GRAPE White Paper on Atmosphere and Geospace, September 2020 Popular

White Paper

Polar atmosphere and Geospace: Present knowledge, infrastructures and future research directions

The growing instrumentation infrastructure since the 2000’s in Antarctica and in the Arctic provides an opportunity for scientific research on the polar atmosphere and Geospace. Since 2012, the GRAPE Expert Group of SCAR has provided a unique international platform to exchange data and knowledge in this area. Now, the main challenges are to better understand the coupling between the neutral and the ionized layers of our atmosphere, and to be able to test the accuracy of the atmospheric correction given to end-users. Another challenge is to provide accurate monitoring of the integrated water vapor at polar latitudes, which is an essential parameter for meteorological monitoring and climate modelling. This SCAR White Paper details current infrastructures and knowledge and discusses their challenges and limitations and recommends key future directions in polar atmospheric research.