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A technique has recently been developed for tracking short-term spectral variations in Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) using data from a single neutron monitor (NM), by collecting histograms of the time delay between successive neutron counts and extracting the leader fraction $L$ as a proxy of the spectral index. Here we analyze $L$ from four Antarctic NMs during 2015 March to 2023 September. We have calibrated $L$ from the South Pole NM with respect to a daily spectral index determined from published data of GCR proton fluxes during 2015--2019 from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) aboard the International Space Station. Our results demonstrate a robust correlation between the leader fraction and the spectral index fit over the rigidity range 2.97--16.6 GV for AMS-02 data, with uncertainty 0.018 in the daily spectral index as inferred from $L$. In addition to the 11-year solar activity cycle, a wavelet analysis confirms a 27-day periodicity in the GCR flux and spectral index corresponding to solar rotation, especially near sunspot minimum, while the flux occasionally exhibited a strong harmonic at 13.5 days, and that the magnetic field component along a nominal Parker spiral (i.e., the magnetic sector structure) is a strong determinant of such spectral and flux variations, with the solar wind speed exerting an additional, nearly rigidity-independent influence on flux variations. Our investigation affirms the capability of ground-based NM stations to accurately and continuously monitor cosmic ray spectral variations in the long-term future., Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures

A drifting wave-ice buoy, which was configured by mounting the OpenMetBuoy on an ad hoc floating platform that we named Medusa, was deployed at the L\"utzow-Holm Bay (LHB) marginal ice zone in Antarctica on 4 Feb 2022 during the 63rd Japanese Antarctica research expedition. The wave-ice buoy, Medusa-766, survived the Antarctica winter as the measurement duration reached 333 days. During the winter months, it was located deep in the ice cover with the shortest distance to the ice-free Southern Ocean over 1,000 km; at this time, there was evidence of ocean wave signals at the buoy position. Using the directional wave spectra obtained from the ECMWF's reanalysis, we show that the Medusa-766 observed waves were likely generated by an extratropical cyclone in the Southern Ocean. Wave-induced ice breakup potential for such an event could extend 100s km into the ice field. When Medusa-766 was in LHB in the summer months, it did not detect sizeable wave energy despite the low sea ice concentration extent even during on-ice waves events. Characterising the considerable differences in the wave attenuation at LHB is needed to elucidate the relative contribution of ocean waves to the unstable LHB fast ice. The success of Medusa-766 demonstrates the robustness of the general design, hardware, firmware, and the high sensitivity of the sensor used. The result is promising for future LHB wave-ice interaction research.

We present the spectroscopic confirmation and precise mass measurement of the warm giant planet TOI-199 b. This planet was first identified in TESS photometry and confirmed using ground-based photometry from ASTEP in Antarctica including a full 6.5$\,$h long transit, PEST, Hazelwood, and LCO; space photometry from NEOSSat; and radial velocities (RVs) from FEROS, HARPS, CORALIE, and CHIRON. Orbiting a late G-type star, TOI-199\,b has a $\mathrm{104.854_{-0.002}^{+0.001} \, d}$ period, a mass of $\mathrm{0.17\pm0.02 \, M_J}$, and a radius of $\mathrm{0.810\pm0.005 \, R_J}$. It is the first warm exo-Saturn with a precisely determined mass and radius. The TESS and ASTEP transits show strong transit timing variations, pointing to the existence of a second planet in the system. The joint analysis of the RVs and TTVs provides a unique solution for the non-transiting companion TOI-199 c, which has a period of $\mathrm{273.69_{-0.22}^{+0.26} \, d}$ and an estimated mass of $\mathrm{0.28_{-0.01}^{+0.02} \, M_J}$. This period places it within the conservative Habitable Zone., Comment: 33 pages, 23 figures. Accepted for publication in AJ

We present here formal evidence of a strong linkage between temperature and East Antarctic ice accumulation over the past eight hundred kiloyears, after accounting for thinning. The conclusions are based on statistical analysis of a proposed empirical model based on ice core data from multiple locations with ground topography ranging from local peaks to local valleys. The method permits adjustment of the apparent accumulation rate for a very general thinning process of ice sheet over the ages, is robust to any misspecification of the age scale, and does not require delineation of the accumulation rate from thinning. Records show 5% to 8% increase in the accumulation rate for every 1${}^\circ$C rise in temperature. This is consistent with the theoretical expectation on the average rate of increase in moisture absorption capacity of the atmosphere with rise in temperature, as inferred from the Clausius-Clapeyron equation. This finding reinforces indications of the resilience of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to the effects of warming induced by climate change, which have been documented in other studies based on recent data. Analysis of the thinning pattern of ice revealed an exponential rate of thinning over several glacial cycles and eventual attainment of a saturation level.

On December 2021, a new camera box for two-colour simultaneous visible photometry was successfully installed on the ASTEP telescope at the Concordia station in Antarctica. The new focal box offers increased capabilities for the ASTEP+ project. The opto-mechanical design of the camera was described in a previous paper. Here, we focus on the laboratory tests of each of the two cameras, the low-temperature behaviour of the focal box in a thermal chamber, the on-site installation and alignment of the new focal box on the telescope, the measurement of the turbulence in the tube and the operation of the telescope equipped with the new focal box. We also describe the data acquisition and the telescope guiding procedure and provide a first assessment of the performances reached during the first part of the 2022 observation campaign. Observations of the WASP19 field, already observed previously with ASTEP, demonstrates an improvement of the SNR by a factor 1.7, coherent with an increased number of photon by a factor of 3. The throughput of the two cameras is assessed both by calculation of the characteristics of the optics and quantum efficiency of the cameras, and by direct observations on the sky. We find that the ASTEP+ two-colour transmission curves (with a dichroic separating the fluxes at 690nm) are similar to those of GAIA in the blue and red channels, but with a lower transmission in the ASTEP+ red channel leading to a 1.5 magnitude higher B-R value compared to the GAIA B-R value. With this new setting, the ASTEP+ telescope will ensure the follow-up and the characterization of a large number of exoplanetary transits in the coming years in view of the future space missions JWST and Ariel., Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures. Proceedings of Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IX SPIE conference 2022

