Systematic Error in the Synoptic Sky Cover Record of the South Pole.

Details Systematic Error in the Synoptic Sky Cover Record of the South Pole. Systematic Error in the Synoptic Sky Cover Record of the South Pole.

Mar 1989

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1989jcli....2..295s&link_type=abstract

Journal of Climate, vol. 2, Issue 3, pp.295-304

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

1

Scientific paper

Astronomers have long recognized that it is far more difficult to detect thin and mattered clouds visually when the nighttime sky is dark than when the moon contributes significantly to the sky background. An analysis of the nighttime synoptic total sky coverage data from the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station, for the period 1976-85, shows a systematic error in the observational record which we believe is due to this effect. We will show that the nighttime mean total sky cover at the South Pole has been underestimated by a factor of at least 1.5 (55% as opposed to the reported 37%). The percentage of time that the sky was reported to be clear has been overestimated by a similar amount. With the recognition of this systematic error we conclude that the seasonal variations in sky cover at the South Pole, as determined from them synoptic observations, are not nearly as significant as previously believed.

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