Improved Characterization and Prediction of Antarctic Weather and Climate Though Utilization of CONCORDIASI Data Set

University Of Oklahoma Norman Campus, Norman OK

Investigators

Abstract

Based on a successful multidisciplinary and international (Fr-US) CONCORDIASI campaign, an evaluation of high resolution weather simulations using AMPS (Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System) code will be made by comparing modeled and observed data. The extensive CONCORDIASI observation set will allow unprecedented comparison of the regional performance of the model outputs over Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. Approximately 640 dropsondes were deployed from some 13 balloon flights during a 7 week period in 2010. The dropsondes yield in-situ profiles of wind, temperature, pressure and humidity through the Antarctic atmosphere. In turn the performance of the model may serve as diagnostic for a number of key meteorological phenomena in the Antarctic, including atmospheric circulation and dynamics, and the ability to determine momentum balance, moisture and radiation over the continent during austral summertime. Educational goals include graduate student training and involvement, and potentially enhanced operational skill of forecast models such as AMPS, used operationally in the USAP program