This is some prelim work correlating in-situ data with RADARSAT imagery. It is very useful to sometimes be able to show other people what you are talking about rather than trying to explain. The first image uses read arrows to indicate which direction the wind was hitting the ship from while we were travelling around inside the Mertz Polynya. As the polynya was open at the time the winds are from the south (which is to be expected) and and a little more easterly than one would expect. This demonstrates the curving of katabatic wind flow anit-clock wise around the continent as it flows over the ocean. When you get large off-shore winds this flow is nobbled altogether over the ocean and the polynya starts to close.
Image 2 shows how important it was to get ship based measurements. Most met data comes from the station Dumont d'urville (DD). This land based set of data is excellent. What this ship comparison shows is that events can be different (ie wind speed, direction or temperature etc) from a measurement point within the polynya. However the record is good for general trending.
Now this is all much more complex and for full details you will have to wait for my book entitled "really dull science - of interest to only a select few".
This follows on from my wildly successful atlas of a few places around Antarctica that we care about....oh i just kill me some times.
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