Applications of Aerosondes in the Arctic

The National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs funded a project to establish a facility in Barrow, Alaska, adapt the Aerosonde to extreme arctic conditions, adapt and integrate miniature instrumentation, and assimilate Aerosonde data into predictive models. In a related development, the Office of Naval Research supported the development and integration of a variety of miniature research instruments for remote sensing of the sea ice surface, measurements of radiative fluxes, and in situ measurements of cloud and precipitation characteristics. Since the first Arctic flights, the Aerosonde has undergone a number of engineering modifications. As a result, the Aerosonde project is overcoming the engineering and logistical challenges of operating in the polar environment.