sept–Nov 2003 to Sept–Oct 2009) and −186±55 Gt·a^-1 during the CryoSat-2 period (Jan 2011 to Dec 2015). Mass losses occurred mainly in the sectors of the Amundsen and Bellingshausen seas. Benefitting from the 30-d subcycle of CryoSat-2, we obtained monthly estimates of mass evolution. Considerable annual variations were observed in the mass evolution sequences and the climatological monthly mass evolution. Seasonal mass evolutions in the sectors of the Bellingshausen and Amundsen seas were found most representative of the annual variation. The geographical distribution characteristics of interannual AIS mass evolution were revealed by the annual average mass evolution sequences. During Jan 2011 to Dec 2015, the ice sheets in the sectors of the Bellingshausen and Amundsen seas, and the Totten Glacier, experienced increasingly rapid areal mass loss. An area of mass gain with a moderate rate of increase was found between Dronning Maud Land and Enderby Land. Rapid mass accumulation has occurred in a limited area of the Kamb Ice Stream.
  
  
  
• Select
  Sea ice classification in the Weddell Sea based on scatterometer data

  GAO Xiang, PANG Xiaoping, JI Qing

  Advances in Polar Science. 2017, 28(3): 196-203. https://doi.org/10.13679/j.advps.2017.3.00196

  Abstract ( ) Download PDF ( ) Knowledge map Save

  Sea ice type is an important factor for accurately calculating sea ice parameters such as sea ice concentration, sea ice area and sea ice thickness using satellite remote sensing data. In this study, sea ice in the Weddell Sea was classified from scatterometer data by the histogram threshold method and the Spreen model method, and evaluated and validated with the Antarctic Sea Ice Processes and Climate (ASPeCt) sea ice type ship-based observations. The results show that the two methods can both distinguish multi-year (MY) ice and first-year (FY) ice during the ice growth season, and that the histogram threshold method has a relatively larger MY ice classification extent than the Spreen model. The classification accuracy of the histogram threshold method is 77.8%, while the Spreen model method accuracy is 80.3% compared with the ship-based observations, thus indicating that the Spreen model method is better for discriminating MY ice from FY ice from scatterometer data. These results provide a basis and reference for further retrieval of long-time sea ice type information for the whole Antarctica.
  
  
• Select
  Determination of grounding line on the Amery Ice Shelf using Sentinel-1 radar interferometry data

  LEI Haobo, ZHOU Chunxia, CHEN Yiming

  Advances in Polar Science. 2017, 28(3): 204-213. https://doi.org/10.13679/j.advps.2017.3.00204

  Abstract ( ) Download PDF ( ) Knowledge map Save

  Delineation of the grounding line (GL) is necessary for calculating the mass balance of Antarctica, but GL measurements for most of the continent remain at a relatively coarse level. We used Sentinel-1 constellation data to map the GL of the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS) using double-differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry. The ice thickness anomaly deduced from hydrostatic equilibrium and existing Antarctic GL products is compared with our result. With this new and very accurate GL, we detected new ice rises in the north of the AIS. Our new measurement shows no major change of the AIS GL, particularly in the southernmost part.
  
  
  
• Select
  Design and development of infrastructure of the Dome A Kunlun Station (2005–2015)

  ZHANG Yi, WANG Zhongjun

  Advances in Polar Science. 2017, 28(3): 214-227. https://doi.org/10.13679/j.advps.2017.3.00214

  Abstract ( ) Download PDF ( ) Knowledge map Save

  To enable further advanced study of Antarctica, a new station called Kunlun Station has been built by China in the Dome A region of the inland East Antarctic ice sheet. This paper describes the Antarctic station building design system that was developed with consideration of factors that may affect Kunlun Station, such as environment and climate, construction work and transport, environmental protection and energy conservation, psychological requirements and functional requirements. The design system included site selection, station planning, external building form, construction work, function and indoor environment, energy conservation, environmental protection, and material strategy. We also describe the experience acquired during the transportation and construction phases of Kunlun Station.