DOCSLIB.ORG

PMSE Long Term Observations Using Superdarn SANAE HF Radar Measurements

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
PMSE Long Term Observations Using Superdarn SANAE HF Radar Measurements Terr. Atmos. Ocean. Sci., Vol. 28, No. 3, 371-383, June 2017 doi: 10.3319/TAO.2016.09.19.01 PMSE long term observations using SuperDARN SANAE HF radar measurements Olakunle Ogunjobi1, 2, *, Venkataraman Sivakumar 2, Judy Ann Elizabeth Stephenson 2, and Zolile Mtumela 2 1 Center for Space Research, School for Physical and Chemical Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa 2 School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa ABSTRACT Article history: Received 4 February 2016 It is known that the presence of nanometre-scale ice particles and neutral air Revised 10 August 2016 turbulence in the Polar summer mesosphere modify the D-region plasma, resulting Accepted 19 September 2016 in strong backscatter. These strong backscatters are referred to as Polar Mesosphere Summer Echoes (PMSE). Although studies on PMSE have been ongoing for over Keywords: three decades, aspects revealed by various instruments are still the subject of dis- SuperDARN SANAE radar, PMSE, cussion. As a sequel to the paper by Ogunjobi et al. (2015), we report on the long Mesosphere term trends and variations in PMSE occurrence probability from Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) high frequency (HF) radar measurements over the Citation: South African National Antarctic Expedition IV (SANAE IV). In this current paper, Ogunjobi, O., V. Sivakumar, J. A. a simple multiple-filter technique is employed to obtain the occurrence probability E. Stephenson, and Z. Mtumela, 2017: PMSE long term observations rate for SuperDARN-PMSE during the summer periods for the years 1998 - 2007. using SuperDARN SANAE HF radar The SuperDARN-PMSE occurrence probability rate in relation to geomagnetic ac- measurements. Terr. Atmos. Ocean. tivity is examined. The mesospheric neutral winds and temperature trends during Sci., 28, 371-383, doi: 10.3319/ these periods, are further studied and presented in this paper. Both the monthly and TAO.2016.09.19.01 diurnal variations in occurrence are consistent with previous reports, confirming the presence of PMSE from SuperDARN SANAE IV radar measurements and the influ- ence of pole to pole mesospheric transport circulation. The special mesospheric mean flow observed prior to the year 2002 is ascribed to the influence of solar activity. The SuperDARN-PMSE occurrence probability peaks with lowered geomagnetic activ- ity. These present results support the hypothesis that the particle precipitation also plays an important role in SuperDARN-PMSE occurrence. 1. INTRODUCTION It has been known that from November to February mer Echoes (PMSE). In the past few years, the PMSE have in the southern hemisphere, lower temperatures (< 130 K, been closely linked to visible ice particles below 90 km al- Lübken et al. 2004) are usually found at polar latitudes titude, known as Noctilucent Clouds (NLC) (Cho and Röt- mesopause (about 90 - 100 km altitudes). This enables the tger 1997; Rapp and Lübken 2004; Smirnova et al. 2010). charging ice particles from water vapor to grow at meso- Prequel to this paper, (Ogunjobi et al. 2015), we describe pause. The interactions of these charged ice particles and how the NLC and PMSE arise from the ice particle growth mesospheric air turbulence, initiated by propagating gravity in an extremely low Polar summer mesospheric temperature waves, results in strong radar backscatter echoes (bragg’s periods. Both NLC and PMSE are good indicators (or sus- scattering) in the high-latitude summer mesosphere (Rapp pected indicators) of anthropogenic global warming. Due to and Lübken 2004). Ecklund and Balsley (1981) earlier ref- the NLC measurement (which is strongly dependent on ob- ereed such strong radar echoes as Polar Mesosphere Sum- server and weather conditions) limitations, PMSE has been a plausible candidate. This is because PMSE observations with radar have the advantage of being continuous. Since 1981 researchers observed several PMSE aspects * Corresponding author E-mail: [email protected] using different instrument techniques. This ranges from 372 Ogunjobi et al. ground based radars to space based instruments (Ecklund (Greenwald et al. 1995; Lester 2013). The SuperDARN ra- and Balsley 1981; Kirkwood 1993; Palmer et al. 1996; Hoff- dars at different locations operate on a common configu- mann et al. 1999; Rapp and Lübken 2004; Klekociuk et al. ration for half of