This paper presents various snowdrift quantities evaluated from meteorological and snowdrift data observed over an Antarctic blue ice surface during austral summer. It is found that snowdrift transport rates over ice are much lower than over snow surfaces. The main cause of this is the limited availability of loose snow on the blue ice surface. Observations indicate that a significant part of snowdrift transport over blue ice occurs at relatively weak wind speeds, signifying the importance of erosion of loose snow at the ice surface. No clear relationship between wind speed and transport rate is found because other factors such as snow availability, the age of the snow cover, and the upwind conditions are important parameters as well. The increase in aerodynamic roughness length with friction velocity, which is usually found in snowdrift over snow, is absent over blue ice. This is because the surface friction associated with the movement of saltating particles is negligible over the smooth blue ice surface. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union