The physical processes involved in the formation of clouds and snowfall precipitation above the Antarctic ice sheet are still poorly understood.
Co-led by CNRS, CEA, EPFL, and École Polytechnique, the AWACA project will deploy innovative field instrumentation, supported by the French Polar Institute, to better characterize the atmospheric water cycle over Antarctica.
These measurements will be valuable for better predicting the future of the Antarctic ice sheet in a warmer climate.
From early December 2024 to mid-January 2025, all observation systems of the AWACA project will be deployed in Antarctica. Autonomous and capable of operating continuously for three years under extreme climatic conditions, these innovative instruments will be installed along a 1,100 km axis between the Dumont d’Urville and Concordia stations. They will allow, for the first time at this scale, the study of meteorological processes involved in snow accumulation in Antarctica to better predict the evolution of the ice sheet over the next 100 years.
This ambitious mission is supervised by scientists from CNRS, CEA, École Polytechnique Paris, and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). The deployment of these instruments, a true logistical challenge, is managed by teams from the French Polar Institute. These efforts are supported by financial backing from the European Research Council.
Unprecedented field measurements Future sea level rise in the context of climate change is particularly dependent on the amount of water stored as snow and ice in the Antarctic ice sheet. But what atmospheric processes cause snow to accumulate each day on the surface of the ice sheet?
To improve our understanding of the atmospheric aspects of the water cycle and snow formation in Antarctica, the AWACA project aims to conduct field measurements of unprecedented scale. The observations obtained from our climate will greatly enhance numerical climate simulations. Ultimately, the goal is to reconstruct the climatic variability of Antarctica over the past millennium and predict that of the next 100 years.
A Scientific Expedition of 1,100 km
From December 2, 2024, to mid-January 2025, a scientific expedition organized by the French Polar Institute will deploy measurement and observation instruments along a 1,100 km axis, representing various climatic regions of East Antarctica. This route stretches from the Dumont d’Urville station on the coast to the Concordia station at the center of the Antarctic plateau. It follows the typical path of air masses carrying moisture from the ocean into the continent.
The project is the result of three years of technical and instrumental development. The observation systems, specifically designed for the mission, will provide precise data on the properties of droplets and crystals that form clouds and precipitation, as well as how they contribute to surface snow accumulation. A significant part of the project is dedicated to studying water isotopes, which offer valuable insights into the origins of air masses and their successive state changes. The results will also help refine the interpretation of ice core measurements and enhance our understanding of past climates.
A Logistical Challenge to Optimize Next-Generation Climate Models
Once deployed, the observation systems along the axis will continuously collect data autonomously, even in areas without permanent stations, including generating the 1,000 W of energy necessary for their operation. These systems will operate for at least three years in Antarctica’s extreme climatic conditions, which is a remarkable technical achievement. Annual maintenance will be carried out by teams during the Antarctic summer campaigns through control expeditions. In parallel, the collected data will be analyzed and used to optimize next-generation climate models.
The AWACA Project Team
The AWACA project is co-led by scientists from the CNRS, CEA, École Polytechnique Paris, and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne within the Laboratory of Dynamic Meteorology (IPSL2, CNRS/École Polytechnique/ENS – PSL/Sorbonne Université), the Laboratory of Climate and Environment Sciences (IPSL, CEA/CNRS/Université Versailles Saint-Quentin), and the Laboratory of Atmospheres and Space Observations (IPSL, CNRS/Sorbonne Université/Université Versailles Saint-Quentin) in France, as well as the Environmental Remote Sensing Laboratory at EPFL in Switzerland. The deployment of the instruments, a logistical challenge due to polar weather conditions, is made possible by the expertise and experience of the French Polar Institute.
Collaboration and Support
The research team consists of technicians, engineers, and scientists specializing in meteorological observations, instrumentation in extreme conditions, and atmospheric and climate modeling. This work is supported by the European Research Council through an ERC Synergy grant.
Source: cea
