Weather observations of remote polar areas using an AWS onboard a unique zero-emissions polar vehicle

Abstract

The Antarctic Plateau is one of the land areas with the largest gaps in surface weather observations on Earth, gaps that are usually filled with simulations provided by climate models. However, these simulated values must be ground-validated, which is particularly difficult and costly in remote polar regions. We designed and developed a Mobile Automatic Weather Station (M-AWS) which, on board a zero-emissions polar vehicle, recorded a large set of ground measurements that could be used to evaluate numerical weather simulations in an inexpensive way during the Year of Polar Prediction Southern Hemisphere Special Observing Period (YOPP). The M-AWS registered several weather variables over a transect of 2538 km in the East Antarctic Plateau. These meteorological data were also used by other scientific projects that were part of the expedition and for improving weather forecasting during the mission. The innovative design of the M-AWS overcame the main challenges imposed by the harsh conditions of a voyage in one of the world’s most extreme regions.