Icebreaker Aurora Australis' first Antarctic trip of the summer will carry scientists who'll study mysterious super-cooled clouds in a bid to better predict global weather.
Around $14 million worth of high-tech weather monitoring equipment has been fitted to the ship for the joint Australia-US six-month research project.
"Clouds are one of the biggest uncertainties in the earth's climate system," Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) atmospheric scientist Simon Alexander said.
"And one of the biggest places where they're most uncertain is in the Southern Ocean."
Boats, aircraft and satellites will gather information on super-cooled cloud formations which remain liquid even when the temperature drops below zero.
This data will be used to create better weather and climate models for southern latitudes and around the world.
"It's a very pristine environment. Very little aerosols and man-made pollution," Dr Alexander said of the Southern Ocean.
"Once we go and make measurements from the surface of these clouds we're in a much better position to understand where the climate models are getting the clouds incorrect."
Around 100 expeditions will be aboard Aurora Australis as it leaves Hobart on Sunday afternoon on a week-long voyage south.
The super-cooled cloud study is one of 92 Antarctic projects over summer - the busiest time on the AAD's calender.
""We've got the opportunity of 24 hour daylight and much calmer weather which allows us to undertake important field work," AAD acting director Charlton Clark said.
"This year at Davis Station we've got ice core work - looking for samples up to 2000 years old."
More than 500 expeditions are expected to travel to the icy continent, Macquarie Island and the Southern Ocean over coming months.