Atmospheric seeing is one of the most important parameters for evaluating and monitoring an astronomical site. Moreover, being able to predict the seeing in advance can guide observing decisions and significantly improve the efficiency of telescopes. However, it is not always easy to obtain long-term and continuous seeing measurements from a standard instrument such as differential image motion monitor (DIMM), especially for those unattended observatories with challenging environments such as Dome A, Antarctica. In this paper, we present a novel machine learning-based framework for estimating and predicting seeing at a height of 8 m at Dome A, Antarctica, using only the data from a multi-layer automated weather station (AWS). In comparison with DIMM data, our estimate has a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.18 arcsec, and the RMSE of predictions 20 minutes in the future is 0.12 arcsec for the seeing range from 0 to 2.2 arcsec. Compared with the persistence, where the forecast is the same as the last data point, our framework reduces the RMSE by 37 percent. Our method predicts the seeing within a second of computing time, making it suitable for real-time telescope scheduling., Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Computing

AST3-2 is the second of the three Antarctic Survey Telescopes, aimed at wide-field time-domain optical astronomy. It is located at Dome A, Antarctica, which is by many measures the best optical astronomy site on the Earth's surface. Here we present the data from the AST3-2 automatic survey in 2016 and the photometry results. The median 5$\sigma$ limiting magnitude in $i$-band is 17.8 mag and the light curve precision is 4 mmag for bright stars. The data release includes photometry for over 7~million stars, from which over 3,500 variable stars were detected, with 70 of them newly discovered. We classify these new variables into different types by combining their light curve features with stellar properties from surveys such as StarHorse., Comment: 16 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Across the ANET GNSS network, decadal mass loss of the Antarctic ice sheet drives elastic uplift rates of up to 20 mm/yr. We explore, for the first time, the viability of using elastic deformation observed in the ANET GNSS network to constrain ice mass changes in Antarctica. We begin by estimating which regions of ice mass loss contribute to the elastic deformation observed at each ANET GNSS site. This is done using an observer-centric model of elastic deformation, which we call a Load Sensitivity Kernel (LSK). Using this approach, we find that the elastic deformation at the majority of ANET sites is dominated by far-field mass change. Over 70% of ANET sites require ice mass change within a radius of 200km or greater to be included before 90% of the site's elastic deformation is recovered. We show that the difference between LSKs of a pair of neighboring GNSS receivers can be used to localize the near-field mass change responsible for the differential displacement. Finally, we generalize this in a novel approach that uses an arbitrary number of GNSS sites. In this approach, LSKs of each site are weighted and added in a linear series. These weights are optimized such that the elastic deformation from mass change outside a Region of Interest is minimized. We demonstrate that 7 ANET GNSS sites in the Amundsen Sea region can isolate the elastic deformation, in both the vertical and horizontal components, that results exclusively from PIG's mass loss and/or the losses of the PSK glaciers. With the current GNSS receiver distribution, the east component of elastic deformation due to mass change at Thwaites can be expressed relative to mass changes at PSK. Our results demonstrate that the current ANET configuration can use elastic deformation to constrain ice mass changes in Antarctica, especially in regions with relatively dense clusters of GNSS.

Ice cores are known to yield information about astronomical phenomena as well as information about past climate. We report time series analyses of annually resolved nitrate variations in an ice core, drilled at the Dome Fuji station in East Antarctica, corresponding to the period from CE 1610 to 1904. Our analyses revealed clear evidence of ~11, ~22, and ~90 year periodicities, comparable to the respective periodicities of the well-known Schwabe, Hale, and Gleissberg solar cycles. Our results show for the first time that nitrate concentrations in an ice core can be used as a proxy for past solar activity on decadal to multidecadal time scales. Furthermore, 11-year and 22-year periodicities were detected in nitrate variations even during the Maunder Minimum (1645-1715), when sunspots were almost absent. This discovery may support cyclic behavior of the solar dynamo during the grand solar minimum., Comment: Submitted to Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B

We report on the discovery and characterisation of three planets orbiting the F8 star HD~28109, which sits comfortably in \tess's continuous viewing zone. The two outer planets have periods of $\rm 56.0067 \pm 0.0003~days$ and $\rm 84.2597_{-0.0008}^{+0.0010}~days$, which implies a period ratio very close to that of the first-order 3:2 mean motion resonance, exciting transit timing variations (TTVs) of up to $\rm 60\,mins$. These two planets were first identified by \tess, and we identified a third planet in the \textcolor{black}{\tess photometry} with a period of $\rm 22.8911 \pm 0.0004~days$. We confirm the planetary nature of all three planetary candidates using ground-based photometry from Hazelwood, ASTEP and LCO, including a full detection of the $\rm \sim9\,h$ transit of HD~28109 c from Antarctica. The radii of the three planets are \textcolor{black}{$\rm R_b=2.199_{-0.10}^{+0.098} ~R_{\oplus}$, $\rm R_c=4.23\pm0.11~ R_{\oplus}$ and $\rm R_d=3.25\pm0.11 ~R_{\oplus}$}; we characterise their masses using TTVs and precise radial velocities from ESPRESSO and HARPS, and find them to be $\rm M_b=18.5_{-7.6}^{+9.1}~M_{\oplus}$, $\rm M_c=7.9_{-3.0}^{+4.2}~M_{\oplus}$ and $\rm M_d=5.7_{-2.1}^{+2.7}~M_{\oplus}$, making planet b a dense, massive planet while c and d are both under-dense. We also demonstrate that the two outer planets are ripe for atmospheric characterisation using transmission spectroscopy, especially given their position in the CVZ of JWST. The data obtained to date are consistent with resonant (librating) and non-resonant (circulating) solutions; additional observations will show whether the pair is actually locked in resonance or just near-resonant., Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures

The evaluation of sky characteristics plays a fundamental role for many astrophysical experiments and ground-based observations. In solar physics, the main requirement for such observations is a very low sky brightness value, that is, less than one-millionth of the solar disk brightness. Few places match such requirement for ground-based, out-of-eclipse coronagraphic measurements. A candidate coronagraphic site is the Dome C plateau in Antarctica. In this paper, we show the first results of the sky brightness measurements at Dome C with the Extreme Solar Coronagraphy Antarctic Program Experiment (ESCAPE) at Italian-French Concordia Station, on Dome C, Antarctica (3300 m) during the summer XXXIV and XXXV Expeditions of the "Italian Piano Nazionale Ricerche Antartiche" (PNRA). The sky brightness measurements were carried out with the internally-occulted Antarctic coronagraph - AntarctiCor. In optimal atmospheric conditions, the sky brightness of Dome C has reached values of the order of 1.0 to 0.7 millionth of of the solar disk brightness.

Atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs) are known to have a warm and isotopically enriched bias over Antarctica. We test here the hypothesis that these biases are partly consequences of a too diffusive advection. Exploiting the LMDZ-iso model, we show that a less diffusive representation of the advection, especially on the horizontal, is very important to reduce the bias in the isotopic contents of precipitation above this area. The choice of an appropriate representation of the advection is thus essential when using GCMs for paleoclimate applications based on polar water isotopes. Too much diffusive mixing along the poleward transport leads to overestimated isotopic contents in water vapor because dehydration by mixing follows a more enriched path than dehydration by Rayleigh distillation. The near-air surface temperature is also influenced, to a lesser extent, by the diffusive properties of the advection scheme directly via the advection of the air and indirectly via the radiative effects of changes in high cloud fraction and water vapor. A too diffusive horizontal advection increases the temperature and so also contributes to enrich the isotopic contents of water vapor over Antarctica through a reduction of the distillation. The temporal relationship, from Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to present-day conditions, between the mean annual near-air surface temperature and the water isotopic contents of precipitation for a specific location can also be impacted, with significant consequences on the paleo-temperature reconstruction from observed changes in water isotopes., Comment: Accepted paper version. See published version in EPSL Elsevier website

Accurate measurement of the local component of geodetic motion at GPS stations presents a challenge due to the need to separate this signal from the tectonic plate rotation. A pressing example is the observation of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) which constrains the Earth's response to ice unloading, and hence, contributions of ice-covered regions such as Antarctica to global sea level rise following ice mass loss. We focus on horizontal GPS velocities which typically contain a large component of plate rotation and a smaller local component primarily relating to GIA. Incomplete separation of these components introduces significant bias into estimates of GIA motion vectors. We present the results of a series of tests based on the motions of GPS stations from East Antarctica: 1) signal separation for sets of synthetic data that replicate the geometric character of non-separable, and separable, GIA-like horizontal velocities; and 2) signal separation for real GPS station data with an appraisal of uncertainties. For both synthetic and real motions, we compare results where the stations are unweighted, and where each station is areal-weighted using a metric representing the inverse of the spatial density of neighbouring stations. From the synthetic tests, we show that a GIA-like signal is recoverable from the plate rotation signal providing it has geometric variability across East Antarctica. We also show that areal-weighting has a very significant effect on the ability to recover a GIA-like signal with geometric variability, and hence on separating the plate rotation and local components. For the real data, assuming a rigid Antarctic plate, fitted plate rotation parameters compare well with other studies in the literature. We find that 25 out of 36 GPS stations examined in East Antarctica have non-zero local horizontal velocities, at the 2$\sigma$ level, after signal separation., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables; published in GJI

Rift plays an important role in ice shelf calving event, which forms the boundary of tabular detachments and the acts as precursor for ice shelf calving. Rift m\'elange shows the resistance to deform during rift propagation, which plays the role as stabilizing the rift. However, the detailed 3D propagation process of the rift, including the dynamics motion of its m\'elange, is not clearly investigated since then. In this paper, a long time series of 2D propagation rates are generated to provide an overview of all rifts throughout the FRIS, which reveals that the rift T1 and T2 were quite active and will dominate the next calving event. Then, the process of widening of rift T1 is detailed investigated, which is representative for rift propagation process. By utilizing REMA DEMs and ITS_LIVE ice velocity maps, the process of m\'elange widening and rift wall widening are estimated. The m\'elange widens linearly in space and rift wall widening is caused by collapse. The processes of m\'elange height decreasing and m\'elange widening both reveal linear patterns during rift widening process. Rift widening process shows seasonal variant, which is attributed to the seasonal variant of rift wall widening. However, m\'elange widening reveals a stable trend, which proves its stability. The seasonal variant of rift wall widening is further explained by the collapsing process during different seasons. The process of rift propagation worth long-term monitoring both vertically and horizontally in the future, which is significant for ice shelf calving ice shelf instability studies., Comment: The systematic errors between multiple DEMs are not effectively eliminated and the accuracy of the results is not credible

The Columbia Scientific Ballooning Facility operates stratospheric balloon flights out of McMurdo Station in Antarctica. We use balloon trajectory data from 40 flights between 1991 and 2016 to give the first quantification of trajectory statistics. We provide the probabilities as a function of time for the payload to be between given latitudes, and we quantify the southernmost and northernmost latitudes a payload is likely to attain. We find that for the median flight duration of 19 days, there is 90% probability the balloon would drift as far south as $88^{\circ}$S or as far north as $71^{\circ}$S; shorter flights are likely to experience smaller ranges in latitude. These statistics, which are available digitally in the public domain, will enable scientists planning future balloon flights make informed decisions during both mission design and execution., Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures

The 0.5\,m Antarctic Survey Telescopes (AST3) were designed for time-domain optical/infrared astronomy. They are located in Dome~A, Antarctica, where they can take advantage of the continuous dark time during winter. Since the site is unattended in winter, everything for the operation, from observing to data reduction, had to be fully automated. Here, we present a brief overview of the AST3 project and some of its unique characteristics due to its location in Antarctica. We summarise the various components of the survey, including the customized hardware and software, that make complete automation possible., Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Dome A in Antarctica has been demonstrated to be the best site on earth for optical, infrared, and terahertz astronomical observations by more and more evidence, such as excellent free-atmosphere seeing, extremely low perceptible water vapor, low sky background, and continuous dark time, etc. In this review paper, we present a complete picture of the development of astronomy at Dome A from the very beginning, review recent progress in time-domain astronomy, demonstrate exciting results of the site testing, and address the challenges in instrumentation. Currently proposed projects are briefly discussed., Comment: Review paper, 33 pages, 19 figures, published in RAA (Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics)

