Long term air and snowfall chemistry measurements have beenperformed at the three coastal Antarctic stations Dumont dÚrville(66°40ŽS, 140°1ŽE), Neumayer (70°39ŽS, 8°15ŽW), and Halley(75°35ŽS, 26°19ŽW). The results have to be interpreted andcompared with respect to the regional meteorological conditions.In this study the 3-hourly synoptic surface observations taken at thethree stations between 1991 and 1995, as well as the dailyupper air soundings from 1993, are analyzed to describe theaspects of station climatologies relevant for the air and snowfall chemistrymeasurements discussed in the papers of this special section. Although the threestations are comparable, being situated close to the coastline of Antarctica, themeteorological conditions differ. While at Dumont dŽUrville katabatic winds causeprediminant strong and relatively dry surface winds from the interior of Antarctica,Neumayer and Halley are frequently influenced by easterly winds associated mostlywith eastwardmoving cyclones. From April through October the wind field above 5 km isgoverned by a circumpolar vortex with westerly winds increasing with height.Dumont dÚrville represents a station at the edge of this vortexwith extreme stratospheric wind velocities above 50 m/s. Neumayer and Halley aremostly situated within the vortex and isolated from airmasses advecting fromlower latitudes into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere during theAustral winter.