Combined approach to the analysis of near-surface wind speed tendencies at the Vernadsky Station, West Antarctic Peninsula

In Antarctica, studying the near-surface wind regime is important because its dynamics directly affect the continent’s ice shelves. The nearsurface wind is also important for analyzing global and regional climate. Vernadsky Station has a fairly long observation series of nearsurface wind speed. These data are widely used to research changes, variability, and trends in the near-surface wind regime on the Antarctic Peninsula. The observation series, however, has gaps and incorrect values associated with periodical updates of measurement devices. Thus, the observation data require careful evaluation of homogeneity and stationarity. The objective of this study was to investigate the homogeneity, stationarity, and tendencies of the near-surface wind speed in the area of the Vernadsky Station based on a combined approach using several statistical and graphical methods. The methods’ diverse properties support more robust estimates. Consequently, five statistical tests (standard normal Alexandersson test, Buishand test, Pettitt test, von Neumann relation, and Mann-Kendall test) and three graphical methods (chronological graph, mass curve, and residual mass curve) were employed. Most of the observation series is homogeneous and stationary, except the mean annual and February mean monthly near-surface wind speeds, which display both decreasing and increasing phases in their long-term cyclical fluctuations, which are continuing. Violation of homogeneity and stationarity results from the comparison of different phases of cyclic fluctuations (decrease and increase), which have different statistical characteristics. We show that over the past 20 years at the station, the near-surface wind speed has tended to increase in all months of the year.