Resources on Polar Research in the NOAA Central Library Network: A selected bibliography of polar research prepared by the NOAA Central Library.

Arctic Climatology and Meteorology PRIMER for Newcomers to the North (NSIDC): A collection of interesting and informative meteorology and climate facts with particular emphasis on arctic phenomena. You can learn general information about the Basics of arctic weather, the Factors that determine weather and climate, and some of the weather Patterns in the Arctic. Brief sections also explore the Arctic's role in the global climate system and concerns about climate change. The Primer is designed so that you can browse it in any order, but the Basics section is a good place to start.

NOAA North Pole WebCam
Web cameras are powered by the sun and show weather conditions at the North Pole.

Log of 2006 NOAA sea ice expedition, including journal, pictures, video maps, data, etc.

Bering Sea status; climate, ocean, fishery, and biological data, pictures, reports and essays

IPY project tracking Beluga whales, also other whale info, pictures, education resources, careers

All about the Aurora borealis

The Interagency National Snow and Ice Data Center maintains information about climate and conditions in the polar regions on its "State of the Cryosphere" page

NOAA's South Pole Atmospheric Observatory. Global monitoring, history of IGY, etc.

Abrupt Climate Change - a discussion of climate change in Polar Regions both past and present

Icebergs

NOAA long-term research program to monitor and gain understanding of Arctic climate.

IPY Informal Education

A Friend Acting Strangely: A current exhibit about Earth's polar regions and the accelarating rate of climate change that these areas are experiencing. The contents of this exhibit will soon be available to other institutions that may wish to host the exhibit.

Climate Change in the Arctic Ocean: Arctic Expedition for K-12 Teachers on Icebreaker Kapitan Dranitsyn Cruise - Aug. 21 to Sept. 15, 2006 - learn about the Arctic from leading scientists and educators, in a wide spectrum of polar and Earth system science disciplines, and to experience arctic exploration as they observe and participate in some of the high-latitude arctic climate change research under the guidance of experienced polar researchers.

NOAA Science related

NOAA Activities in support of the International Polar Year (2007-2008): This document summarizes those activities to which NOAA expects to contribute and updates progress on expected NOAA activities during FY 2007-2009 related to IPY.

Data and Images from the First IPY in 1881-1884: The records of the first International Polar Year (IPY) offer a unique opportunity to study the Arctic as it existed prior to the present era of environmental change.

Arctic Theme Page: Contains a wide variety of information and an image gallery related to arctic environments. Examples of the content available on this site include: A Near-Realtime Arctic Change Indicator, Arctic Maps, Arctic News, Arctic Exploration, a North Pole Web cam, "How well can Arctic climate be simulated by computer models?", and Arctic Animals.

Arctic Change: Providing information on the present state of Arctic ecosystems and climate in historical context.

NOAA Arctic Atmospheric Observatory Program: With installations in Eureka and Alert Canada, this will be part of a long-term system designed to intensively monitor and gain understanding of Arctic climate. - Operated by NOAA Research, the program will contribute to the U.S. Studies of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) program. Work will entail collecting scientific information on the atmosphere in Canada’s High Arctic in relation to clouds, radiation, aerosols, and surface fluxes with an emphasis on understanding the mechanisms of climate change.

Tracking Narwhals in Greenland: Scientists from the University of Washington and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources will instrument 8-10 narwhals with satellite-linked time-depth-temperature recorders to track whale movements, diving behavior, and ocean temperature structure in Baffin Bay. An educational film on narwhals will be produced during this study. An Expedition Education Module containing 3 lessons and other education resources can be found by clicking on the Education icon of the above Web site.August 2006 to March 2007

NOAA Ocean Explorer’s The Hidden Ocean Arctic 2005: Russia participated in a collaborative effort to explore the frigid depths of the Canada Basin, located in one of the deepest parts of the Arctic Ocean. A variety of photos, videos, and information about the research and the cruise, as well as lesson plans and other educational offering are available on the Web site. June 27 to July 26, 2005

NOAA Climate TimeLine web site: Designed as an online tool allowing users to examine climate change and variability at different time scales

Global Climate at a Glance: This website is designed primarily for users involved in the study of climate variability and change. Time series can be produced from each of the 3 datasets at any scale from global to a 5x5 degree area. Full use of this website's point-and-click feature for defining regions for analysis requires the use of Java Applets.

Global Surface Temperature Anomalies: NOAA National Climatic Data Center's long-term mean temperatures for the Earth were calculated by processing data from thousands of world-wide observation sites on land and sea for the entire period of record of the data. This web site offers graphical representations of various data.