Seeing, the angular size of stellar images blurred by atmospheric turbulence, is a critical parameter used to assess the quality of astronomical sites. Median values at the best mid-latitude sites are generally in the range of 0.6--0.8\,arcsec. Sites on the Antarctic plateau are characterized by comparatively-weak turbulence in the free-atmosphere above a strong but thin boundary layer. The median seeing at Dome C is estimated to be 0.23--0.36 arcsec above a boundary layer that has a typical height of 30\,m. At Dome A and F, the only previous seeing measurements were made during daytime. Here we report the first direct measurements of night-time seeing at Dome A, using a Differential Image Motion Monitor. Located at a height of just 8\,m, it recorded seeing as low as 0.13\,arcsec, and provided seeing statistics that are comparable to those for a 20\,m height at Dome C. It indicates that the boundary layer was below 8\,m 31\% of the time. At such times the median seeing was 0.31\,arcsec, consistent with free-atmosphere seeing. The seeing and boundary layer thickness are found to be strongly correlated with the near-surface temperature gradient. The correlation confirms a median thickness of approximately 14\,m for the boundary layer at Dome A, as found from a sonic radar. The thinner boundary layer makes it less challenging to locate a telescope above it, thereby giving greater access to the free-atmosphere., Comment: Published in Nature on July 29, 2020

Knowledge of the past behavior of Antarctic polynyas such as the Ross and Weddell Seas contributes to the understanding of biological productivity, sea ice production, katabatic and Southern Hemisphere Westerly (SHW) wind strength, Antarctic bottom water (ABW) formation, and marine CO2 sequestration. Previous studies link barium (Ba) marine sedimentation to polynya primary productivity (Bonn et al., 1998; McManus et al., 2002; Pirrung et al., 2008), polynya area to katabatic wind strength and proximal cyclones (Bromwich et al., 1998; Drucker et al., 2011), and highlight the influence of Ross Ice Shelf calving event effects on the Ross Sea Polynya (RSP) (Rhodes et al., 2009). Here we use the RICE ice core, located just 120 km from the Ross Ice Shelf front to capture 1150 years of RSP behavior. We link atmospheric Ba fluctuations to Ba marine sedimentation in the summer Ross Sea Polynya, creating the first deep ice core based RSP proxy. RSP area is currently the smallest ever observed over our 1150-year record, and varied throughout the Little Ice Age with fluctuations in Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) strength related with Ross Sea cyclones. Past RSP reconstructions allow us to predict future responses of RSP area to future climate change, which is of special interest considering the recent disappearance of the Weddell Sea Polynya in response to anthropogenic forcing (de Lavergne et al., 2014)., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, 1 table

The level of quasi-stationary planetary wave (QSW) activity in the Antarctic winter stratosphere provides insights into the likely behavior of the ozone hole in the following spring months. Observation of an anomalously large amplitude of the QSW in winter stratospheric temperatures is an indicator that strong disturbances to the polar vortex are likely to occur, and may lead to large reductions in both the area of the Antarctic ozone hole area and the overall amount of stratospheric ozone that is depleted. In the sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) preconditions in 2019, the maximum QSW amplitude over Antarctica in August was approximately 12 K, which was only 2 K less than conditions prior to the unprecedented major Antarctic SSW in 2002. Under these conditions, the Antarctic SSW in 2019 has the potential to become a major SSW. The additional factors disturbing the Antarctic stratosphere in 2019 was anomalously warm sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central tropical Pacific Ocean and western Indian Ocean, and the descending easterly phase of the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation. The combination of these factors - the large amplitude of the QSW, the warm tropical SSTs and transitioning phase of the QBO - has the potential to cause the early disruption of the ozone hole and reduce the overall level of ozone depletion in 2019, and may also have important regional consequences for weather conditions in the Southern Hemisphere., Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures

Persistently active lava lakes show continuous outgassing and open convection over years to decades. Ray Lake, the lava lake at Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica, maintains long-term, near steady-state behavior in temperature, heat flux, gas flux, lake level, and composition. This activity is superposed by periodic small pulses of gas and hot magma every 5-18 minutes and disrupted by sporadic Strombolian eruptions. The periodic pulses have been attributed to a variety of potential processes including unstable bidirectional flow in the conduit feeding the lake. In contrast to hypotheses invoking a conduit source for the observed periodicity, we test the hypothesis that the behavior could be the result of dynamics within the lake itself, independent of periodic influx from the conduit. We perform numerical simulations of convection in Ray Lake driven by both constant and periodic inflow of gas-rich magma from the conduit to identify whether the two cases have different observational signatures at the surface. Our simulations show dripping diapirs or pulsing plumes leading to observable surface behavior with periodicities in the range of 5-20 minutes. We conclude that a convective speed faster than the inflow speed can result in periodic behavior without requiring periodicity in conduit dynamics. This finding suggests that the surface behavior of lava lakes might be less indicative of volcanic conduit processes in persistently outgassing volcanoes than previously thought, and that dynamics within the lava lake itself may modify or overprint patterns emerging from the conduit.

In the past 45 years, the US Antarctic Meteorite (ANSMET) program has recovered more than 22,000 meteorites from more than 50 individual meteorite stranding areas. Although the Antarctic meteorite collection is dominated by ordinary chondrites which represent 80-90% of the recovered samples, it also contains many achondrites, including howardites, eucrites and diogenites, which are collectively known as HED meteorites. A challenge for the Antarctic meteorite collection is to identify paired fragments that belong to the same fall. Eight ANSMET field sea-sons at the Miller Range Icefields (MIL), a series of blue ice fields about 40 km long and 10-20 km wide, have yielded more than 3000 meteorites including 56 HEDs. At least three possible pairing groups (with 3-10 members each) were initially identified among the MIL diogenites and one each among the howardites and eucrites. Since many HED meteorites are heterogeneous breccias, pairing identifications based on cm-sized samples is difficult and other independent evidence is needed to verify these proposed pairings, as was shown for several Antarctic howardite pairing-groups. Here we re-examine pairings of HED’s from the Miller Range Icefields, using multiple lines of evidence, including texture/petrography, chemical composition, cosmogenic radionuclides and find locations. Due to the heterogeneous nature of HED meteorites, we will not only consider pairings strictly among the three HED groups, but will also consider pairing of howardites with brecciated eucrites or brecciated diogenites if the cosmogenic nuclides, texture and chemical compositions support this. The concentrations of cosmogenic radionuclides in meteorites are a function of the cosmic-ray exposure (CRE) age, shielding conditions (size and irradiation depth), chemical composition, as well the terrestrial age of the meteorite sample. Since the production rates of cosmogenic nuclides as a function of meteoroid size, depth and composition are well understood [6], their measured concentrations can be used to determine which meteorites belong to the same fall even if the chemical composition of the samples show significant variations. We selected 28 of the 56 HED samples from the MIL collection, including 12 diogenites, 8 howardites and 8 brecciated eucrites to investigate pairing relationships.