the daily operational time (Greenwald et 2008). However, PMSE observations from space are data- al. 1995; Hosokawa et al. 2005; Lester 2013). During the starved, leading to huge gaps in the ability to understand all common operational time, different SuperDARN radars are of the contributing processes. This is particularly true for intercalibrated so that a backscattered power for one system the southern hemisphere, which often lacks both space and can be quantitatively compared to any of the other radars. ground based observational data. There is a growing effort For instance, Villain et al. (2002) performed a statistical to complement PMSE observations with coherent high fre- study of the Doppler spectral width of high-latitude F-region quency (HF) Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperD- ionospheric echoes using six SuperDARN HF radars (Sas- ARN) (e.g., Ogawa et al. 2004; Hosokawa et al. 2005; Liu et katoon, Goose bay, Kapuskasing, Thykkvibaer, Stokkseyri, al. 2013; Ogunjobi et al. 2015). Using data from Syowa East and Hankasalami). For half of SuperDARN radars opera- HF radar in the Antarctic (during 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 tional time, an internal consistency is usually maintained, summers) and Iceland HF radar in the Arctic (1999 and 2000 using common parameters. During the remaining half of the summers), Hosokawa et al. (2005) observed a predominant SuperDARN HF radar observational time, parameters for diurnal PMSE variation, similar to Ogunjobi et al. (2015) individual radar is discretionary. observations, and a weaker PMSE interhemispheric asym- Only common mode Program data were selected for metry occurrence than those earlier reported results. Even this analysis. During common time measurements, the Su- so, they noticed possible contamination from ionospheric E- perDARN radars are sequentially scanned from beam 0 to region echoes. Attempts have been made to eliminate such beam 15 across its total 75 slant range gates with a step in contamination and reported in the literature. Liu et al. (2013) azimuth variation of 3.33°, a scan repeat time of ~2 min, a extracted PMSE from SuperDARN Zhongshan HF radar in range resolution of 45 km, and a peak power of about 10 kW. Antarctica (2010 - 2012 summer) when Kp ≤ 1. In keen con- The beams have maximum sensitivity at elevation angles of trast to Hosokawa et al. (2005), Liu et al. (2013) found a ≤ 35° to allow backscatter echo detection. The return echoes semidiurnal Variation in PMSE. This special diurnal charac- for each beam are integrated over 3 or 7 s. Figure 1 shows teristics of PMSE from the Zhongshan was hypothesised to the geographic field of view (FOV) of SANAE IV HF radar be the influence of auroral particle precipitation. superimposed on geomagnetic coordinates, indicating the Based on this hypothesis, we have expanded our ob- area covered by the entire radar beams (blue vertical lines). servations in this present study to cover at least a complete It is apparent that the radar is located near the auroral loca- solar cycle phase. Here, we have analysed PMSE observa- tion in the Antarctic region. The SuperDARN radar aspect tions during maximum and minimum phases of solar cycle sensitivity along auroral locations has been discussed in the to add valuable insights in this field. This paper presents long term PMSE observations with SuperDARN South African National Antarctic Expedition IV (SANAE IV) (71.68°S, 2.85°W) HF radar (hereafter re- ferred as SuperDARN-PMSE) over the period 1998 - 2007. The monthly, diurnal, and interannual characteristics of SuperDARN-PMSE are determined and presented in the re- sults and analysis section. We examined the SuperDARN- PMSE occurrence rate in relation to geomagnetic activity and mesospheric wind flow measured by meteor radar. To confirm our previous suggestion on temperature variations, the temperature changes in relation to SuperDARN-PMSE have been further expanded. 