One of the main challenges our group faces is predicting the weather. Specifically, predicting when the clouds will clear from the top of Arrival Heights and allow us to collect data. We operate in optical wavelengths that can’t penetrate through clouds, unlike other types remote sensing instruments like radar. So at the start of every shift, we check the weather.
McMurdo station provides detailed information for the flight teams and field sites. Part of weather prediction is weather measurement, done by researches like Stephanie in the picture below. We also check websites like weather.com! Ultimately, our team has to constantly watch the skies, the only source of truth. We have seen extraordinarily rapid weather changes. Fog and low overcast sites will seem endless, then suddenly clear. This morning, Xianxin called a shuttle under perfectly clear skies to get a ride “up the hill” to our station at Arrival Heights. Before the shuttle even arrived, overcast low clouds rolled in. The most frustrating days are “partly cloudy”- when thin clouds drift overhead, and we sit with the system warmed up on standby waiting to see if it will become totally cloudy or totally clear.
