WAMC 2026: Antarctic Meteorology and Climate Converges in Charleston
Every year, a community of researchers, forecasters, and field operators from across the globe converges to do something that sounds deceivingly simple: get everyone on the same page about Antarctic weather. They gather at the Workshop on Antarctic Meteorology and Climate, and this year, the 21st WAMC will be held June 16–18, 2026 in Charleston, South Carolina. This year's meeting is shaping up to be a memorable one.
Citizen snow samples help improve hydrological predictions in Scandinavia
Regular citizens collected hundreds of snow samples from across Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Scientists now analyse the samples for their water isotope content in the lab. First results show that citizen science helps scientists to close data gaps, and triggers participants' curiosity and desire to learn more about the science. In the interdisciplinary ISOSCAN project, meteorologists, hydrologists and anthropologists work together utilize data from citizen scientists to improve prediction models. Projects like ISOSCAN help support PCAPS' ambitions for increased observations and community engagement.
Antarctic Science at the 2026 Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society Conference
The AMOS 2026 conference in Hobart, Australia brought together Antarctic oceanographers, glaciologists, meteorologists, climate and social scientists to share their research and explore the interconnected processes shaping the Antarctic climate system and its global implications.
PCAPS well represented at the 3rd WMO WWRP Weather & Society Conference
From 23-26 February 2026, WMO WWRP’s Societal and Economic Research Applications working group (SERA), organised its third Weather & Society Conference. The online conference gathered a global audience under the theme ‘Whole of Society Approaches for Weather-Ready Communities’. PCAPS was well represented, with Steering Group members both chairing sessions and giving presentations.
PCAPS Task Teams report considerable progress to meeting their goals
2026 marks the halfway point in the current five-year lifecycle of the PCAPS project, presenting an opportunity to reflect on progress so far. The first step in this review was an update from the PCAPS Task Teams in an online meeting on 23 February 2026. The next opportunity to take stock will be the annual face-to-face meeting scheduled for mid-August 2026 in Oslo.
ORCAS community workshop highlights
The first ORCAS Community Workshop “Connecting Observations and AI Sea Ice Prediction Systems”, held online on 10–11 February 2026 across two sessions to accommodate global time zones, brought together participants from across five continents (operational centres, universities, and non-profits) to begin building a community around a question that matters for the whole polar prediction enterprise: what kinds of observations do AI sea-ice prediction systems actually need, and how do we know if those systems are getting the physics right?
Meet the PCAPS SG: Gunilla Svensson on understanding processes in polar models
This month’s Meet the SG blog post features PCAPS SG member, Gunilla Svensson, who is a Professor of Meteorology at Stockholm University, Sweden and is the co-lead of the PCAPS Processes Task Team. Gunilla is a numerical modeler and is interested in particular in how small-scale processes such as turbulence and clouds are represented in global models used for numerical weather prediction and climate projections.
PCAPS participation in the CliC Conference and the EC-PHORS meeting
Hanne Nielsen, Daniela Liggett and Pranab Deb from the PCAPS Steering Group participated in the Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) Open Science Conference 2026 (CliC 2026) in Wellington, New Zealand. The conference brought together researchers and practitioners to discuss how rapid cryospheric change is reshaping polar and high-mountain regions and how the CliC community can contribute to the Fifth International Polar Year (IPY-5, 2032-33). Daniela also attended the WMO Executive Council’s Panel on Polar and High-mountain Observations, Research and Services (EC-PHORS) meeting, which was held alongside the conference to explore how best to coordinate observations, research and services in these vulnerable regions, including planning WMO’s contribution to IPY-5.
PCAPS Processes Task Team recent workshop highlights
The PCAPS Processes Representation Task Team (TT) hosted a workshop in Stockholm 1-2 December 2025. The local organizer was Gunilla Svensson, with financial support from the International Meteorological Institute at Stockholm University and excellent practical arrangements by Henriette Valsö. The focused workshop covered four specific topics that were discussed and defined in the TT’s online meetings leading up to the workshop. This was quite useful in guiding the selection of invited guests to support the TT members in the discussions. The workshop was attended by almost all the TT members and a handful of invited experts.
Advancing Verification Across Atmosphere, Sea Ice, and Coupled Processes
The PCAPS Verification Task Team (TT) plays a central role in delivering the “Predict–Fidelity” component of PCAPS. Its mission is to assess the accuracy, reliability, and physical realism of polar prediction systems, to guide model improvement, as well as to assess polar prediction quality and value, for informed use. With experts from ECCC, NOAA, ECMWF, the UK Met Office, Met Norway, the British Antarctic Survey, and academic partners, the TT brings together atmospheric, sea ice, and process-based verification expertise.