2. INSTRUMENTATION AND DATA ANALYSIS 2.1 SuperDARN SANAE IV Radar Data from the SuperDARN SANAE IV radar is em- ployed in this study. The antenna array consists of 16 an- tennae operated as a phased array having 170° bore site. Fig. 1. Maps showing the geographic coordinate (green-dotted lines) The radar uses approximately 12 MHz frequency. SANAE of SANAE radar fields of view superimposed on a geomagnetic co- IV radar is technically and operationally similar to the 32 ordinate (thick line) in the Antarctic. The expected region of SANAE other SuperDARN radars located at polar and mid latitudes PMSE is shaded in red. (Color online only) SuperDARN SANAE HF Radar PMSE Observation 373 study of Liu et al. (2013). The shaded portion (red) indi- the influx of strong echoes due to field aligned irregu- cates the probable PMSE observation region based on the larities where the angle between ambient geomagnetic SANAE IV radar aspect sensitivity. For clarity, the FOV field vectors and radar waves is about 90°, the so-called indicates that E-region echoes can be detected using the SA- geomagnetic aspect condition. See Liu et al. (2013) on NAE SuperDARN HF radar when the FOV intersects an SuperDARN radar aspect sensitivity. Auroral E-region auroral electrojet region. echo is removed by limiting spectral width and Doppler It should be noted that the backscatter delays at slant shift below 50 m s-1. This will allow extraction of only range gate 0 is set to 1200 μs interpulse period (length), the inbound radial velocities as expected for PMSE with which is equivalent to 180 km [i.e, within the MLT (Meso- a shorter wavelength than that of the emitted pulse (Vil- sphere and Lower-Thermosphere) region].
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Wastewater Treatment in Antarctica
    Wastewater Treatment in Antarctica Sergey Tarasenko Supervisor: Neil Gilbert GCAS 2008/2009 Table of content Acronyms ...........................................................................................................................................3 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................4 1 Basic principles of wastewater treatment for small objects .....................................................5 1.1 Domestic wastewater characteristics....................................................................................5 1.2 Characteristics of main methods of domestic wastewater treatment .............................5 1.3 Designing of treatment facilities for individual sewage disposal systems...................11 2 Wastewater treatment in Antarctica..........................................................................................13 2.1 Problems of transferring treatment technologies to Antarctica .....................................13 2.1.1 Requirements of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty / Wastewater quality standards ...................................................................................................13 2.1.2 Geographical situation......................................................................................................14 2.1.2.1 Climatic conditions....................................................................................................14
    [Show full text]
  • Application of a New Polarimetric Filter to Radarsat-2 Data of Deception Island (Antarctic Peninsula Region) for Surface Cover Characterization
    APPLICATION OF A NEW POLARIMETRIC FILTER TO RADARSAT-2 DATA OF DECEPTION ISLAND (ANTARCTIC PENINSULA REGION) FOR SURFACE COVER CHARACTERIZATION a b c a S. Guillaso ,∗ T. Schmid , J. Lopez-Mart´ ´ınez , O. D’Hondt a Technische Universitat¨ Berlin, Computer Vision and Remote Sensing, Berlin, Germany - [email protected] b CIEMAT, Madrid, Spain - [email protected] c Universidad Autonoma´ de Madrid, Spain - [email protected] KEY WORDS: SAR, Antarctica, Surface characterization, Geomorphology, Soils, Polarimetry, Speckle Filtering, Image interpretation ABSTRACT: In this paper, we describe a new approach to analyse and quantify land surface covers on Deception Island, a volcanic island located in the Northern Antarctic Peninsula region by means of fully polarimetric RADARSAT-2 (C-Band) SAR image. Data have been filtered by a new polarimetric speckle filter (PolSAR-BLF) that is based on the bilateral filter. This filter is locally adapted to the spatial structure of the image by relying on pixel similarities in both the spatial and the radiometric domains. Thereafter different polarimetric features have been extracted and selected before being geocoded. These polarimetric parameters serve as a basis for a supervised classification using the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. Finally, a map of landform is generated based on the result of the SVM results. 1. INTRODUCTION Ice-free land surfaces of the Northern Antarctica Peninsula region are under the influence of freeze-thaw cycling effects on differ- ent parent materials. This is mainly due to the particular climatic conditions of the so called Maritime Antarctica and because this region is one the the fastest warming areas of the southern hemi- sphere.