The Near-infrared Sky Brightness Monitor (NIRBM) aims to measure the middle infrared sky background in Antarctica. The NIRBM mainly consists of an InGaAs detector, a chopper, a reflector, a cooler and a black body. The reflector can rotate to scan the sky with a field of view ranging from 0{\deg} to 180{\deg}. Electromechanical control and weak signal readout functions are accomplished by the same circuit, whose core chip is a STM32F407VG microcontroller. Considering the environment is harsh for humans in Antarctica, a multi-level remote control software system is designed and implemented. A set of EPICS IOCs are developed to control each hardware module independently via serial port communication with the STM32 microcontroller. The tornado web framework and PyEpics are introduced as a combination where PyEpics is used to monitor or change the EPICS Process Variables, functioning as a client for the EPICS framework. Tornado is responsible for the specific operation process of inter-device collaboration, and expose a set of interfaces to users to make calls. Considering the high delay and low bandwidth of the network environment, the tornado back-end is designed as a master-and-agent architecture to improve domestic user experience. The master node is deployed in Antarctic while multiple agent nodes can be deployed domestic. The master and agent nodes communicate with each other through the WebSocket protocol to exchange latest information so that bandwidth is saved. The GUI is implemented in the form of single-page application based on the Vue framework which communicates with tornado through WebSocket and AJAX requests. The web page integrates device control, data curve drawing, alarm display, auto observation and other functions together., Comment: Many revision were done after the submission, and the result in this paper may need more correction

Multiple scattering of seismic waves is often seen as a nightmare for conventional migration techniques that generally rely on a ballistic or a single scattering assumption. In heterogeneous areas such as volcanoes, the multiple scattering contribution limits the imaging-depth to one scattering mean free path, the mean distance between two successive scattering events for body waves. In this Letter, we propose a matrix approach of passive seismic imaging that pushes back this fundamental limit by making an efficient use of scattered body waves drowned into a noisy seismic coda. As a proof-of-concept, the case of the Erebus volcano in Antarctica is considered. The Green's functions between a set of geophones placed on top of the volcano are first retrieved by the cross-correlation of coda waves induced by multiple icequakes. This set of impulse responses forms a reflection matrix. By combining a matrix discrimination of singly-scattered waves with iterative time reversal, we are able to push back the multiple scattering limit beyond 10 scattering mean free paths. The matrix approach reveals the internal structure of the Erebus volcano: A chimney-shaped structure at shallow depths, a magma reservoir at 2500 m and several cavities at sea level and below it. The matrix approach paves the way towards a greatly improved monitoring of volcanic structures at depth. Beyond this specific case, the matrix approach of seismic imaging can generally be applied to all scales and areas where multiple scattering events undergone by body waves prevent in-depth imaging of the Earth's crust., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures

The ARIANNA detector aims to detect neutrinos with energies above \SI{e16}{eV} by instrumenting 0.5 Teratons of ice with a surface array of a thousand independent radio detector stations in Antarctica. The Antarctic ice is transparent to the radio signals caused by the Askaryan effect which allows for a cost-effective instrumentation of large volumes. Several pilot stations are currently operating successfully at the Moore's Bay site (Ross Ice Shelf) and at the South Pole. As the ARIANNA detector stations are positioned at the surface, the more abundant cosmic-ray air showers are also measured and serve as a direct way to prove the capabilities of the detector. We will present measured cosmic rays and will show how the incoming direction, polarization and electric field of the cosmic-ray pulse can be reconstructed from single detector stations comprising 4 upward and 4 downward facing LPDA antennas., Comment: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Acoustic and Radio EeV Neutrino Detection Activities, ARENA 2018

We present an analysis of meteorological data from the second generation of the Kunlun Automated Weather Station (KLAWS-2G) at Dome A, Antarctica during 2015 and 2016. We find that a strong temperature inversion exists for all the elevations up to 14 m that KLAWS-2G can reach, and lasts for more than 10 hours for 50% or more of the time when temperature inversion occurs. The average wind speeds at 4 m elevation are 4.2 m/s and 3.8 m/s during 2015 and 2016, respectively. The strong temperature inversion and moderate wind speed lead to a shallow turbulent boundary layer height at Dome A. By analyzing the temperature and wind shear profiles, we note telescopes should be elevated by at least 8 m above the ice. We also find that the duration of temperature inversions, and the wind speed, vary considerably from year to year. Therefore, long-term and continuous data are still needed for the site survey at Dome A., Comment: 24 pages, 22 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in PASP

Dome C in Antarctica is a promising site for photometric observations thanks to the continuous night during the Antarctic winter and favorable weather conditions. We developed instruments to assess the quality of this site for photometry in the visible and to detect and characterize variable objects through the Antarctic Search for Transiting ExoPlanets (ASTEP) project. We present the full analysis of four winters of data collected with ASTEP South, a 10 cm refractor pointing continuously toward the celestial south pole. We improved the instrument over the years and developed specific data reduction methods. We achieved nearly continuous observations over the winters. We measure an average sky background of 20 mag arcsec$^{-2}$ in the 579-642 nm bandpass. We built the lightcurves of 6000 stars and developed a model to infer the photometric quality of Dome C from the lightcurves themselves. The weather is photometric $67.1\pm4.2$ % of the time and veiled $21.8\pm2.0$ % of the time. The remaining time corresponds to poor quality data or winter storms. We analyzed the lightcurves of $\sigma$ Oct and HD 184465 and find that the amplitude of their main frequency varies by a factor of 3.5 and 6.7 over the four years, respectively. We also identify 34 new variable stars and eight new eclipsing binaries with periods ranging from 0.17 to 81 days. The phase coverage that we achieved with ASTEP South is exceptional for a ground-based instrument and the data quality enables the detection and study of variable objects. These results demonstrate the high quality of Dome C for photometry in the visible and for time series observations in general., Comment: 23 pages, 23 figures, A&A in press

