Continuous Weather Observation under extreme conditions – Antarctica

During the 33^rd Bulgarian Antarctic expedition, the National Center of Meteorology (NCM), United Arab Emirates, successfully installed 365 days around the year, first UAE advanced automatic weather station on Livingstone Island, Antarctica.  The station is equipped with ten high precision sensors, including air temperature (three thermometers), wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, relative humidity, global solar radiation, cumulative ultraviolet radiation, and satellite-based iridium communication for real-time data transmission.

The primary objective of this installation is to provide continuous, high-resolution meteorological observations under extreme Antarctic conditions, enabling detailed monitoring and analysis of local and mesoscale atmospheric processes. These observations contribute to a better understanding of climate variability and change in the Antarctic region, which plays a critical role in the global climate system.

In addition, the collected data supports regional and global scientific research initiatives by contributing to the international datasets and numerical weather predictions (NWP) models and Artificial Intelligence within the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) framework. This integration aims to enhance weather forecasting accuracy, early warning systems, and nowcasting capabilities, particularly for polar and downstream mid-latitude regions and furthermore.

The station also supports interdisciplinary research by providing valuable observations for studies related to atmospheric dynamics, surface-atmosphere interaction, glacier behavior, and potential links with seismic and volcanic activity. Through collaboration with international Antarctic research institutions and scientists, this initiative strengthens global partnerships, improves data sharing and addresses critical observational gaps in one of the world's most data-sparse environments.

This deployment represents a significant step toward long-term environmental monitoring in Antarctica and reinforces the UAE’s contribution to global climate research, early warning systems and informed decision-making for planetary protection through the Emirates Polar Program. This was UAE’s first step and more actions to climate is in progress.