Challenges in surface mass balance estimation at Dome C: stake farm comparisons, measurement uncertainties, and station-induced biases

Stefanini, Claudio; Stenni, Barbara; Masiol, Mauro; Dreossi, Giuliano; Favier, Vincent; Becherini, Francesca; Scarchilli, Claudio; Ciardini, Virginia; Carugati, Gabriele; Frezzotti, Massimo

doi:10.5194/tc-19-5781-2025

Articles | Volume 19, issue 11

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-5781-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-5781-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 11

Research article

|

17 Nov 2025

Research article |

| 17 Nov 2025

Challenges in surface mass balance estimation at Dome C: stake farm comparisons, measurement uncertainties, and station-induced biases

Claudio Stefanini, Barbara Stenni, Mauro Masiol, Giuliano Dreossi, Vincent Favier, Francesca Becherini, Claudio Scarchilli, Virginia Ciardini, Gabriele Carugati, and Massimo Frezzotti

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-5781-2025-supplement

Data sets

Stakes height at Concordia Station (Antarctica) Claudio Stefanini et al. https://doi.org/10.71761/3c796dbd-da9c-4f9f-b699-4af9453b5dfb

Snow density, temperature, and hardness at Concordia Station, Antarctica Claudio Stefanini et al. https://doi.org/10.71761/5fdbb2ae-6c40-4bd0-a502-7fb9844bd227

Dati meteorologici della Stazione meteorologica CONCORDIA presso la Base CONCORDIA STATION (DomeC) P. Grigioni et al. https://doi.org/10.12910/DATASET2022-002

ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47

MERRA-2 tavg1_2d_lnd_Nx: 2d,1-Hourly,Time-Averaged,Single-Level,Assimilation,Land Surface Diagnostics V5.12.4 Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) https://doi.org/10.5067/RKPHT8KC1Y1T

Monthly RACMO2.4p1 data for Antarctica (11 km) for SMB, SEB and near-surface variables (1979-2023) C. van Dalum et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14217232

Short summary

This study analyzes snow accumulation near Concordia Station in Antarctica (3233 m) to estimate yearly snow accumulation. Data from Italian and French stake farms show strong variation due to wind and surface features. On average, 7–8 cm of snow accumulate yearly near the Station. The study also compares results with climate models and explores whether the station buildings affect measurements.