Project Title

Collaborative Research: Antarctic automatic weather station program

Summary

Event Number:
O-283-M

Program Director:
Dr. David Porter

ASC POC/Implementer:
Judy Shiple / Jenny Cunningham

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. Matthew Lazzara
mattl@ssec.wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin Madison
Space Science and Engineering Center/AMRC
Madison, Wisconsin

Location

Supporting Stations: McMurdo Station
Research Locations: McMurdo Station, WAIS Divide

Description

The Antarctic Automatic Weather Station (AWS) network has been making meteorological observations since the early 1980s. This continent-wide network is positioned to observe significant meteorological events in real-time and increase our understanding of the climate of the Antarctic surface. The activities for this project will be focused on the care of the AWS network, the establishment of an advisory board, student engagement, and outreach activities. This project aims to continue to maintain and operate the AWS network. This effort will upgrade the real-time AWS processing, keep abreast of evolving communication methods, and have the data distributed widely. Prior NSF investments in the Polar Climate and Weather Station will be leveraged with the development of a more robust version that can be reliably utilized year-round in Antarctica. The observations will be quality-controlled and placed into a database where the public will be able to search and select observations. A test system of different radiation shields (with and without aspiration) will be deployed for one year at South Pole Station. This is to resolve conflicting radiation shield bias corrections of historical data, but also to inform optimal setup for temperature observations going forward. The project will be advised by a group of peers with the development of an AWS Advisory Board. A concerted effort to engage the public will be undertaken via scaled-up interactions with television meteorologists from several states across the United States to bring Antarctica to the public.

Field Season Overview

A science team of two will deploy from late-November to mid-January. Team members will visit the AWS sites on Ross Island, in West Antarctica, on the Ross Ice Shelf, at Williams Field and Phoenix airfield, and at Windless Bight. Antenna rigger and vehicle support will be provided at the Alexander Tall Tower AWS. The team will repair any AWS stations that developed problems during the austral winter and will make upgrades, if time allows. One McMurdo Station research associate provides year-round support.