Blowing snow on the Antarctic plateau

The multi-year (1989-2001) record of routine visual observations of blowing snow on the Antarctic Plateau is examined. This is supplemented by lidar and spectral observations to investigate the physical characteristics and radiative effects of blowing snow. The lidar observations are used to examine the vertical extent of the blowing snow layer and spectral observations are analyzed to obtain the radiative effect of blowing snow. Correlations between blowing snow events, and observations of wind direction and speeds, are also studied.