    [Show full text]
  • Southern Hemisphere Mid- and High-Latitudinal AOD, CO, NO2, And
    Ahn et al. Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2019) 6:34 Progress in Earth and https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-019-0277-y Planetary Science RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Southern Hemisphere mid- and high- latitudinal AOD, CO, NO2, and HCHO: spatiotemporal patterns revealed by satellite observations Dha Hyun Ahn1, Taejin Choi2, Jhoon Kim1, Sang Seo Park3, Yun Gon Lee4, Seong-Joong Kim2 and Ja-Ho Koo1* Abstract To assess air pollution emitted in Southern Hemisphere mid-latitudes and transported to Antarctica, we investigate the climatological mean and temporal trends in aerosol optical depth (AOD), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and formaldehyde (HCHO) columns using satellite observations. Generally, all these measurements exhibit sharp peaks over and near the three nearby inhabited continents: South America, Africa, and Australia. This pattern indicates the large emission effect of anthropogenic activities and biomass burning processes. High AOD is also found over the Southern Atlantic Ocean, probably because of the sea salt production driven by strong winds. Since the pristine Antarctic atmosphere can be polluted by transport of air pollutants from the mid-latitudes, we analyze the 10-day back trajectories that arrive at Antarctic ground stations in consideration of the spatial distribution of mid-latitudinal AOD, CO, NO2, and HCHO. We find that the influence of mid-latitudinal emission differs across Antarctic regions: western Antarctic regions show relatively more back trajectories from the mid-latitudes, while the eastern Antarctic regions do not show large intrusions of mid-latitudinal air masses. Finally, we estimate the long-term trends in AOD, CO, NO2, and HCHO during the past decade (2005–2016).
    [Show full text]
  • Advances in Seismic Monitoring at Deception Island Volcano
    ANNALS OF GEOPHYSICS, 57, 3, 2014, SS0321; doi:10.4401/ag-6378 Special section: Geophysical monitorings at the Earth’s polar regions Advances in seismic monitoring at Deception Island volcano (Antarctica) since the International Polar Year Enrique Carmona1, Javier Almendros1,2,*, Rosa Martín1, Guillermo Cortés1, Gerardo Alguacil1,2, Javier Moreno1, José Benito Martín1, Antonio Martos1, Inmaculada Serrano1,2, Daniel Stich1,2, Jesús M. Ibáñez1,2 1 Instituto Andaluz de Geofísica, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain 2 Departamento de Física Teórica y del Cosmos, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain Article history Received June 30, 2013; accepted October 25, 2013. Subject classification: Volcano monitoring, Seismic network, Seismic array, Deception Island volcano, International Polar Year. ABSTRACT of the most visited places in Antarctica both by sci- Deception Island is an active volcano located in the south Shetland Is- entists and tourists, which emphasizes the impor- lands, Antarctica. It constitutes a natural laboratory to test geophysical tance of volcano surveillance and monitoring. instruments in extreme conditions, since they have to endure not only the Antarctic climate but also the volcanic environment. Deception is one of the most visited places in Antarctica, both by scientists and tourists, which emphasize the importance of volcano monitoring. Seismic monitoring has been going on since 1986 during austral summer surveys. The recorded data include volcano-tectonic earthquakes, long-period events and volcanic tremor, among
    [Show full text]
  • Frozen Politics on a Thawing Continent
