Antarctic Automatic Weather Stations Project

The Antarctic Automatic Weather Station (AWS) Project is an Antarctic research program at the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison that is funded by the Office of Polar Programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Automated weather stations have multiple different sensors that measure temperature, wind speed and direction, relative humidity, and pressure.

[2] In 1978, Professor Alan Peterson at the Radio Sciences Lab at Stanford University developed the original Antarctic automated weather station.

Key operational aspects to the original AWS were low voltage circuitry and the ARGOS satellite communications system.

[5] UW-Madison's AWS network has also been in supporting roles for other domestic and international research institutions for glaciological studies, tabular icebergs, and operational weather forecasting.