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PROJECT SUMMARY
Intellectual merit. In a rapidly changing Arctic, the shrinking and thinning sea-ice cover plays an important role as indicator and agent of environmental change. A dramatic shrinking of the perennial ice cover has greatly increased the extent and hence importance of the Arctic seasonal ice zone (SIZ). TheSIZ is predicted to occupy much of the Arctic by mid- to late century, but data are sorely lacking to aid in tracking, understanding and predicting change over this important component of the Arctic cryosphere. This interdisciplinary project implements an integrated program of observing seasonal ice in the context of sweeping environmental, (geo)political and socio-economic change in the North. In addition to sampling of sea-ice state variables, the observation-system design is guided by the concept of sea-ice system services (SISS). By assessing the nature and extent of SISS, an integrated observation network can be built that will lead to prediction of key trends in a changing Arctic in a way that provides maximum benefit for the broadest range of affected interests. The first iteration of this observation program meets demands expressed by the scientific community to help improve modeling capabilities and determine whether the Arctic is moving to a new state (as expressed in Study of Environmental Arctic Change [SEARCH] planning documents) and will help to address these major scientific questions: (1) To what extent are changes in the SIZ at the local level throughout the Arctic correlated with large-scale change in summer minimum ice extent? (2) How does the SIZ respond to amplified ice-albedo feedback in seasonal ice as opposed to the buffering effects of enhanced snow-ice interaction and ice deformation? (3) How strongly does coastal sea ice impact change in terrestrial environments? (4) What does the sub-Arctic Okhotsk Sea teach about impending Arctic environmental and socio-economic change? While the focus of this project is on the Western Arctic, which has seen some of the most dramatic sea-ice reductions in past decades, an international team has been assembled from six nations that maximizes synergies and llows these questions to be addressed in a circum-Arctic context along a latitudinal gradient spanning the entire extent of the seasonal ice zone, well into the perennial ice. Observations in the western Arctic sector include shore-based and drift-ice measurements of ice motion, key mass-balance variables and critical snow and ice properties such as albedo, as well as airborne electromagnetic ice thickness measurements. Pan-Arctic data of seasonal ice evolution and ice-type distribution will be extracted from satellite microwave remote-sensing observations. All data will be ingested into an archival and dissemination system that is linked to the Alaska Ocean Observing System and administered by the Geographic Information Network of Alaska.
Broader impacts. The International Polar Year (IPY) presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to substantially advance understanding of the Arctic and Antarctic systems. Within the framework of this project, this opportunity will be used to engage the next generation of polar researchers, communicate with the public and stakeholders, develop long-lasting collaborations within the polar research community, and form linkages with the larger scientific community. Education at the K-12 and university levels and public outreach are integral parts of the project, with an international field course, web-based engagement of students and the general public, public lectures in local communities, and other modes of resentation taking a prominent role in the project. Stakeholders at various levels will be engaged through the SISS approach, and scientists will work with community-based observers to calibrate and validate the methodology. The project’s efforts will be of significant practical value to federal and local agencies, coastal managers and native subsistence communities.
Relevance to the IPY. The work is motivated by the goals of the IPY and SEARCH and directly addresses four out of five IPY science challenges. The international partnership sustaining the pan-Arctic nature of this project has been endorsed in the form of several IPY Proposal Clusters (one of them led by the two principal investigators). The project’s IPY legacy will be the foundation of a focused, long-term Arctic sea-ice observing network that advances several key objectives of the international IPY and SEARCH efforts and addresses stakeholders’ needs.
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