Steve Colwell British Antarctic Survey The challenges of accessing Antarctic meteorological data in near real-time Steve Colwell British Antarctic Survey

Data sources The staffed research stations. Automatic Weather Stations (AWS). Drifting buoys. Not many in Antarctic waters. Ships and aircraft. Limited in number and location, most ships are around the Antarctic peninsula.

Permanent staffed stations

75°S

Challenges Many of the research stations can use geostationary satellites but this in not an option for most of the AWS. Many of them are to far south. Directional antenna can move in the high winds. The best option for AWS is to use polar orbiting satellites. This has its own problems as Antarctica is very cold and so sometimes the transmission equipment has to be modified by adding heat pads to specific components or buried in the snow to insulate it from the extreme cold.

Antarctic temperatures

Challenges The high winds that we get in Antarctica can cause a lots of static to build up due to blowing snow. This is a problem for any type of electronic equipment but satellite transmitters can be especially sensitive as the antenna cable can direct the static directly into the transmitter unless it is bled off correctly. Cost. The AWS are not operated by national met services and tend to be run by Antarctic research programs or university groups. The additional cost of adding in satellite telemetry equipment and the monthly fees associated with that mean that sometimes this is not added to AWS as part of a cost saving exercise (it can mean the difference between having 5 or 6 systems for example).

Questions src@bas.ac.uk