Review status: a revised version of this preprint was accepted for the journal ESSD and is expected to appear here in due course.
Antarctic atmospheric boundary layer observations with the Small Unmanned
Meteorological Observer (SUMO)
John J. Cassano1,2,Melissa A. Nigro2,Mark W. Seefeldt1,Marwan Katurji3,Kelly Guinn1,2,Guy Williams4,and Alice DuVivier5John J. Cassano et al.John J. Cassano1,2,Melissa A. Nigro2,Mark W. Seefeldt1,Marwan Katurji3,Kelly Guinn1,2,Guy Williams4,and Alice DuVivier5
Received: 23 Sep 2020 – Accepted for review: 26 Oct 2020 – Discussion started: 04 Nov 2020
Abstract. Between January 2012 and June 2017 a small unmanned aerial system (UAS), known as the Small Unmanned Meteorological Observer (SUMO), was used to observe the state of the atmospheric boundary layer in the Antarctic. During 6 Antarctic field campaigns 116 SUMO flights were completed. These flights took place during all seasons over both permanent ice and ice free locations on the Antarctic continent and over sea ice in the western Ross Sea. Sampling was completed during spiral ascent and descent flight paths that observed the temperature, humidity, pressure and wind up to 1000 m above ground level and sampled the entire depth of the atmospheric boundary layer as well as portions of the free atmosphere above the boundary layer. A wide variety of boundary layer states were observed including very shallow, strongly stable conditions during the Antarctic winter and deep, convective conditions over ice free locations in the summer. The Antarctic atmospheric boundary layer data collected by the SUMO sUAS, described in this paper, can be retrieved from the United States Antarctic Program Data Center (https://www.usap-dc.org). The data for all flights conducted on the continent are available at https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601054 (Cassano 2017; https://doi.org/10.15784/601054) and data from the Ross Sea flights, are available at https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601191 (Cassano 2019; https://doi.org/10.15784/601191).
Between January 2012 and June 2017 a small unmanned aerial system (UAS) or drone, known as the Small Unmanned Meteorological Observer (SUMO), was used to observe the lowest 1000 m of the Antarctic atmosphere. During 6 Antarctic field campaigns 116 SUMO flights were completed. These flights took place during all seasons over both permanent ice and ice free locations on the Antarctic continent and over sea ice in the western Ross Sea providing unique observations of the Antarctic atmosphere.
Between January 2012 and June 2017 a small unmanned aerial system (UAS) or drone, known as the...