Challenge and desire in Antarctic meteorology and climate

The outcomes of the 13th and 14th Workshop on Antarctic Meteorology and Climate (WAMC), as well as the 3rd and 4th Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP) Meetings, was discussed in an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences.

The main themes explored during the WAMC workshops were Antarctic meteorological observations, atmospheric numerical modeling, meteorological and climate research, and forecasting and operational services. Meteorologists from around the world presented their research on numerical weather prediction and its Antarctic applications, along with the implementation and status of observing systems (e.g. automatic weather stations, Doppler radars, etc.), and recent Antarctic Peninsula warming.

Throughout these meetings, challenges and desires are brought up to improve the observed data and ongoing research to get accurate results. Having open and easy access to the datasets collected on and around the continent is one of the major aspirations that is being worked on, though there are issues with the available data centers. The YOPP is the flagship activity of the decade-long Polar Prediction Project that has been initiated by the WMO's World Weather Research Programme to improve predictive skill in both polar regions. This includes an increase of radiosonde and buoy launches in order to collect more data to use in forecast models, reanalysis models, and other research.