Each southern summer, students and faculty from Ohio State University travel to Antarctica to investigate topics like sea level rise. The weather is the key factor governing safe and efficient activities; conditions can change from benign to blizzard in minutes. Geography Research Professor and Byrd Polar & Climate Research Center member David Bromwich is coordinating an international effort under the World Meteorological Organization (Year of Polar Prediction in the Southern Hemisphere) to develop much better weather forecast models for that region. In conjunction, students in Professor Jeffery Rogers’ class on Synoptic Meteorology: Severe Storm Forecasting (Geography 5942) are predicting next day’s weather at the U.S. South Pole and McMurdo stations and learning how challenging this can be.

The team at the French-Italian Dome Concordia station launching a weather balloon as part of the Year of Polar Prediction in the Southern Hemisphere (PHOTO: Giuseppe Camporeale)

Keep up to date with Year of Prediction news at: http://polarmet.osu.edu/YOPP-SH/