    FROZEN POLITICS ON A THAWING CONTINENT A Political Ecology Approach to Understanding Science and its Relationship to Neocolonial and Capitalist Processes in Antarctica MANON KATRINA BURBIDGE LUND UNIVERSITY MSc Human Ecology: Culture, Power and Sustainability (2 years) Supervisor: Alf Hornborg Department of Human Geography 30 ECTS Spring 2019 Abstract Despite possessing a unique relationship between humankind and the environment, and its occupation of a large proportion of the planet’s surface area, Antarctica is markedly absent from literature produced within the disciplines of human and political ecology. With no states or indigenous peoples, Antarctica is instead governed by a conglomeration of states as part of the Antarctic Treaty System, which places high values upon scientific research, peace and conservation. By connecting political ecology with neocolonial, world-systems and politically-situated science perspectives, this research addressed the question of how neocolonialism and the prospects of capital accumulation are legitimised by scientific research in Antarctica, as a result of science’s privileged position in the Treaty. Three methods were applied, namely GIS, critical-political content analysis and semi-structured interviews, which were then triangulated to create an overall case study. These methods explored the intersections between Antarctic power structures, the spatial patterns of the built environment and the discourses of six national scientific programmes, complemented by insights from eight expert interviews. This thesis constitutes an important contribution to the fields of human and political ecology, firstly by intersecting it with critical Antarctic studies, something which has not previously been attempted, but also by expanding the application of a world-systems perspective to a continent very rarely included in this field’s academia.
    [Show full text]
  • Comparison of Different Methods to Retrieve Optical-Equivalent Snow Grain Size in Central Antarctica
    Comparison of different methods to retrieve optical-equivalent snow grain size in central Antarctica Tim Carlsen, Gerit Birnbaum, André Ehrlich, Johannes Freitag, Georg Heygster, Larysa Istomina, Sepp Kipfstuhl, Anaïs Orsi, Michael Schäfer, Manfred Wendisch To cite this version: Tim Carlsen, Gerit Birnbaum, André Ehrlich, Johannes Freitag, Georg Heygster, et al.. Comparison of different methods to retrieve optical-equivalent snow grain size in central Antarctica. The Cryosphere, Copernicus 2017, 11 (6), pp.2727-2741. 10.5194/tc-11-2727-2017. hal-03225815 HAL Id: hal-03225815 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03225815 Submitted on 16 May 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. The Cryosphere, 11, 2727–2741, 2017 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2727-2017 © Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Comparison of different methods to retrieve optical-equivalent snow grain size in central Antarctica Tim Carlsen1, Gerit Birnbaum2, André Ehrlich1, Johannes Freitag2, Georg Heygster3, Larysa
    [Show full text]
  • The Antarctic Sun, January 20, 2002
    www.polar.org/antsun The January 20, 2002 PublishedAntarctic during the austral summer at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, Sun for the United States Antarctic Program New dome in the neighborhood The Ice cools as world warms By Kristan Hutchison Sun staff Despite the recent streak of unusual- ly warm weather around McMurdo Station, the overall trend in Antarctica continues to be cold and colder. While the rest of the world seems to be warming, scientists doing Long- Term Ecological Research (LTER) in the Dry Valleys near McMurdo Sound found at least some parts of the icy con- tinent were still chilling in the “We don’t 1990s. The tem- perature drop sets know why off a chain of reactions in the this part of Photo by Lucia Simion/Special to The Antarctic Sun Dry Valleys, lead- French and Italian workers construct one of two new buildings at Dome C, a new station being ing to the kind of the Antarctic built on the high plateau. It is only the third permanent research station on the polar plateau, mass devastation is cooling.” joining the U.S. Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and Russia’s Vostok Station. The site was of invertebrate Andrew Fountain, chosen to do research complimentary to that done at the South Pole. Read a full story on the populations that glacialogist new station on page 7. would have ani- mal lovers crying if the microscopic worms were large and fluffy. Heat wave melts ice, floods valleys "This is a fairly rapid response to these changes," said Peter Doran, a By Melanie Conner in the summer, but it doesn't usually stay in LTER hydrometeorologist from the Sun staff the 40s for a long time," said Jim Frodge, University of Illinois, and lead author of Antarctica is too warm this summer.
