USAP-DC

The near surface atmosphere over West Antarctica is one of the fastest warming locations on the planet. This atmospheric warming, along with oceanic forcing, is contributing to ice sheet melt and hence rising global sea levels. An observational campaign, focused on the atmospheric boundary layer over the West Antarctic ice sheet, is envisioned. A robust set of year-round, autonomous, atmospheric and surface measurements, will be made using an instrumented 30-m tall tower at the West Antarctic ice sheet divide field camp. An additional unmanned aerial system field campaign will be conducted during the second year of this project and will supplement the West Antarctic ice sheet tall tower observations by sampling the depths of the boundary layer. The broader subject of the Antarctic ABL clearly supports a range of research activities ranging from the physics of turbulent mixing, its parameterization and constraints on meteorological forecasts, and even climatological effects, such as surface mass and energy balances. With the coming of the Thwaites WAIS program, a suite of metrological observables would be a welcome addition to the joint NSF/NERC (UK) Thwaites field campaigns. The meteorologists of this proposal have pioneered 30-m tall tower (TT) and unmanned aerial system (UAS) development in the Antarctic, and are well positioned to successfully carry out and analyze this work. In turn, the potential for these observations to advance our understanding of how the atmosphere exchanges heat with the ice sheet is high. 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.

Person	Role
Cassano, John	Investigator and contact
Lazzara, Matthew	Co-Investigator

Antarctic Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences	Award # 1745097
Antarctic Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences	Award # 1744878

USAP-1745097_1

wa_tt_data_management.pdf

1. Cassano, J. J., Nigro, M. A., Seefeldt, M. W., Katurji, M., Guinn, K., Williams, G., & DuVivier, A. (2021). Antarctic atmospheric boundary layer observations with the Small Unmanned Meteorological Observer (SUMO). Earth System Science Data, 13(3), 969–982. (doi:10.5194/essd-13-969-2021)
2. Cassano, J. J., Nigro, M. A., Seefeldt, M. W., Katurji, M., Guinn, K., Williams, G., & DuVivier, A. (2020). Antarctic atmospheric boundary layer observations with the Small Unmanned Meteorological Observer (SUMO). (doi:10.5194/essd-2020-284)
3. Dice, M.J., J.J. Cassano and G.C. Jozef, 2024: Forcing for varying boundary layer stability across Antarctica. Weather and Climate Dynamics, 5, 369-394, doi:10.5194/wcd-5-369-2024. (doi:10.5194/wcd-5-369-2024)
4. Dice, M.J., J. J. Cassano, G.C. Jozef and M. Seefeldt, 2023: Variations in boundary layer stability across Antarctica: A comparison between coastal and interior sites. Weather and Climate Dynamics, 4, 1045-1069, doi:10.5194/wcd-4-1045-2023. (doi:10.5194/wcd-4-1045-2023)
5. Dice, M.J and J.J. Cassano, 2022: Assessing physical relationships between atmospheric state, fluxes, and boundary layer stability at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, J. Geophys. Res., 127, e2021JD036075, doi:10.1029/2021JD036075. (doi:10.1029/2021JD036075)