In 1988, meteorological measurements started at the Spanish research station Juan Carlos I (JCI) on Livingston Island. A second station - Gabriel de Castilla (GdC) - was installed in 2005 on Deception Island. These long-term measurements improved our climatological understanding of the western region of the South Shetland Islands (SSI), a region that has received less attention than the more station-populated King George Island in the central SSI. Here, we present a complete climatological analysis of these stations after undertaking a full quality control process of the data. This analysis covers temperature, wind, precipitation, radiation, relative humidity and pressure, as well as trends and variability. The results show: 1) the stations along the western SSI coastline, particularly JCI, are warmer than those on the central SSI, especially in summer, 2) at GdC, winters are colder due to stagnant cold air pooling within the Deception Island caldera, 3) the importance of island orography in shaping local climatology, especially regarding wind patterns, and 4) the critical need to correct precipitation measurements for undercatchment of solid precipitation by common pluviometers. This study provides a climatological framework to support further research conducted in the region.

James Croll (1821–1890) was a gifted scientist whose revolutionary theories had a profound impact on our understanding of the Earth's climate, ice ages and glaciation. While his contributions are recognised by an increasing number of modern-day scientists, in the public domain his legacy has been all but forgotten. Popularising Croll's story brings its own challenges: we know more about the science than we do about the man, and his theories do not lend themselves to quick and easy explanation. While Croll's scientific theories, presented alone, risk being viewed as complex and difficult to digest, his lifelong struggle against adversity is a compelling story with the potential for widespread public appeal. In recent years, interested individuals and institutions have begun to increase public awareness of Croll through talks and lectures, exhibitions, theatrical events and articles in print and online. There are many more possibilities that are worth investigating, in order to inspire and engage people locally, nationally and even internationally. Croll's story is fascinating from many points of view, and is open to interpretation by people of different ages and backgrounds. Perhaps even the gaps in our knowledge can be turned to advantage, allowing for imagination, creativity and expression.

In 2001 the LIMNOPOLAR Project was launched with the aim of addressing the suitability of freshwater ecosystems as useful sentinels of climate change. In this project, an automatic weather station was deployed on Byers Peninsula (Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands) near several freshwater ecosystems under research. Here the multi-year data recorded are presented and compared with meteorological time series from the observatories at the Spanish Juan Carlos I Station, Deception Island and Bellingshausen Station. Lake freezing and thawing periods and snow cover are also investigated. The main results indicate that Byers Peninsula is affected by the very cloudy and wet Antarctic maritime climate. Mean annual temperature is -2.8°C and summer mean temperatures are above freezing. The region shows moderate winds over the year and with moderate, mostly liquid precipitation during the summer. There is a significant linear relationship with meteorological records obtained from Juan Carlos I Station located on the east of Livingston Island. Correlations between meteorological data from both sites are high but with colder and much windier conditions on Byers Peninsula. Therefore, the usefulness and accuracy of meteorological records in the interpretation of ecosystem dynamics are presented.

Remote sensing provides the means to study features and processes that are not easily accessible or amenable to direct observations. The polar regions, and Antarctica in particular, offer a variety of examples where the ability to observe from afar is necessary or highly desirable. In particular, studies of ice shelf processes, changes in the sea-ice cover, and ice-ocean-atmosphere investigations must rely in large part on measurements from aircraft and satellites. The polar regions present a unique set of problems that complicate applications and limit the usefulness of certain sensors; new instruments planned for launch in the 1990s will help resolve many of these difficulties. Examples of remote sensing applications for the study of the continent, drifting ice, ocean, and atmosphere demonstrate ways that existing data as well as new observations can be used to aid polar research.

We examine some aspects of the performance of the United Kingdom Meteorological Office's new climate model over Antarctica. Pressure and temperature fields are presented as a basic check on the model climate. The gradient of pressure between mid-latitudes and high southern latitudes is too great, resulting in an Antarctic trough that is too deep by 4–6 hPa. Temperature is well modelled though the interior is slightly too cold in winter. Precipitation is interesting because of its relevance to mass balance and therefore changes in sea level. The simulation of the pattern of accumulation is good despite somewhat high values at places in the coastal areas, with an areally-averaged value of 182 mm y−1. We also look at the phenomena of the coreless winter and the katabatic winds which are a consequence of the intense radiative cooling. These two effects may provide a useful diagnostic of the model performance.

Atmospheric surface pressures on the East Antarctic ice sheet are examined as a contribution to a new regional climatology based on automatic weather stations (AWS). Monthly mean pressures along two meridional AWS lines show near the coast a semi-annual oscillation with equinoctial minima, which become submerged inland under a larger annual oscillation, asymmetrically shaped around a summer solstice peak. Such a peak could arise when air surrounding the ice sheet is heated and enabled to spread out over the ice. This concept has provided a classical prediction of the ice sheet's mean elevation; in this paper the theory is expressed in a more modern form. After the summer “flood” the vertical tropospheric circulation driving the progressive katabatic surface layer drainage from the ice sheet should create relatively higher pressures below the convergence region over the ice sheet center and lower pressures near the coast. In fact the observed mean monthly surface pressures decrease with elevation more slowly than follows from substituting the observed mean temperature-elevation gradients (“topographical lapse rates”) in the hydrostatic equation. However, below the surface inversion along the sloping ice sheet surface the hydrostatic balance is shown to be governed by temperatures higher than observed at the surface. Hydrostatic pressures are calculated with climatic estimates of the inversion strength. Their differences from the observed monthly mean surface pressures represent non-hydrostatic residuals which can be added to pressures at the coast to form elevation-free (“sea level”) pressure profiles. These show both the expected coastal troughs and high pressure over an ice sheet summit (Dome C).

The seasonal and spatial variation of downward longwave radiation (L↓) at the surface of the Antarctic ice sheet is studied using data from four stations. L↓ is found to depend on the fourth power of the surface temperature but on the sixth power of the temperature at the top of the surface inversion layer. The former result is shown to be a consequence of the dominance of longwave radiation in the surface energy balance while the latter raises some questions concerning the radiative properties of Antarctic clouds. Simple parametrizations of L↓ as a function of temperature are suggested; these may find application in validating General Circulation Model radiation calculations over Antarctica.

Measurements of humidity at a height of 4 m were made at Halley Research Station between 1995 and 1997 using a frost point hygrometer. Relative humidities were usually close to ice saturation, particularly during the winter, but ice supersaturations of up to 20% were frequently measured. Supersaturation with respect to liquid water was rarely observed. During the summer, diurnal variation in temperature drove a daily cycle in relative humidity, although corresponding variations in mixing ratio were comparatively small. It is suggested that the high frequency of ice supersaturations and almost total absence of water supersaturation results from the high abundance of condensation nuclei relative to ice nuclei.