Project Title

Collaborative Research: Fe and Na LiDAR investigations of geospace-atmosphere temperature, composition, chemistry, and dynamics at McMurdo, Antarctica

Summary

Event Number:
A-123-M
NSF / OPP Award 2110428

Program Director:
Dr. Vladimir Papitashvili

ASC POC/Implementer:
John Rand / Randolph Jones / Richard Dean

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. Xinzhao Chu
xinzhao.chu@colorado.edu
University of Colorado Boulder
CIRES

Project Web Site:
http://cires1.colorado.edu/science/groups/chu/

Location

Supporting Stations: McMurdo Station
Research Locations: Arrival Heights

Description

Researchers on this project operate two narrow-band, multi-frequency Doppler LiDARs at McMurdo Station. These LiDAR can make high-resolution observations of winds and temperatures in the middle and upper atmosphere. Simultaneous observations by the two instruments - a sodium LiDAR and an iron Boltzmann LiDAR - provide unprecedented levels of detail to characterize atmospheric conditions. The instruments have been hosted by Antarctica New Zealand (ANZ) in their Arrival Heights laboratory since late 2010. The observations provide critical data to address key science challenges associated with the space-atmosphere interaction region and, in particular, the sparsely observed high-latitude southern hemisphere.

Field Season Overview

For the summer 2023-24 season, LiDAR operations will be paused in October 2023 and restarted in February 2024 ahead of the winter 2024 season. For the pause, the equipment will be placed in a safe and secure standby state and monitored and tended to as needed by on-site support provided by ASC staff and other station staff (IT, station services, etc.). For winter 2024 operations, two science team members will winterover at McMurdo Station.

Deploying Team Members