Heat, mass and momentum transfer in katabatic winds over glaciers and ice sheets: towards a better formulation of the lower boundary conditions in climate models

The main aim of this project is a detailed study of the interaction between the atmosphere and underlying glacier surfaces, in particular in the presence of katabatic winds. The project will substantially increase our understanding of the phenomenon and will provide tools to represent the effects of katabatic flows in climate models in a more realistic way. Investigation will be carried out using exisiting methods and instrumentation for atmospheric stations in regions where katabatic winds are observed. We plan to organize joint meteorological experiments on glacier slopes at the Antarctic coast and in Svalbard. Modelling based on existing and new datasets will be an important part of the project. The model work will focus on aggregation of data, support of theoretical work, and tests of parameterisation schemes for use in climate models.