USE OF AVHRR DATA FOR STUDYING KATABATIC WINDS IN ANTARCTICA

Antarctic research is often difficult to conduct because of the harsh environment, large extent of the continent and remoteness of many areas of interest. Satellite remote sensing is being investigated as a tool for aiding research throughout Antarctica. One application is the detection of katabatic winds and their temperature structure. Presented here is a katabatic event that occurred in July 1984 and was detected in the NOAA-7 polar orbiter thermal data. The study area is over the Transantarctic Mountains and Ross Ice Shelf. Results of the research and image processing analysis done for this case are provided. Initial results show that the satellite data can supply much information about the temperature change that occurs during this adiabatic process.