The three Antarctic Survey Telescopes (AST3) aim to carry out time domain imaging survey at Dome A, Antarctica. The first of the three telescopes (AST3-1) was successfully deployed on January 2012. AST3-1 is a 500\,mm aperture modified Schmidt telescope with a 680\,mm diameter primary mirror. AST3-1 is equipped with a SDSS $i$ filter and a 10k $\times$ 10k frame transfer CCD camera, reduced to 5k $\times$ 10k by electronic shuttering, resulting in a 4.3 deg$^2$ field-of-view. To verify the capability of AST3-1 for a variety of science goals, extensive commissioning was carried out between March and May 2012. The commissioning included a survey covering 2000 deg$^2$ as well as the entire Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Frequent repeated images were made of the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a selected exoplanet transit field, and fields including some Wolf-Rayet stars. Here we present the data reduction and photometric measurements of the point sources observed by AST3-1. We have achieved a survey depth of 19.3\,mag in 60 s exposures with 5\,mmag precision in the light curves of bright stars. The facility achieves sub-mmag photometric precision under stable survey conditions, approaching its photon noise limit. These results demonstrate that AST3-1 at Dome A is extraordinarily competitive in time-domain astronomy, including both quick searches for faint transients and the detection of tiny transit signals., Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS, the dataset is public in http://explore.china-vo.org/

The optical turbulence above Dome C in winter is mainly concentrated in the first tens of meters above the ground. Properties of this so-called surface layer (SL) were investigated during the period 2007-2012 by a set of sonics anemometers placed on a 45 m high tower. We present the results of this long-term monitoring of the refractive index structure constant Cn2 within the SL, and confirm its thickness of 35m. We give statistics of the contribution of the SL to the seeing and coherence time. We also investigate properties of large scale structure functions of the temperature and show evidence of a second inertial zone at kilometric spatial scales.

Proxima Centauri is known as the closest star from the Sun. Recently, radial velocity observations revealed the existence of an Earth-mass planet around it. With an orbital period of ~11 days, the surface of Proxima Centauri b is temperate and might be habitable. We took a photometric monitoring campaign to search for its transit, using the Bright Star Survey Telescope at the Zhongshan Station in Antarctica. A transit-like signal appearing on 2016 September 8th, is identified tentatively. Its midtime, $T_{C}=2,457,640.1990\pm0.0017$ HJD, is consistent with the predicted ephemeris based on RV orbit in a 1$\sigma$ confidence interval. Time-correlated noise is pronounced in the light curve of Proxima Centauri, affecting detection of transits. We develop a technique, in a Gaussian process framework, to gauge the statistical significance of potential transit detection. The tentative transit signal reported here, has a confidence level of $2.5\sigma$. Further detection of its periodic signals is necessary to confirm the planetary transit of Proxima Centauri b. We plan to monitor Proxima Centauri in next Polar night at Dome A in Antarctica, taking the advantage of continuous darkness. \citet{Kipping17} reported two tentative transit-like signals of Proxima Centauri b, observed by the Microvariability and Oscillation of Stars space Telescope in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The midtransit time of our detection is 138 minutes later than that predicted by their transit ephemeris. If all the signals are real transits, the misalignment of the epochs plausibly suggests transit timing variations of Proxima Centauri b induced by an outer planet in this system., Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, accepted by The Astronomical Journal

The Antartica Search for Transiting Extrasolar Planets (ASTEP), an automatized 400 mm telescope located at Concordia station in Antarctica, monitored beta Pictoris continuously to detect any variability linked to the transit of the Hill sphere of its planet beta Pictoris b. The long observation sequence, from March to September 2017, combined with the quality and high level duty cycle of our data, enables us to detect and analyse the delta Scuti pulsations of the star. Time series photometric data were obtained using aperture photometry by telescope defocussing. The 66 418 data points were analysed using the software package Period04. We only selected frequencies with amplitudes that exceed four times the local noise level in the amplitude spectrum. We detect 31 delta Scuti pulsation frequencies, 28 of which are new detections. All the frequencies detected are in the interval 34.76-75.68 d-1 . We also find that beta Pictoris exhibits at least one pulsation mode that varies in amplitude over our monitoring duration of seven months., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

The LIGO detection of gravitational waves (GW) from merging black holes in 2015 marked the beginning of a new era in observational astronomy. The detection of an electromagnetic signal from a GW source is the critical next step to explore in detail the physics involved. The Antarctic Survey Telescopes (AST3), located at Dome A, Antarctica, is uniquely situated for rapid response time-domain astronomy with its continuous night-time coverage during the austral winter. We report optical observations of the GW source (GW~170817) in the nearby galaxy NGC 4993 using AST3. The data show a rapidly fading transient at around 1 day after the GW trigger, with the $i$-band magnitude declining from $17.23\pm0.13$ magnitude to $17.72\pm0.09$ magnitude in $\sim 1.8$ hour. The brightness and time evolution of the optical transient associated with GW~170817 are broadly consistent with the predictions of models involving merging binary neutron stars. We infer from our data that the merging process ejected about $\sim 10^{-2}$ solar mass of radioactive material at a speed of up to $30\%$ the speed of light., Comment: 10 pages, 4 Figures