Polar Ecosystems Program: Conducts pinniped and seabird research in Arctic, sub-Arctic, and Antarctic marine ecosystems. The underlying objectives of this research are to determine what factors are primarily responsible for influencing the population dynamics of polar pinnipeds.

Southwest Fisheries Science Center: NOAA Fisheries’ U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources (AMLR) Program is a national program providing information needed for the development and support of U.S. policy regarding the conservation and management of the marine living resources in the ocean areas surrounding Antarctica.

Professional Development Opportunities
Here are some sources of professional development relating to the polar regions and Earth system science.

Project ATMOSPHERE On-Line: Project ATMOSPHERE is one of the American Meteorological Society's education programs, supported by the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, AMS and AMS member contributions, that promotes studies in the atmospheric sciences at elementary, middle and secondary school levels.

DataStreme Atmosphere: DataStreme Atmosphere is a major precollege teacher enhancement initiative of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

DataStreme Water in the Earth System (WES) Science Education

DataStreme Ocean Science Education: DataStreme Ocean is a precollege teacher enhancement program of the AMS/NOAA Cooperative Program for Earth System Education (CPESE).

IPY Teacher Professional Development: NSTA Symposia are designed for grade 5-8 science educators in celebration of the IPY. These symposia will be held at the NSTA national conference in March 2007.

• Impact of Polar Climate Change on Living Systems,
• Polar Climates, How are they Changing?,
• The Fragile Ice,

• Living in the Weather (5-8)
• Effects of Oceans on Weather and Climate (9-12)
• Energy Resources (9-12)

Arctic
North Pole Environmental Observatory
Sitting atop the Earth, the North Pole is located at the junction of ocean and atmospheric currents. Arctic Ocean circulation and the water flowing from the Arctic into the Greenland Sea affect the deep circulation of the Atlantic Ocean and thus play an important role in regulating climate. To more closely observe and understand this phenomenon, an international scientific team supported by NSF has established a polar research camp known as the North Pole Environmental Observatory (NPEO). Led by oceanographer James Morison of the University of Washington, scientists are conducting an array of experiments at the North Pole to understand this little known, but extremely important region.

Antarctic
International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE)
During the 2002-2003 Antarctic research season, a sled train pulled by two tracked Caterpillar Challenger 55 tractors, similar to bulldozers, traveled more than 1200 kilometers (800 miles) across the Antarctic ice sheet on its way to NSF's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, which is at an elevation of over 2,700 meters (9,000 feet). At a series of sampling sites along the traverse route, researchers with ITASE dug three-meter-deep snow pits, sampled the ice, collected snow and drilled three-inch-diameter cores that penetrate more than 60 meters (200 feet) into the ice. US ITASE scientists expect that their work will produce the most comprehensive record of temperature, precipitation and atmospheric circulation of any continent on Earth over the past 200 to 1,000 years, a period that includes the Industrial Revolution and the modern industrial era.

NOAA LESSON PLANS:

NOAA’s Arctic Theme Page

NOAA Ocean Explorer is an educational Internet offering for all who wish to learn about, discover, and virtually explore the ocean realm. The web site provides direct access to over 240 lesson plans, offers professional development opportunities for educators, and has an ocean career component.

NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS) is dedicated to creating innovative products that enlighten students and educators about the breadth of scientific research, technology, and activities conducted by NOS in the areas of oceans, coasts, and charting and navigation.

Non-NOAA related teacher resources

• Take the Arctic Quiz
• www.armadaproject.org
• www.units.muohio.edu/cryolab/education/antarctic.htm
• www.nsf.gov/news/overviews/arcticantarctic/index.jsp
• www.discoveringantarctica.org.uk
• classroomantarctica.aad.gov.au
• lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/downey/project
• octopus.gma.org/surfing/antarctica/index.html
• www.exploratorium.edu/origins/antarctica/index.html

Galleries
Here are some sources of images and videos relating to the polar regions.

• NOAA's Arctic Theme Page photo gallery
• Bering Sea Ecosystem and Climate webpage
• Polar Ecosystem Program of the National Marine Mammal Laboratory
• The Hidden Ocean Arctic 2005

Pictures available when you follow the Image Gallery link.

• Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division
• National Marine Mammal Laboratory gallery
• The Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) Arctic Internet Media Archive
• U.S. Antarctic Program Photo Library
• NOAA Photo Library's NOAA at the Ends of the Earth Image Collection
• National Snow and Ice Data Center Gallery
• The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice-core drilling project
• The Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) Arctic Internet Media Archive
• The Hidden Ocean Arctic 2005