1

Antarctic Automatic Weather Stations

Abbreviated Field Report for 2009-2010

Matthew A. Lazzara

George A. Weidner

Jonathan E. Thom

Lee J. Welhouse

Nicole M. Schroeder

Space Science and Engineering Center

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Madison, Wisconsin 53706

The National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs funds the placement of automatic

weather station (AWS) units in remote areas in Antarctica in support of meteorological research,

applications and operations. The basic AWS units measure air temperature, wind speed and

direction at a nominal height of 3 meters above the surface. Air pressure is measured at the height

of the AWS electronic enclosure. Some units measure relative humidity at 3 meters above the

surface and the air temperature difference between .5 and 3 meters above the surface at the time of

installation. A small, but increasing number of AWS sites measure snow accumulation. The data

are collected by the ARGOS Data Collection System (DCS) on board the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and MetOp (EUMETSAT) series of polar-orbiting satellites.

The AWS units are located in arrays for specific research activities and also used for operational

purposes. Any one AWS may support several experiments and all support operational

meteorological services - especially support for weather forecasts for aircraft flights.

Research areas supported in the past include:

• Barrier wind flow along the Antarctic Peninsula and the Transantarctic Mountains

• Katabatic wind flow down the Byrd and Beardmore Glaciers, the Siple and Adelie Coast

• Mesoscale circulation and sensible and latent heat fluxes on the Ross Ice Shelf

• The Ross Ice Shelf Air Stream.

• Climatology of long operating AWS sites in particular, Byrd and Dome C sites.

• Meteorological support for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Initiative

• Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) along the Antarctic Peninsula

• Meteorological support for United States Antarctic Program flight operations

A sampling of historically supported principal investigators funded by NSF-OPP:

• Dr. Douglas R. MacAyeal: Iceberg Drift in the Near-Shelf Environment, Ross Ice Shelf,

Antarctica

• Drs. Tom Parish and John Cassano: The Ross Ice Shelf Air Stream

• Dr. Ray Smith, Long Term Ecological Research: Racer Rock, Bonaparte Point, and Santa

Claus Island.

• West Antarctic Ice Sheet Initiative: Siple Dome and West Antarctic Divide drilling sites

• Aircraft Operation: All AWS sites in Antarctic.

• The Antarctic AWS units support many investigators outside of NSF-OPP.

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AMRC collaboration:

• Climatological analysis from the AWS, and other stations (complimenting the activities in the

SCAR READER project).

• Continued data collection, archival and distribution of AWS data.

• Continued educational outreach activities (as outlined in the above section and in the

following outreach section).

• Utilities developed to generate climatological analyses from AWS observations.

Current research efforts include:

• Composite analysis of the surface effects of El Nino/Southern Oscillation and La Nina

teleconnections on Antarctica

• Ross Ice Shelf wind flow studies (with collaborator, Dr. John Cassano)

• Snow accumulation studies

• State of the Antarctic climate

Fieldwork completed for 2009-2010

The 2009-2010 field team included Matthew Lazzara (O-283), Lee Welhouse (O-283), and

Nicole Schroeder (O-283). Ms. Nicole Schroeder arrived in McMurdo 31 December 2009 and

redeployed on 26 January 2010. Mr. Lee Welhouse and Dr. Matthew Lazzara deployed to

McMurdo Station on 9 January 2010, and redeployed on 8 February 2010. Fieldwork was also

done through cooperative programs with personnel from the Japanese Antarctic program (JARE),

the French Antarctic program Institut Polaire Français - Paul Emile Victor (IPEV), the Mawson’s

Hut Foundation, and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). A total of 15 AWS were visited this

field season.

Several AWS sites were not able to be serviced due to the reduced field deployment and the

weather. Sites that had been expected to visit included Siple Dome and Minna Bluff AWS. New

sites that did not get installed included the Tall Tower AWS site and three new AWS in the Pine

Island Glacier area of West Antarctica: Thurston Island, Bear Peninsula and Pig Helo Camp Site

C/Meyers Nunatak – to be installed by Dr. David Holland. These will be attempted again in the

2010-2011 field season.

Summary fieldwork follows:

A. McMurdo based operations (USAP/Wisconsin)

Site ARGOS ID Service performed at site

Ferrell 8929 Retrieve ADG data, Replaced memory

module, raised lower sensors

Willie Field 21364 Raised lower temperature probe

Fixed wind sensor mounting

Windless Bight 8982 AWS raised; replaced ADG arm

Lettau 8928 Replaced Batteries

Pegasus North 8937 Fixed wind sensor mounting

Elaine 21375 Replaced AWS: new ADG and

solar radiation sensors

Eric 8697 Raised AWS; recovered/replaced batteries

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B. West Antarctic based operation (USAP/Wisconsin)

Site ARGOS ID Service performed at site

Kominko-Slade (WAIS) 8936 AWS raised; electronics added to snow

temperature string; Added battery

Byrd 8903 AWS raised – new tower and sensor boom

-by Dr David Holland, Joe Petit,

Susha Dore

C. South Pole (USAP/Wisconsin)

Site ARGOS ID Service performed at site

South Pole n/a Test radiation shield AWS installed.

D. Palmer Station/Peninsula (USAP/Wisconsin)

No AWS serviced in the Palmer Station/Peninsula region

E. Field work in Adelie Land (France –IPEV)

Site ARGOS ID Service performed at site

D-47 8916 Replaced AWS 8947 with AWS 8916

E-66 8947 Removed AWS 8912 with AWS 8947

See appendix for excerpts from report from IPEV

F. Field work in Adelie Land (Mawson’s Hut Foundation)

No AWS servicing due to cargo problems

G. Field work in Enderby Land (Japan – JARE)

Site ARGOS ID Service performed at site

Dome Fuji 8904 Replaced AWS with a new AWS

Relay Station 8918 Replaced AWS with a new AWS

H. Field work in Peninsula (United Kingdom – BAS) & AWS maintained cooperatively with the

British Antarctic Survey

Site ARGOS ID Service performed at site

Dismal Island 8932 Replaced AWS with a new AWS

See appendix for photos from BAS

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Figure 1. A draft map of Antarctica showing the locations of the University of Wisconsin’s

automatic weather stations (and other nations) for 2010. Identification of the sites is by the

site name

Draft

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Servicing of Dismal Island AWS by British Antarctic Survey

(Photos Courtesy of Tasmin Gray, BAS)

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