    [Show full text]
  • Wilderness and Aesthetic Values of Antarctica
    Wilderness and Aesthetic Values of Antarctica Abstract Antarctica is the least inhabited region in the world and has therefore had the least influence from human activities and, unlike the majority of the Earth’s continents and oceans, can still be considered as mostly wilderness. As every visitor to Antarctica knows, its landscapes are exceptionally beautiful. It was the recognition of the importance of these characteristics that resulted in their protection being included in the Madrid Protocol. Both wilderness and aesthetic values can be impaired by human activities in a variety of ways with the severity varying from negligible to severe, according to the type Protocol on Environmental Protec tion to the Antarctic Trea ty - of activity and its duration, spatial extent and intensity. A map of infrastructure and major travel routes the "M adrid Protocol" in Antarctica will be the first step in visually representing where wilderness and aesthetic values Article 3[1] may be impacted. It is hoped that this will stimulate further discussion on how to describe, acknowledge, The protection of the Antarctic environment and dependent an d associated ecosystems and the intrinsic value of Antarctica, understand and further protect the wilderness and aesthetic values of Antarctica. including its wilderness and aesthetic values and its value as an area for the conduct of scientific research, in particular research essential to understanding the global environment, shall be fundamental considerations in the planning and condu ct of all activities
    [Show full text]
  • Final Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation of the Proposed Activities: • Construction of the Neumayer III Station • Operat
    1 Umweltbundesamt I 2.4 – 94003-2/43 Final Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation of the Proposed Activities: • Construction of the Neumayer III Station • Operation of the Neumayer III Station • Dismantling of the Existing Neumayer II Station Dessau, August 2005 2 This Final Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation of the proposed activities “Construction of the Neumayer III Station‚“”Operation of the Neumayer III Station“ and “Dismantling of the Existing Neumayer II Station and Removal of Materials from Antarctica“ is based in the main on the Draft Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation entitled “Rebuild and Operation of the Wintering Neumayer III Station and Retrogradation of the Present Neumayer II Station“ (Ver- sion of 8 December 2004), written by Dietrich Enss, Barsbüttel, for the Alfred Wegener Insti- tute for Polar and Marine Research (assisted by Hartwig Gernandt, Gert König-Langlo, Alfons Eckstaller, Rolf Weller, Hans Oerter, Joachim Plötz, Saad El Naggar, Jürgen Janneck and Christoph Ruholl). All the graphic material in this document also originates from this Draft Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation. This Final Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation was prepared by Thomas Bunge and Ellen Roß-Reginek of the German Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt). 3 Table of contents 1. Planned activities.......................................................................................................... 7 2. Construction of the new Neumayer III Station ............................................................ 7 2.1 Starting
    [Show full text]
  • Final Report of the XXXIV ATCM
    Final Report of the Thirty-fourth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting ANTARCTIC TREATY CONSULTATIVE MEETING Final Report of the Thirty-fourth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Buenos Aires, 20 June – 1 July 2011 Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty Buenos Aires 2011 Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (34th : 2011 : Buenos Aires) Final Report of the Thirty-fourth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. Buenos Aires, Argentina, 20 June–1 July 2011. Buenos Aires : Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, 2011. 348 p. ISBN 978-987-1515-26-4 1. International law – Environmental issues. 2. Antarctic Treaty system. 3. Environmental law – Antarctica. 