Arctic Science Summit Week 2019 Arkhangelsk, Russia
Open Meeting, Sunday. May 26, 2019: 9:00-10:30 and 11:00-13:00 (coffee break 10:30-11:00)
The Synoptic Arctic Survey (SAS) is a bottom-up, researcher driven initiative that seeks to define the present state of the Arctic Ocean and understand the major ongoing transformations, with an emphasis on water masses, the marine ecosystems and the carbon cycle. We propose that it will not be possible to assess either the consequences or the range of the ongoing changes unless necessary empirical data are collected, analyzed and understood in concert with each other. The rapidly changing sea ice conditions and linkage to atmospheric and oceanographic components, accelerated opening of the Central Arctic Ocean for human use (e.g., transportation, potential fisheries) as well as the potential for cascading ecosystem changes in the high Arctic and girdling Arctic seas highlight the critical time to determine status and trends of the opening Arctic Ocean. IASC’s role in facilitating international science planning in a multi-disciplinary fashion for pan-Arctic scientific observations highlights its key role in the development of the SAS activities. Planning is underway for multi-ship operations from the shelves into the Arctic basin in 2020/2021. All interested participants are welcome to this open discussion period.