Antarctic Meteorological Research Center (AMRC): 1999-2003

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

The Antarctic Meteorological Research Center (AMRC), one of three research centers in the Science and Engineering Technology Center at McMurdo, is a resource for meteorological research and a test bed for improving operational synoptic forecasting. The Man-Computer Interactive Data Access System (McIDAS), a versatile computer-based system developed by the University of Wisconsin for organizing, manipulating, and integrating environmental data forms the basis of AMRC. It captures the flow of antarctic meteorological information from polar orbiting satellites, automatic weather stations, operational station synoptic observations, and research project data. It also receives environmental data products, such as weather forecasts, from outside Antarctica, and acts as a repository for existing archived data bases. The AMRC was established in the 1992-93 austral summer season and consisted of the installation and operation of work stations capable of manipulating and displaying Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data based on the existing satellite imagery acquisition system. This was followed by the acquisition and integration of a system that provided data collection, data display and archiving, scientific applications, network communications, and remote user access. The system currently produces the Antarctic Composite Infrared Image (ACII), a mosaic of images from four geostationary and three polar-orbiting satellites, which is used for both forecasting and research purposes. The current phase maintains continuity of product generation and user support.