Cape Phillips-AWS Silvia C. Scarchilli @PNRA

Environment: Antarctica, from polar clouds new insights on climate

17 February 2022 Last Updated: 14 September 2022

ENEA observatory at Zucchelli base studies cloud layers with state-of-the-art instrument

Researchers at the ENEA Meteo-Climatological Observatory in Antarctica will be able to study climate variations by observing polar clouds starting this year, thanks to a state-of-the-art instrument to monitor the cloud cover and measure the height of cloud layers. It is a latest generation CL61 celiometer just installed at the Mario Zucchelli base by the technicians and researchers taking part in the 37th expedition of the National Research Program in Antarctica (PNRA).

The ENEA Antarctic Observatory is one of the first globally to use the new instrument, thanks to a specific collaborative research agreement with the manufacturer, the Finnish Vaisala, which foresees data sharing and comparison with results from the previous model.

The celiometer is a device consisting of a laser emitter and a receiver: the laser beam travels upwards and downwards with different intensity according to type and amount of particles in the layers of the atmosphere and the diffused light is caught by the receiver, allowing to measure the height of the cloud.

Compared to the previous models already in use at the Italian base and the French-Italian base Concordia, the new device will also allow to collect information on the liquid or solid phase of water particles that form the clouds in the vertical profile, up to approximately 10 km from the earth's surface.

“A celiometer is fully automatic and it requires minimal maintenance. These additional new features will make it possible to conduct a long-term qualitative atmospheric monitoring with a very high sampling rate and at relatively low costs, significantly contributing to understanding this type of clouds and their impact on the Antarctic climate ”, explained Paolo Grigioni, researcher at the ENEA Laboratory of Observations and Measurements for the Environment and Climate , and coordinator of the Observatory.

For over 30 years, the Observatory has been monitoring the meteorological conditions on the ground and at high altitudes of part of the polar continent. Currently, the network has 16 automatic weather stations located in an area that goes from the Mario Zucchelli station, on the coast of the Victoria Land, to the highest part of the Antarctic plateau, where the Concordia base is located. In addition, the Observatory manages, jointly with the ENEA Antarctic Technical Unit, the radio sounding program for measuring the vertical profiles of the atmosphere.

The data collected by the Observatory, available at www.climantartide.it, feed various climate datasets, like the REference Antarctic Data for Environmental Research (READER) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR, sent within the Global Telecomunication System (GTS), which distributes meteorological data of the World Weather Watch, core program of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The latter is crucial as it contributes to world weather forecasting.

Over the past 10 years, the Observatory has expanded the parameters measured, focusing on the observation and characterization of both clouds and precipitation, thanks also to the installation of different types of rain gauges.

"Understanding climate change and its anthropogenic causes is an urgent issue of today, crucial in order to be able to adopt protocols and policies aimed at mitigating the potentially devastating effects on society and the environment. The Antarctic Continent with its ice sheet is the largest reservoir of freshwater on Earth and one of the key components of the Earth system. Thanks to its isolation and peculiar characteristics, Antarctica is an unmatched natural laboratory for studying the atmosphere ", concluded Paolo Grigioni.

Funded by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) as part of the National Research Program in Antarctica (PNRA), the Italian Antarctic expeditions are managed by ENEA for logistics and CNR for scientific planning and coordination.