Leosphere’s project on Artic climate study

A Leosphere Windcube 100S is currently being operated by KOPRI (Korea Polar Research Institute) for Arctic atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) wind measurement, as required research activity for weather and climate prediction project of KOPRI.

KOPRI is the one and only organization in South Korea which is dedicated to operate research infrastructures at Polar Regions. In January 2016, KOPRI launched the “KPOPS” (Korea Polar Prediction System) project, where the main objectives are to better understand Arctic climate and to improve prediction of weather and climate in mid-latitude regions.

It is now well known that Arctic is suffering climate change and climate of the Arctic affects mid-latitudes deeply. So we are very eager to understand what’s going on in the Arctic and want to improve climate model to better predict weather/climate in Korea” says Sang-Jong Park, KOPRI senior research scientist in charge of observational study in the KPOPS project.

The KPOPS project also involves Seoul National University (SNU), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Florida State University (FSU), and takes place in the Artic Dasan station in Ny-Alesund, Svalbard archipelago, Norway.

In this project, the Windcube 100S is collecting wind data on a continuous basis to understand 3D characteristics of the ABL of the Arctic. The second objective is to study the interaction of the ABL and Arctic clouds to understand their life cycle.

The Leosphere Windcube was chosen for the KPOPS project because of its demonstrated ability to profile the ABL with a good data availability and quality, and for the limited required maintenance, even when deployed outside in very harsh environmental conditions like those observed in Ny-Alesund.

The Windcube 100S is being successfully operated since mid-October at the Arctic Dasan station, not far from another Leosphere Windcube operating since 2013 by the German Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). The first measurements gathered during the 2016-2017 winter will be compared with the AWI Windcube data.