Maritimes Extremes in a Changing Arctic - Reflections from Arctic Frontiers 2026
The rapid environmental, geopolitical, and security changes in the Arctic have put the region at a critical crossroads, particularly in recent times. Arctic Frontiers is an annual conference in Tromsø, Norway that brings together scientists and researchers, as well as political and industry representatives, to discuss the pressing challenges and opportunities in the Arctic. This year, Dina Abdel-Fattah (PCAPS’ International Coordination Office Manager) in collaboration with Penelope Wagner (Head of the Operational Sea Ice Service, Norwegian Meteorological Institute), Irja Malmio (AI Researcher at the Swedish Defence University), and Arild Bergh (Principal Scientist at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment) co-chaired the Maritime Extremes: Communication, Uncertainty, and Emerging Technologies Science Session at Arctic Frontiers. The session provided an interdisciplinary perspective on how maritime hazards are changing across the Arctic, with an applied focus on how best to communicate and forecast these hazards amid competing priorities and an increasingly complex framework of actors, both within and outside the Arctic.
Kick-off of the PCAPS DON4FS Task Team
The PCAPS Task Team DON4FS – Distributed Observational Networks to Advance Coupled Forecasting Systems held its kick-off meeting on 8 January 2026. The meeting brought together participants from across the polar prediction community to establish a shared understanding of PCAPS, introduce the task team, and begin shaping its scientific and coordination priorities.
Bridging the gap between AI and observations for sea ice forecasting: a new working group (ORCAS)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming environmental forecasting worldwide, but applying it to the complex, rapidly changing polar regions, the Arctic and Antarctica, remains a major scientific challenge. AI is revolutionising numerical weather prediction by providing tools that are often better performing, significantly faster, and more energy-efficient than traditional physics-based models. Major developments, such as ECMWF’s AIFS and Google’s WeatherNext, have demonstrated that AI can match, or even exceed, the predictive skill of traditional numerical weather prediction systems. However, polar regions are characterised by sparse observational coverage and intricate climate processes, making them difficult to model accurately. The growing demand for AI applications in polar regions, combined with their unique observational and physical challenges, calls for a comprehensive, community-driven effort.
Season's Greetings from PCAPS
As 2025 draws to a close, we wish to take this opportunity to reflect on a year of good progress and growing international collaboration. Over the course of this year, PCAPS has brought together researchers, forecasters, operators and other stakeholders from around the world to advance environmental forecasting capabilities in both polar regions. We extend our warmest Season's Greetings to the entire PCAPS community.
Meet the PCAPS SG: Andrew Orr on understanding climate processes and change in Antarctica
This month’s Meet the SG blog post features PCAPS SG member, Andrew Orr. Andrew is a Climate Scientist at the British Antarctic Survey and in addition to being a PCAPS SG member, is the co-lead of the PCAPS Processes Task Team. He researches the processes responsible for climate change and variability in the polar regions, and recently, has been investigating extreme weather events in the Antarctic and Himalayan region, which despite their high impact, are poorly understood.
Reflections on Actionable Science for IPY-5 (2032–33)
As we look ahead to the next International Polar Year in 2032–33 (IPY-5), Øystein Hov from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, has been thinking increasingly about one of its core ambitions: the commitment to produce actionable insights. This phrase appears frequently in planning documents, but what does it really mean in practice? And how can IPY-5 ensure that our collective scientific effort leads not only to new knowledge, but to outcomes that matter for people, communities, and operations?
Into the Arctic night: Scientists gear up for a groundbreaking mission in Inuvik
PONEX is a surface and aircraft campaign designed to explore atmospheric physics and chemistry in the Canadian Arctic in polar night and polar sunrise conditions. This is the first experiment of its kind.
PCAPS Horizon Scan: key social and behavioural science questions for advancing polar forecast information services
What does the future hold for the polar regions - and for the people who live and work there? While we don’t have a crystal ball, we do have rigorous research methods that can help us look forwards and to plan pathways to the future scenarios we would like to see. As climate change intensifies pressures on polar socio-ecological systems, PCAPS seeks to bridge the gap between the forecast information that is available and its effective application by end users. Currently, PCAPS is conducting a Horizon Scan to systematically identify and prioritise key scientific questions related to the relevance, actionability and impact of polar environmental forecasting services.
Closing the gap: A new ocean-atmosphere observing system for Svalbard's changing climate
The Isfjorden Weather and Ocean Observing System (IWOOS) is a collaborative project dedicated to establishing a multi-platform environmental monitoring system in the rapidly warming Isfjorden region of Svalbard, Norway. Led by PI Marius O. Jonassen at the University Centre in Svalbard, the project involves key partners from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the University of Helsinki. IWOOS is funded by the Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System and supports PCAPS' goals by improving the accuracy and utility of Arctic environmental forecasts, providing critical data for safer operations in a rapidly changing region.
PCAPS at the Svalbard Science Conference 2025
The 5th Svalbard Science Conference, held every 2 years, took place in Oslo, Norway, October 28 - 29, 2025. Scientists around the world gathered to discuss research in and about Svalbard. Among the speakers were PCAPS co-chair Jørn Kristiansen, DON4FS Task Team co-lead Malte Müller, and Verification Task Team members Cyril Palerme and Morten Køltzow.