Scientists observe the coldest temperatures on the Earth's surface

Researchers released a report this week revealing "ultralow surface temperatures" in East Antarctica that exceed the coldest temperatures ever recorded on the earth's surface.

The lowest temperature measured on Earth is -89.2 ° C (-129 F) on July 23, 1983, observed at Vostok Station in Antarctica, but new data published in Geophysical Research Letters this week found that 100 locations on the East Antarctic Plateau reached temperatures of -98 ° C (-144 ° F) during the Antarctic Polar Night between 2004 and 2016.

A team from the National Snow and Ice Data Center ( NSIDC) of the University of Colorado Boulder identified the Eastern Antarctic Plateau – a mbadive, empty expanse the size of Australia. The South Pole – the coldest place on the planet

The eastern Antarctic plateau is about 3,500 m above sea level and the air above the plateau is extremely calm, dry and thin. "In this area, we see periods of incredibly dry air, which allows the heat of the snow surface to radiate more easily into space," said Ted Scambos, of the company. University of Colorado at Boulder.

East Antarctica is home to extremely low air and surface temperatures caused by intense radiative cooling of the snow surface during prolonged winter periods of clear skies, low winds and very dry atmosphere. 19659004] Researchers badyzed data from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, as well as NOAA polar operational environmental satellites, collected during the Antarctic winters between 2004 and 2016, and found that snow surface temperatures were falling regularly at -90 ° C. F) across the Plateau, with a hundred or so points reaching a minimum temperature of -98 ° C (-144 ° F).

"About 100 sites observed minimum surface temperatures of ~ -98 ° C during the 2004-2016 winters," and the researchers believe this represents near the absolute coldest of the earth's surface. "

"This temperature seems to be about as low as it is possible to reach even under clear skies and very dry conditions, because the radiant heat of the cold and cold air is almost equal to the heat radiating from the bitterly cold snow surface, "says the report.

The coldest temperatures were observed for several days while Vostok, Antarctica, still holds the world record for temperature the coldest ever measured by a terrestrial weather station, scientists hope to deploy ground-based instruments in the coldest places of the East Antarctic Plateau next year or so

Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome