THE DIURNAL VARIATION OF THE VECTOR SURFACE WIND AT SEVERAL ICE CAP STATIONS.

Diurnal variations of the mean surface wind vector at four stations on the slope of the Greenland ice cap east of Thule are examined for each of twelve consecutive months. In each case all possible harmonic components were calculated. The first diurnal harmonic is generally found to be the dominant component though this fact is usually well masked in the curves which the periodic functions are intended to reproduce. Diurnal control of the wind vector is greatest at the highest of the four stations. It appears that the observed diurnal variation of the vector wind is a consequence of a wide varity of atmospheric disturbances whose nature the analysis technique is powerless to describe. Author