Byrd Tall Tower AWS Project

Observing the atmospheric boundary layer over the West Antarctic ice sheet

This project’s main objective is an observational campaign, focused on studying and understanding the behavior of the atmospheric boundary layer over the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS), especially in comparison to other studies across the continent.

1. A robust set of year-round, autonomous, atmospheric and surface measurements made using an instrumented 30-m tall tower (TT) at Byrd Station summer camp.
2. An unmanned aerial system (UAS) field campaign conducted during the second year of this project and supplements the Byrd TT AWS observations by sampling the entire depth of the boundary layer. This site is a blog maintained by our collaborator that describes the Antarctic UAS campaigns: http://cires.colorado.edu/blogs/antarcticuavs/.
3. Explain the processes that modulate the exchange of energy between the ice sheet surface and the overlying atmosphere; assess the relationships between near surface stability, winds, and radiative forcing; and compare these relationships observed at the Byrd TT AWS to those described for other portions of the Antarctic continent.
4. Assess the ability of the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) operational weather forecasting model and current generation reanalyses (e.g. CFSR, MERRA, ERA-I) to accurately represent surface and boundary layer processes in this region of Antarctica.