ASTEP (Antarctica Search for Transiting ExoPlanets) is a pilot project that aims at searching and characterizing transiting exoplanets from Dome C in Antarctica and to qualify this site for photometry in the visible. Two instruments were installed at Dome C and ran for six winters in total. The analysis of the collected data is nearly complete. We present the operation of the instruments, and the technical challenges, limitations, and possible solutions in light of the data quality. The instruments performed continuous observations during the winters. Human interventions are required mainly for regular inspection and ice dust removal. A defrosting system is efficient at preventing and removing ice on the mirrors. The PSF FWHM is 4.5 arcsec on average which is 2.5 times larger than the specification, and is highly variable; the causes are the poor ground-level seeing, the turbulent plumes generated by the heating system, and to a lower extent the imperfect optical alignment and focusing, and some astigmatism. We propose solutions for each of these aspects that would largely increase the PSF stability. The astrometric and guiding precisions are satisfactory and would deserve only minor improvements. Major issues are encountered with the camera shutter which did not close properly after two winters; we minimized this issue by heating the shutter and by developing specific image calibration algorithms. Finally, we summarize the site testing and science results obtained with ASTEP. Overall, the ASTEP experiment will serve as a basis to design and operate future optical and near-infrared telescopes in Antarctica., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, SPIE conference proceedings, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI, 2016

The quality of ground based astronomical observations are significantly affected by telluric conditions, and the search for best sites has led to the construction of observatories at remote locations, including recent initiatives on the high plateaus of E Antarctica where the calm, dry and cloud free conditions during winter are recognized as amongst the best. Site selection is an important phase of any observatory development project, and candidate sites must be tested with specialized equipment, a process both time consuming and costly. A potential screening of site locations before embarking on field testing is through the use of climate models. Here, we describe the application of the Polar version of the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model to the preliminary site suitability assessment of an unstudied region in W Antarctica. Numerical simulations with WRF were carried out for the winter of 2011 at 3 km and 1 km spatial resolution over a region centered on the Ellsworth mountain range. Comparison with observations of surface wind speed and direction, temperature and specific humidity at nine automatic weather stations indicate that the model succeed in capturing the mean and time variability of these variables. Credible features shown by the model include zones of high winds over the southernmost part of the Ellsworth Mntns, a deep thermal inversion over the Ronne-Fincher Ice Shelf and strong west to east moisture gradient across the entire study area. Comparison of simulated cloud fraction with a spacebourne Lidar climatology indicates that the model may underestimate cloud occurrence, a problem that has been noted in previous studies. A simple scoring system was applied to reveal the most promising locations. The results of this study indicate that the WRF model is capable of providing useful guidance during the initial site selection stage of project development., Comment: 22 pages, 16 figures, 5 tables. Accepted to Theoretical Applied Climatology Journal

Over the past 50 years, the discovery and initial investigation of subglacial lakes in Antarctica have highlighted the paleoglaciological information that may be recorded in sediments at their beds. In December 2018, we accessed Mercer Subglacial Lake, West Antarctica, and recovered the first in situ subglacial lake-sediment record—120 mm of finely laminated mud. We combined geophysical observations, image analysis, and quantitative stratigraphy techniques to estimate long-term mean lake sedimentation rates (SRs) between 0.49 ± 0.12 mm a–1 and 2.3 ± 0.2 mm a–1, with a most likely SR of 0.68 ± 0.08 mm a–1. These estimates suggest that this lake formed between 53 and 260 a before core recovery (BCR), with a most likely age of 180 ± 20 a BCR—coincident with the stagnation of the nearby Kamb Ice Stream. Our work demonstrates that interconnected subglacial lake systems are fundamentally linked to larger-scale ice dynamics and highlights that subglacial sediment archives contain powerful, century-scale records of ice history and provide a modern process-based analogue for interpreting paleo–subglacial lake facies.

AST3-1 is the second-generation wide-field optical photometric telescope dedicated to time domain astronomy at Dome A, Antarctica. Here we present the results of $i$ band images survey from AST3-1 towards one Galactic disk field. Based on time-series photometry of 92,583 stars, 560 variable stars were detected with $i$ magnitude $\leq$ 16.5 mag during eight days of observations; 339 of these are previously unknown variables. We tentatively classify the 560 variables as 285 eclipsing binaries (EW, EB, EA), 27 pulsating variable stars ($\delta$~Scuti, $\gamma$~Doradus, $\delta$~Cephei variable and RR Lyrae stars) and 248 other types of variables (unclassified periodic, multi-periodic and aperiodic variable stars). Among the eclipsing binaries, 34 show O'Connell effects. One of the aperiodic variables shows a plateau light curve and another one shows a secondary maximum after peak brightness. We also detected a complex binary system with RS CVn-like light curve morphology; this object is being followed-up spectroscopically using the Gemini South telescope., Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal

The Chinese Small Telescope ARray (CSTAR) carried out high-cadence time-series observations of 20.1 square degrees centered on the South Celestial Pole during the 2008, 2009 & 2010 winter seasons from Dome A in Antarctica. The nearly-continuous 6 months of dark conditions during each observing season allowed for >10^6 images to be collected through gri and clear filters, resulting in the detection of >10^4 sources over the course of 3 years of operation. The nearly space-like conditions in the Antarctic plateau are an ideal testbed for the suitability of very small-aperture (<20 cm) telescopes to detect transient events, variable stars and stellar flares. We present the results of a robust search for such objects using difference image analysis of the data obtained during the 2009 & 2010 winter seasons. While no transients were found, we detected 29 flaring events and find a normalized flaring rate of 5+\-4x10^-7 flare/hour for late-K dwarfs, 1+\-1x10^-6 flare/hour for M dwarfs and 7+\-1x10^-7 flare/hour for all other stars in our sample. We suggest future small-aperture telescopes planned for deployment at Dome A would benefit from a tracking mechanism, to help alleviate effects from ghosting, and a finer pixel scale, to increase the telescope's sensitivity to faint objects. We find that the light curves of non-transient sources have excellent photometric qualities once corrected for systematics, and are limited only by photon noise and atmospheric scintillation., Comment: Accepted for Publication in the Astronomical Journal, 14 pages, 12 figures and 2 tables

