Atmospheric circulation influence on air temperature in Spitsbergen

What is it about?

The paper presents the study of the influence of atmospheric circulation on topoclimatic diversity in the Forlandsundet region (NW Spitsbergen). The analysis is presented for three seasons identified as: winter (Nov–Mar), spring/autumn (Apr–May and Sep–Oct) and summer (Jun–Aug). The atmospheric circulation in the studied area was described using Tadeusz Niedźwiedź's classification of diurnal circulation types for Svalbard. The influence of atmospheric circulation on the spatial pattern of air temperature in the Forlandsundet region changes through the year. In the cold season (Sep–May) it differs significantly from that observed in summer (Jun–Aug), and this feature is also seen in analyses of the 10% highest (≥ 90th percentile) and lowest (≤ 10th percentile) thermal differences. In summer, the influence of atmospheric circulation on air temperature in the topoclimatic scale is definitely less stable than in the cold season.

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Why is it important?

That kind of analysis was not conducted for the entire year, usually was based only on data from summer season. The influence of atmospheric circulation on the spatial pattern of air temperature is different in particular seasons as well as depends on location; important differences were observed between coastal and inland parts of the study area.