Wavelike Structures in the Turbulent Layer During the Morning Development of Convection at Dome C, Antarctica

In the period January-February 2014, observations were made at the Concordia station, Dome C, Antarctica to study atmospheric turbulence in the boundary layer using a high-resolution sodar. The turbulence structure was observed beginning from the lowest height of about 2 m, with a vertical resolution of less than 2 m. Typical patterns of the diurnal evolution of the spatio-temporal structure of turbulence detected by the sodar are analyzed. Here, we focus on the wavelike processes observed within the transition period from stable to unstable stratification occurring in the morning hours. Thanks to the high-resolution sodar measurements during the development of the convection near the surface, clear undulations were detected in the overlying turbulent layer for a significant part of the time. The wavelike pattern exhibits a regular braid structure, with undulations associated with internal gravity waves attributed to Kelvin-Helmholtz shear instability. The main spatial and temporal scales of the wavelike structures were determined, with predominant periodicity of the observed wavy patterns estimated to be 40-50 s. The horizontal scales roughly estimated using Taylor's frozen turbulence hypothesis are about 250-350 m.