NSF, NOAA and NASA sponsored a half-day symposium entitled "Polar Climates, How Are they Changing." One of the measurements of change in the Arctic is on vegetation phenology. Here, attendees participate in a "bud burst" activitity. Teachers shared their ideas and knowledge with the larger group on questions such as; "What are buds, why do they form? What triggers them to burst?" . |
NOAA’s Data, Information, and Change Detection Strategy for the IPY
NOAA's fundamental data management responsibilities will be to securely archive
IPY datasets and ensure that these and relevant polar data are easily accessible
for current and future users. NOAA will utilize the existing World Data Center
(WDC) System and the NOAA
National Data Centers as a clearinghouse and facilitator for data-management
issues and will work with IPY participants to ensure that International Council
for Science/World Meteorological Organization (ICSU/WMO) IPY Data Committee guidelines
are followed. NOAA will also ensure that international standards such as the
Open Archival Information System Reference Model and the ISO19115 metadata standards
are met.
NOAA intends to build and maintain a pan-Arctic view of climate variability
and change that will serve decision makers with information products. These
range from baseline atlases against which future assessments can be carried
out, to the Near Realtime
Arctic Change Indicator Website, where information on the present state
of Arctic ecosystems and climate is given in historical context. NOAA data
centers will assist scientists to archive their IPY data. NOAA will continue
to acquire historical data and present it on the Arctic
Change Indicator Website to describe the state of the Arctic climate
over the past 150 years, allowing a better context for new data collected
during the IPY.
Progress: Climate Data Analysis and Assessment
• An Arctic Climate Change Detection project is being conducted to collect
and analyze long-term data on oceanic, atmospheric, and terrestrial variables.
Recent accomplishments include acquisition of radiosonde data from eight
Russian Arctic weather stations from the 1930s forward that will be used
to more completely analyze the period of warming seen in the Arctic in
the 1930s and 1940s.
• NOAA supported production of a “State of the Arctic Report” that
analyzed pan-Arctic physical climate data. Authorship included both U.S.
and foreign scientists. The report demonstrates most Arctic climate trends
noted in the ACIA report have continued in the 4 years since the ACIA
was written and confirms that, even though the great variability throughout
the Arctic makes trend detection difficult, the long-term projections
of the ACIA are likely to be realized. Additional assessment reports
are planned during and following the IPY, and international participation
will be sought.
• NOAA is working closely with the Arctic Monitoring
and Assessment Program (AMAP) of the Arctic
Council on projects that contribute to IPY objectives. In February
2007, a workshop will be held to gather data on the Arctic carbon cycle
and estimate its importance to the global carbon cycle now and at the
end of the century under a global warming scenario. Additional workshops
or reports are planned to consider pan-arctic downscaling from global
climate models and a summary of Arctic information in the upcoming
IPCC 4th Assessment Report. Both IASC and the IARC (UAF) are involved
in these efforts.
• NOAA intends to work with the SEARCH
program, the International Study of Arctic Change (ISAC), and AMAP
to further develop the Arctic Observing Network concept. NOAA will
push for completion of a network design and an international implementation
process to be completed by the end of the IPY period.
In November of 2003, NOAA's National Ice Center confirmed that this Iceberg, number B-15A, broke into two pieces east-northeast of Ross Island in the Ross Sea. This MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) image from the Aqua satellite shows the larger B-15A iceberg and the smaller iceberg named B-15J in Antarctica. |
Decision Support for Increasing Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change
and Variability in Alaska and the Arctic
a) The cornerstone of NOAA’s Regional Climate Decision Support program
for Alaska and the Arctic is to establish an integrated program spanning
stakeholder-influenced research and the development of decision-support
tools for sustained delivery of customer services. This includes establishing
in Alaska a Regional Integrated Sciences & Assessments (RISA) center
in Alaska and a Regional Climate Center (RCC) with formal liaisons to NOAA’s
National Weather Service and the State Climatologist Office to foster growth
of climate services.
Progress: The newest RISA, the Alaska Center for Climate
Assessment and Policy (ACCAP), is a joint program between the University
of Alaska /Fairbanks and the University of Alaska/Anchorage. ACCAP is currently
developing an informational website. The ACCAP is being led by investigators
from four groups at the University of Alaska: the Institute of Social and
Economic Research (F. Ulmer), the Center for Global Change and Arctic System
Research (J. Walsh), the Institute of Northern Engineering (D. White),
and the Department of Anthropology (S.C. Gerlach). The ACCAP’s activities
will be guided by the central hypothesis that changes of climate in the
North, particularly changes in seasonality, have consequences for the health,
lives, and livelihoods of Alaskans, as well as for the companies who do
business in Alaska. State and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations,
commercial/industrial entities, Alaska Native Tribes, and private individuals
will benefit from an improved understanding of climate change impacts and
enhanced user services consistent with the NOAA mission.
b) NOAA is part of the U.S. presence in the Arctic Council (AC). The AC
plans to conduct several assessments during the IPY period, including the
Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment, an assessment of the Arctic carbon cycle,
and others. NOAA will provide expertise and financial support within available
resources
c) The U.S. National Ice Center (NIC) brings together elements from NOAA,
the Navy, and the US Coast Guard to support coastal and marine sea ice
operations and research globally. The mission of the NIC is to provide
the highest quality strategic and tactical ice services tailored to meet
operational requirements of U.S. national interests. NIC is participating
directly or indirectly in an increased number of research and application
cooperative projects with other national and international groups as part
of International Polar Year (IPY) activities throughout 2007 and 2008.
d) NOAA's National Data Centers handle a wide variety of Arctic data.
An affiliated data center, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC;
CIRES, University of Colorado), has a NOAA supported program (nsidc.org/noaa/)
to produce and manage selected data sets. Overall, the NSIDC program emphasizes
data rescue and in situ data. This emphasis helps collect and maintain
the long time series with broad spatial coverage that is necessary to track
and attribute Arctic change
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