Project Title

Collaborative Research: Antarctic Automatic Weather Station Program

Summary

Event Number:
O-283-M/S
NSF / OPP Award 2301362

Program Director:
Dr. David Porter

ASC POC/Implementer:
Marissa Goerke / 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, South Pole Station
Research Locations: West Antarctica, South Pole, Near McMurdo Station

Description

The Antarctic automated weather station (AWS) network has been making meteorological observations since the early 1980s. This continentwide network is positioned to observe significant meteorological events in real time and increase understanding of the climate of the Antarctic surface. The activities for this project will focus on maintaining the AWS network, establishing 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 National Science Foundation 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 can search and select observations. A test system of different radiation shields (with and without aspiration) will be deployed for 1 year at South Pole Station. This is to resolve conflicting radiation-shield bias corrections of historical data and 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 US states to bring Antarctica to the public.

Field Season Overview

A team of two will deploy from early November to mid-December to service AWSs in the vicinity of McMurdo Station. AWSs will be accessed via helicopter, Twin Otter aircraft, and overland vehicles. In early to mid-November, the team will spend 2 nights at distant Cape Hallett to service the station there. In early December, the team will travel to South Pole Station for several nights to install a weather observation system near the Atmospheric Research Laboratory (ARO) before returning to McMurdo and redeploying. A second team of two will also deploy in early December and travel to West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide. The team will access, raise, and service several West Antarctic AWSs via Twin Otter aircraft. They will return to McMurdo Station in mid-January to service any remaining local AWSs as needed before redeploying in late January. A McMurdo Station research associate will assist with monitoring and troubleshooting AWS network equipment at McMurdo Station year-round.

Deploying Team Members