This narrative describes the processes and technologies employed to produce and deliver a series of complex interactive learning experiences that brought together working scientists in Antarctic and students and teachers across North America. This multifaceted program included field production in the Antarctic, the use of experimental communications technologies to provide real-time interactive communication from across the globe, and the re-purposing of the educational materials from the live programs to produce an exciting and engaging interactive CD-ROM and Web site. "Live From Antarctica 2" was a series of three one-hour interactive television programs produced by Passport to Knowledge (Morristown, New Jersey) with considerable production support from the Mississippi State University Television Center in Starkville, Mississippi. This undertaking involved establishing bi-directional television broadcasting facilities in the Palmer Peninsula of Antarctica. Through these experimental facilities, NSF researches would be connected to the program originating facility at Mississippi State University and ultimately to students and teachers around the country through PBS and NASA-TV. Through a mix of communications technologies, students were able to ask questions and receive responses from the scientists working at their field research stations. The goal of the project was to bring science to life and to vividly illustrate the problems, challenges, and rewards of gathering research about the valuable wildlife, natural science, and ecosystems of the Antarctic. (AEF)

The reanalysis datasets provide very important sources for investigating the climate dynamics and climate changes in Antarctica. In this paper, three major reanalysis data are compared with Antarctic station data over the last 35 years: the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis (NCEP1), NCEP-DOE Reanalysis 2 (NCEP2), and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Interim Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim). In our assessment, we compare the linear trends, the fluctuations around the trends, the persistence properties and the significance level of warming trends in the reanalysis data with the observational ones. We find that NCEP1 and NCEP2 show spurious warming trends in all parts of Antarctica except the Peninsula, while ERA-Interim is quite reliable except at Amundsen-Scott. To investigate the persistence of the data sets, we consider the lag-1 autocorrelation $C(1)$ and the Hurst exponent. While $C(1)$ varies quite erratically in different stations, the Hurst exponent shows similar patterns all over Antarctica. Regarding the significance of the trends, NCEP1 and NCEP2 differ considerably from the observational datasets by strongly exaggerating the warming trends. In contrast, ERA-Interim gives reliable results at most stations except at Amundsen-Scott where it shows a significant cooling trend., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures

The recovery of long-term climate proxy records with seasonal resolution is rare because of natural smoothing processes, discontinuities, and limitations in measurement resolution. Yet insolation forcing, a primary driver of multi-millennial-scale climate change, acts through seasonal variations with direct impacts on seasonal climate. Whether the sensitivity of seasonal climate to insolation matches theoretical predictions has not been assessed over long timescales. Here, we analyze a continuous record of water-isotope ratios from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice core to reveal summer and winter temperature changes through the last 11,000 years. Summer temperatures in West Antarctica increased through the early-to-mid Holocene, reached a peak at 4.1 ka, and then decreased to the present. Climate model simulations show that these variations primarily reflect changes in maximum summer insolation, confirming the general connection between seasonal insolation and warming, and demonstrating the importance of insolation intensity rather than seasonally integrated insolation or season duration. Winter temperatures varied less overall, consistent with predictions from insolation forcing, but also fluctuated in the early Holocene, likely owing to changes in meridional heat transport. The magnitudes of summer and winter temperature changes constrain the lowering of the WAIS surface since the early Holocene to less than 162 m, and most likely less than 58 m, consistent with geological constraints elsewhere in West Antarctica.

The summit of the Antarctic plateau, Dome A, is proving to be an excellent site for optical, NIR, and THz astronomical observations. GATTINI was a wide-field camera installed on the PLATO instrument module as part of the Chinese-led traverse to Dome A in January, 2009. We present here the measurements of sky brightness with the Gattini ultra-large field of view (90 deg x 90 deg) in the photometric B-, V-, and R-bands, cloud cover statistics measured during the 2009 winter season, and an estimate of the sky transparency. A cumulative probability distribution indicates that the darkest 10% of the nights at Dome A have sky brightness of S_B = 22.98, S_V = 21.86, and S_R = 21.68 mag arcsec^{-2}. These values were obtained around the year 2009 with minimum aurora, and they are comparable to the faintest sky brightness at Mauna Kea and the best sites of northern Chile. Since every filter includes strong auroral lines that effectively contaminate the sky brightness measurements, for instruments working around the auroral lines, either with custom filters or with high spectral resolution instruments, these values could be easily obtained on a more routine basis. In addition, we present example light curves for bright targets to emphasize the unprecedented observational window function available from this ground-based site. These light curves will be published in a future paper., Comment: 36 pages, 18 figure, submitted to AJ

The terahertz and far-infrared (FIR) band, from approximately 0.3 THz to 15 THz (1 mm to 20 micron), is important for astrophysics as the thermal radiation of much of the universe peaks at these wavelengths and many spectral lines that trace the cycle of interstellar matter also lie within this band. However, water vapor renders the terrestrial atmosphere opaque to this frequency band over nearly all of the Earth's surface. Early radiometric measurements below 1 THz at Dome A, the highest point of the cold and dry Antarctic ice sheet, suggest that it may offer the best possible access for ground-based astronomical observations in the terahertz and FIR band. To address uncertainty in radiative transfer modelling, we carried out measurements of atmospheric radiation from Dome A spanning the entire water vapor pure rotation band from 20 micron to 350 micron wavelength by a Fourier transform spectrometer. Our measurements expose atmospheric windows having significant transmission throughout this band. Furthermore, by combining our broadband spectra with auxiliary data on the atmospheric state over Dome A, we set new constraints on the spectral absorption of water vapor at upper tropospheric temperatures important for accurately modeling the terrestrial climate. In particular, we find that current spectral models significantly underestimate the H2O continuum absorption., Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures

Dome A in the Antarctic plateau is likely one of the best astronomical observing sites on Earth. The first one of three Antarctic Survey Telescope (AST3-1), a 50/68 cm Schmidt-like equatorial-mount telescope, is the first trackable telescope of China operating in Antarctica and the biggest telescope located in Antarctic inland. AST3-1 obtained huge amounts of data in 2012 and we processed the time-series parts. Here we present light curves of 29 variable stars identified from ten-day observations in 2012 with AST3-1, including 22 newly discovered variable stars. 23 of them are eclipsing binaries and the others are pulsating stars. We present the properties of the 29 variable stars, including the classifications, periods and magnitude ranges in i band. For the 17 eclipsing binaries, the phased light curves are presented with the orbital period values well determined.