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The Antarctic FROST Home Page

The Antarctic FROST (First Regional Observing Study of the Troposphere) Project

FROST is a scientific project organized by the Physics and Chemistry of the Atmosphere (PACA) group of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Its goals are to:

study the meteorology of Antarctica
determine the strengths and weaknesses of operational weather analyses and forecasts over the continent and in the surrounding ocean areas
assess the value of new forms of satellite data that are becoming available.

Participants in FROST come from the national weather services, the academic community and research institutes in the UK, USA, Australia and Germany.

FROST is based around three one-month Special Observing Periods (SOPs) for which comprehensive data sets have been established of fields from atmospheric models and in-situ and satellite observations. High quality manual surface and upper air meteorological analyses are being prepared for these periods to determine the extent to which data that are not available on the meteorological communications network can improve the interpretation of the synoptic situation. Other current FROST research activities include assessing the value of passive microwave satellite data to aid analysis over the ocean areas and comparing the operational analyses produced by the UK, USA, Australia and the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts.

First results from FROST are presented in a number of publications. Copies of these papers, further details on FROST or information on using FROST data can be obtained from John Turner at the address below.

John Turner, British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK. Email J.Turner@ BAS.AC.UK