PRELIMINARY-ANALYSIS OF SURFACE RADIATION MEASUREMENTS RECORDED AT THE NANSEN ICE-SHEET (ANTARCTICA)

An experiment on radiation and surface energy balance was conducted du ring the 9th Italian expedition in Antarctica at the Nansen ice sheet, a glacier situated close to the Italian base at Terra Nova Bay, to co rrelate surface balances to the formation and development of katabatic winds. Measurements were taken by radiometers covering the whole spec tra of solar and terrestrial emissions and by fast sensors of atmosphe ric wind velocity and humidity for the application of the eddy correla tion technique. A preliminary analysis of the radiometric data collect ed in order to quantify the major components of radiative energy balan ce during the Antarctic summer in clear-sky conditions is reported and discussed. The findings show the very low available energy (mean abou t 1 W/m(2)), in terms of net radiation, for the physical processes suc h as sensible- and latent-heat fluxes. Long-wave radiation balance was applied to estimate the reliability of the Swinbank's parametrization , relative to general conditions of the atmosphere.