A Workshop on the U S Antarctic Meteorological Data DeliverySystem

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The U.S. research program in Antarctica over the last 30 years has collected surface and upper air weather data at numerous locations. Most of the year-round station data have been entered into the National Climatic Data Center; other data are housed at a variety of institutions. No attempt has been made to collate the data into one set or to achieve a consistent format. Most individual researchers find using the data to be impracticable. Yet long-term records of antarctic weather are essential to an understanding of world weather patterns: the large-scale circulation of the global atmosphere has its basic driving mechanism in the equator- to-poles temperature gradients. To predict and understand the behavior of the atmosphere in any region, the behavior of the total global fluid system must be understood. Groups including the National Academy of Sciences Polar Research Board, the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, and The Polar Group have published reports pointing to the need to improve access to antarctic weather data. The current emphasis on global geosciences in the science community, the advances in computer capability and networks, and the rise of meteorological data analysis systems in the United States make the establishment of a manipulable antarctic weather data set both desirable and achievable. This 2-day workshop will assemble some 20 producers, managers, and users of U.S. antarctic weather data--along with managers of new and established nonantarctic weather data centers--to produce an achievable plan for improving access to the antarctic sets. NSF (Division of Polar Programs) as manager of the United States Antarctic Research Program will consider the recommended plan carefully and implement procedures consistent with scientific need and funding availability. Roger Barry, a geographer with substantive research interests in meteorology, and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences are well suited to arrange this workshop. CIRES reported a Workshop on Antarctic Climate Data in 1984 and is active in data management and information fields with an emphasis on polar regions.