Abstract: In the recent years, a large amount of magnetic vector and scalar data have been measured or made available to scientists. They cover different ranges of altitudes from ground to satellite levels and have high horizontal densities over some geographical areas. Processing these potential field data may require alternatives to the widely used Spherical Harmonics. During the past decades, new techniques have been proposed to model regionally the magnetic measurements. They complement the set of older approaches that were revived and sometimes revised in the meantime. The amount of available techniques is intimidating and one often wonders which method is the most appropriate for what purpose. In this paper, we review several modelling strategies. Starting from the Spherical Harmonics, we discuss methods with global support (wavelets, multi-scale, Slepian functions,) and then bring the focus on regional methods with local support (Rectangular Harmonic Analysis, Cylindrical Harmonic Analysis, Spherical Caps,). We briefly examine the theoretical aspects and properties of each approach. We compare them with the help of a unique set of perfect synthetic data that mimic an ideal spatial distribution at a fixed surface. This helps us to better emphasize the theoretical characteristics of each approach and suggest, when relevant, improvements that would be useful for future practical applications.

Abstract: For the first time a simulation of blowing snow events was validated in detail using one-month long observations (January 2010) made in Adélie Land, Antarctica. A regional climate model featuring a coupled atmosphere / blowing snow / snowpack model is forced laterally by meteorological re-analyses. The vertical grid spacing ranged from 2 m to 20 m above the surface and the horizontal grid spacing was 5 km. The simulation was validated by comparing the occurrence of blowing snow events and other meteorological parameters at two automatic weather stations. The Nash test allowed us to compute efficiencies of the simulation. The regional climate model simulated the observed wind speed with a positive efficiency (0.69). Wind speeds higher than 12 m s-1 were underestimated. Positive efficiency of the simulated wind speed was a prerequisite for validating the blowing snow model. Temperatures were simulated with a slightly negative efficiency (--0.16) due to overestimation of the amplitude of the diurnal cycle during one week, probably because the cloud cover was underestimated at that location during the period concerned. Snowfall events were correctly simulated by our model, as confirmed by field reports. Because observations suggested that our instrument (an acoustic sounder) tends to overestimate the blowing snow flux, data were not sufficiently accurate to allow the complete validation of snow drift values. However, the simulation of blowing snow occurrence was in good agreement with the observations made during the first 20 days of January 2010, despite the fact that the blowing snow flux may be underestimated by the regional climate model during pure blowing snow events. We found that blowing snow occurs in Adélie Land only when the half-hourly wind speed value at 2 m a.g.l. is higher than 10 m s-1 . The validation for the last 10 days of January 2010 was less satisfactory because of complications introduced by surface melting and refreezing.

Abstract: Concordia Antarctic research station is one of the most isolated research stations on the planet and shares many stressor characteristics with deep space-long duration missions (DSLD). I spent a year at the Concordia in 2009 as a researcher in human biology and medicine for the European Space Agency, investigating the consequences of chronic stress on immunity and sleep. I discuss my experience and offer some brief thoughts on the parallels with DSLD missions.

Abstract: About 75 % of the Antarctic surface mass gain occurs over areas below 2,000 m asl, which cover 40 % of the grounded ice-sheet. As the topography is complex in many of these regions, surface mass balance modelling is highly dependent on horizontal resolution, and studying the impact of Antarctica on the future rise in sea level requires physical approaches. We have developed a computationally efficient, physical downscaling model for high-resolution (15 km) long-term surface mass balance (SMB) projections. Here, we present results of this model, called SMHiL (surface mass balance high-resolution downscaling), which was forced with the LMDZ4 atmospheric general circulation model to assess Antarctic SMB variability in the twenty first and the twenty second centuries under two different scenarios. The higher resolution of SMHiL better reproduces the geographical patterns of SMB and increase significantly the averaged SMB over the grounded ice-sheet for the end of the twentieth century. A comparison with more than 3200 quality-controlled field data shows that LMDZ4 and SMHiL reproduce the observed values equally well. Nevertheless, field data below 2,000 m asl are too scarce to efficiently show the added value of SMHiL and measuring the SMB in these undocumented areas should be a future scientific priority. Our results suggest that running LMDZ4 at a finer resolution (15 km) may give a future increase in SMB in Antarctica that is about 30 % higher than by using its standard resolution (60 km) due to the higher increase in precipitation in coastal areas at 15 km. However, a part (~15 %) of these discrepancies could be an artefact from SMHiL since it neglects the foehn effect and likely overestimates the precipitation increase. Future changes in the Antarctic SMB at low elevations will result from the competition between higher snow accumulation and runoff. For this reason, developing downscaling models is crucial to represent processes in sufficient detail and correctly model the SMB in coastal areas.

Abstract: Glucocorticoid hormones (GCs) are important mediators of physiological and behavioral responses to stress. While many studies have evaluated the environmental, behavioral, or physiological correlates of GCs and their effects on reproductive performances, further work is needed to clarify the relationship between GCs and fitness. Assessing the effects of increased GC levels on specific behaviors of breeding animals should improve our understanding of how GCs affect parental care. In this experimental study, we measured the effects of an experimental increase in corticosterone (CORT, the main avian GC) levels on the behavior of free-living male Ad,lie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) within the colony, their reproductive output, and the indirect consequences of both on the behavior of their partners. We show that increased CORT levels in males decreased their foraging time at sea while increased their attendance at the nest, although their attentiveness toward the nest itself decreased. In addition, treated males spent more time on comfort behaviors (e.g., preening), vocalizing, and engaging in positive social interactions relative to controls. Treatment further affected the behavior of their partners, but not chick begging and feeding rates. Penguins with increased CORT levels also exhibited decreased reproductive output. Previous studies of Ad,lie penguins in different life history stages and environmental conditions suggest that the consequences of CORT treatment on reproductive performance are context-dependent. In addition to the potential delay in the effects of increased CORT levels on reproduction, this context dependence should be taken into account when studying the behavior of free-living animals in relation to stress-inducing situations.