Upcoming workshops:
Workshop on Improving Ice Sheet Models,
Recognizing the importance of ice sheets in controlling global sea level, and the inadequacies in current efforts to model the disintegration of ice sheets in response to a warming climate, a Workshop is considered timely to develop a community strategy on how best to (i) improve the physical understanding of ice sheet processes responsible for rapid change; (ii) incorporate improved physical understanding into numerical models; (iii) assimilate appropriate data into the models for calibration and validation; and (iv) develop prognostic whole ice-sheet models that better incorporate non-linear ice-sheet response to environmental forcings (such as change in surface mass balance, loss of buttressing from floating ice shelves and ice tongues, and rising sea level).
The Workshop is scheduled immediately prior to the SCAR/
We have identified five research focus areas for which understanding is currently lacking but that are crucial to include in ice-sheet models:
- Englacial: interaction between ice-marginal processes and discharge from the interior through upstream transmission of longitudinal stress perturbations.
- Lateral margins: environmental controls on ice-shelf collapse and controls on iceberg calving.
- Basal boundary: geologic and topographic controls on fast glacier flow, and the role of subglacial hydrology on glacier discharge.
- Surface boundary: controls on surface mass balance.
- Implementing small-scale processes into whole ice sheet numerical models.
For each focus area, one or two speakers will be invited to present an overview of the current status of understanding, and who will lead discussions and writing in the corresponding break-out groups. Prior to the Workshop, a set of “Questions and Talking Points” will be distributed to participants to guide and focus the break-out sessions, so as to optimize the limited time available.
The aim is to produce a Science Plan for a joint SCAR/
The workshop will be led jointly by SCAR (ISMASS) and
Conveners:
Jon Ove Hagen (
Victoria
Konrad Steffen (WCRP/CliC)
Cornelis van der Veen (SCAR/ISMASS)
For further information, contact:
Cornelis van der Veen (cjvdv@ku.edu
http://www.scar.org/researchgroups/physicalscience/icesheets.html
http://www.scar-iasc-ipy2008.org/
Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks
The need for a well coordinated and sustained Arctic Observing Network that meets scientific and societal needs has been identified in numerous high profile reports and at a variety of workshops and conferences. In November 2006, the Arctic Council (AC) urged all member nations to maintain and extend long-term monitoring of change in the Arctic, with a view to building a lasting legacy of the International Polar Year (IPY). Further, the AC requested that its working group the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) work with other AC working groups, IASC and other partners in efforts to create a coordinated Arctic Observing Network that meets identified societal needs. The goal of developing an Arctic Observing Network as a legacy of IPY (WMO/ICSU) was endorsed by the WMO XV Congress in May 2007.
In January 2007, the Sustained Arctic Observing Networks Initiating Group (SAON IG), composed of representatives of international organizations, agencies and northern residents involved in research, operational and local observing, has been formed. The purpose of the SAON IG is to develop a set of recommendations on how to achieve long-term Arctic-wide observing activities that provide free, open and timely access to high quality data that will realize pan-Arctic and global value-added services and provide societal benefits.
The Swedish and Canadian IPY Committees have agreed to take the lead in the launch of the SAON initiative by running a succession of workshops together with the SAON IG. The first workshop was held in Sweden (Stockholm, 12-14 November 2007) and the second workshop in Canada (Edmonton 9-11 April 2008). A third workshop in Finland (Helsinki) is planned for 15-17 October 2008, hosted by the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
For more information please visit: http://www.arcticobserving.org/
The Second Workshop on Recent High Latitude Climate Change
Sponsored by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), Climate in the Cyrosphere (CliC), the International Commission on Polar Meteorology (ICPM) and IASC.
Location – NOAA/PMEL, Seattle (USA)
Dates – 22-24 October 2007
This workshop was held at the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and brought together meteorologists, climatologists, oceanographers and cryospheric experts. The two polar regions have experienced some of the largest climatic changes on Earth in recent decades and this workshop attempted to advance our understanding of the mechanisms behind these events. Specific topics covered included:
- A review of recent observed climate change
- separation of natural climate variability and anthropogenic change
- model simulation of recent changes
- the role of the oceans
- how can data from the IPY be utilised?
- What is causing the Arctic sea ice to decrease so rapidly?
- Why do we have such contrasting changes in the Arctic and Antarctic?
- The role of atmospheric circulation changes
- Is the atmosphere or the ocean leading the changes?
- the role of the annular modes in recent changes
- future research priorities
Further details on the workshop can be obtained from Dr. John Turner, British Antarctic Survey (J.Turner@bas.ac.uk).
Arctic Coastal Zones at Risk
This workshop on the impact of global climate change on the Arctic coastal zones was jointly organized by the Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zones (LOICZ) Program of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP) / International Human Dimensions Program on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) and IASC and co-sponsored by the International Permafrost Association (IPA). The workshop was held at the Polar Environmental Centre in Tromsø (Norway), 1–3 October 2007.
http://coast.gkss.de/events/arctic07/
A Scientific Synthesis and Assessment of the Arctic Carbon Cycle
Report on workshop held on 27 and 28 February 2007 by A. David McGuire, University of Alaska Fairbanks. (A more detailed workshop report has been published in Eos, Vol. 88, No. 26, 26 June 2007.)
The Arctic Carbon Cycle Assessment is sponsored by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), the Climate in the Cryosphere (CliC) Project of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP), and IASC. This activity is synthesizing knowledge on the current state of the carbon cycle in the Arctic and evaluating the sensitivity of the carbon cycle in the Arctic to potential climate change. The Arctic Carbon Cycle Assessment Workshop was held in Seattle, USA on 27 and 28 February. The overall goal of the workshop was to review the initial assessment document put together by the writing team. The writing team includes A.D. McGuire (USA), L. Anderson (Sweden), T. Christensen (Sweden), S. Dallimore (Canada), L. Guo (USA), M. Heimann (Germany), and R. MacDonald (Canada). The draft document was provided to workshop participants approximately 1 week prior to the workshop. The specific objectives of the workshop were to (1) present the initial assessment to a medium size group of experts, and (2) identify how the assessment can be improved.
The workshop was attended by 35 scientists and two representatives of the sponsors (John Calder for AMAP and Diane Verseghy for CliC). The scientists represented institutions located in a number of countries: Bermuda (1), Canada (1), China (1), Denmark (3), Finland (2), Iceland (1), Norway (3), Russia (2), Sweden (2), and USA (19). Of the USA participants there were 3 native-born Russians and 2 native-born Chinese. Four members of the writing team attended the workshop (McGuire, Anderson, Christensen, and Guo).
In general, the scientists attending the workshop were very positive and enthusiastic about the assessment. The scientists offered some advice for technically improving the representation of the current state of the Arctic. The break-out sessions were very useful for identifying which parts of the carbon cycle in the Arctic were most sensitive to climate change in the next 50 to 100 years and how the understanding of the carbon cycle in the Arctic can be improved.
The members of the writing committee attending the workshop met on the morning of 1 March to discuss the advice provided by the workshop participants. It was decided to add Dr. Nigel Roulet to the writing team as he provided a lot of valuable advice on crafting the document; Dr. Roulet has played a major part in the development of the biogeochemistry chapter in the just released IPCC report. The timetable for completing the assessment is as follows: (1) accept comments from reviewers of initial draft until 17 March, (2) make technical revisions by 1 April, (3) full draft to the writing committee by 11 May, (4) comments back to lead author by 18 May, (5) document for general review by 1 June, (6) accept comments from reviewers until 1 July, (7) revision by writing committee in July and August and meeting of the writing committee if necessary, (8) submission to peer-reviewed journal by 1 September.
