Interview with Christophe Genthon
“AWACA will enable us to carry out measurements that have never been performed before.”
Christophe Genthon is a CNRS researcher at the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD). A specialist in polar meteorology, he will liaise with the French Polar Institute (IPEV) regarding technology and logistics. He is also the contact person for the European Research Council (ERC).
How will the early phases of the project be structured?
Christophe Genthon: “The equipment will be developed in mainland France. Instruments will be custom-built for the project. Deployment is scheduled to take place from December 2023 to January 2024.”
Tell us about the autonomous platforms.
C.G.: “These are structures that will be fully covered with solar panels to power the instruments. We need nearly 1 kilowatt to run everything.
We will also use wind energy and store the surplus to power the instruments when there is neither wind nor sunlight.”
What are your expectations for the project?
C.G.: “We will work to obtain the best possible climate model. AWACA will enable us to carry out measurements that have never been performed before, to do things that have never been done before. We will sample a site that is representative of Antarctica.
This project will, I hope, leave a ‘legacy’ that other researchers and scientists can build on by taking up the concept again.”
