| NSF Org: |
OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | October 22, 2019 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | October 22, 2019 |
| Award Number: | 2001430 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Allen Pope
OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | November 15, 2019 |
| End Date: | October 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $125,070.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $125,070.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
3100 MARINE ST Boulder CO US 80309-0001 (303)492-6221 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
3100 Marine Street, Room 481 Boulder CO US 80309-0481 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | ANT Ocean & Atmos Sciences |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.078 |
ABSTRACT
Despite several decades of successful Antarctic aviation, centered upon flight operations in the McMurdo (Phoenix Field, Ross Island; RsI) area, systemized description of radar observations such as are normally found essential in operational aviation settings are notably lacking. The Ross Island region of Antarctica is a topographically complex region that results in large variations in the mesoscale high wind and precipitation features across the region. The goals of this project are to increase the understanding of the three-dimensional structure of these mesoscale meteorology features. Of particular interest are those features observed with radar signals.
This project will leverage observations from the scanning X-band radar installed during the AWARE field campaign in 2016 and the installation of an EWR Radar Systems X-band scanning radar (E700XD) to be deployed during the 2019-20 field season, at McMurdo. Several science questions and case studies will be addressed during the season.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Weather radars are widely used in weather forecasting and research in the mid-latitudes but similar radar data is typically not available in the polar regions. Two different weather radars were installed near the main United States Antarctic research base, McMurdo Station, as part of a year-long field campaign in 2016 and as a trial of an operational weather radar during the Antarctic summer of 2019-2020. In this project we assessed the utility of this radar data for studying small-scale patterns in precipitation and winds around McMurdo Station.
Due to technical problems with the operational radar deployed in 2019-2020 little useable data was collected but our project identified types of data that should be archived if similar radar systems are installed near McMurdo Station in the future.
The field campaign radar data from 2016 allowed us to analyze the precipitation and wind associated with a storm that took place from 16-20 January 2016 and compare these radar observations to operational weather forecasts produced by the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS). The radar data revealed large spatial gradients in precipitation and winds in the vicinity of McMurdo Station, related to the complex terrain in this area. The AMPS forecasts accurately simulated much of the spatial variability although a dry bias in the model resulted in much less precipitation being forecast by the model than was actually observed.
The radar observations have given us our first fully resolved observations of the small-scale patterns of precipitation and winds around McMurdo Station. Regular availability of radar data like this will help improve weather forecasts and operational safety at the main United States logistics hub on the Antarctic continent.
Last Modified: 02/20/2023
Modified by: John J Cassano
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