4. Environmental protection – Antarctica. DDC 341.762 5 ISBN 978-987-1515-26-4 Contents VOLUME 1 (in hard copy and CD) Acronyms and Abbreviations 9 PART I. FINAL REPORT 11 1. Final Report 13 2. CEP XIV Report 91 3. Appendices 175 Declaration on Antarctic Cooperation 177 Preliminary Agenda for ATCM XXXV 179 PART II. MEASURES, DECISIONS AND RESOLUTIONS 181 1. Measures 183 Measure 1 (2011) ASPA 116 (New College Valley, Caughley Beach, Cape Bird, Ross Island): Revised Management Plan 185 Measure 2 (2011) ASPA 120 (Pointe-Géologie Archipelago, Terre Adélie): Revised Management Plan 187 Measure 3 (2011) ASPA 122 (Arrival Heights, Hut Point Peninsula, Ross Island): Revised Management Plan 189 Measure 4 (2011) ASPA 126 (Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands): Revised Management Plan 191 Measure 5 (2011) ASPA 127 (Haswell Island): Revised Management Plan 193 Measure 6 (2011) ASPA 131
    [Show full text]
  • Belgians at the World's Poles
    BELGIANS AT THE WORLD’S POLES The fourth International Polar Year Editorial The fourth International Polar Year (IPY 2007- 2008) was one of the biggest coordinated international research programmes ever organised. In more than 200 scientifi c projects, thousands of researchers from more than 60 countries carried out wide-ranging research to better understand the Polar Regions and their critical infl uence on the rest of the planet. Like many countries, Belgium had few or none of the extra resources needed to take part in the IPY. However, thanks to ongoing support from the Belgian Science Policy (BEL- SPO), the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO), the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifi que (FNRS), the Inbev - Baillet Latour Fund, etc., and invitations from foreign partners to collaborate on projects, the Belgian polar com- munity managed to contribute actively to the achievements of this ambitious scientifi c programme. The most visible Belgian contribution to the IPY was with- out doubt the Princess Elisabeth station, a new Belgian research base in Antarctica. In 2010 the management of the station was handed over to the Polar Secretariat, a gov- ernment department within BELSPO. The station is both a model of sustainable technology and renewable energy in practice and an ideal operating base for research in the surrounding Sør Rondane region, where until now little research has been done. Additionally, Belgian researchers and organisations have taken part – sometimes in a coordinating role – in about thirty projects at the North and South Poles. This brochure gives a glimpse of Belgian efforts and achievements in the IPY. Though we have sought to be as comprehensive as possible these articles represent no more than a snatch of the rich diversity of Belgian polar research.
    [Show full text]
  • And Better Science in Antarctica Through Increased Logistical Effectiveness
    MORE AND BETTER SCIENCE IN ANTARCTICA THROUGH INCREASED LOGISTICAL EFFECTIVENESS Report of the U.S. Antarctic Program Blue Ribbon Panel Washington, D.C. July 2012 This report of the U.S. Antarctic Program Blue Ribbon Panel, More and Better Science in Antarctica Through Increased Logistical Effectiveness, was completed at the request of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation. Copies may be obtained from David Friscic at [email protected] (phone: 703-292-8030). An electronic copy of the report may be downloaded from http://www.nsf.gov/od/ opp/usap_special_review/usap_brp/rpt/index.jsp. Cover art by Zina Deretsky. MORE AND BETTER SCIENCE IN AntarctICA THROUGH INCREASED LOGISTICAL EFFECTIVENESS REport OF THE U.S. AntarctIC PROGRAM BLUE RIBBON PANEL AT THE REQUEST OF THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY AND THE NatIONAL SCIENCE FoundatION WASHINGTON, D.C. JULY 2012 U.S. AntarctIC PROGRAM BLUE RIBBON PANEL WASHINGTON, D.C. July 23, 2012 Dr. John P. Holdren Dr. Subra Suresh Assistant to the President for Science and Technology Director & Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy National Science Foundation Executive Office of the President of the United States 4201 Wilson Boulevard Washington, DC 20305 Arlington, VA 22230 Dear Dr. Holdren and Dr. Suresh: The members of the U.S. Antarctic Program Blue Ribbon Panel are pleased to submit herewith our final report entitled More and Better Science in Antarctica through Increased Logistical Effectiveness. Not only is the U.S. logistics system supporting our nation’s activities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean the essential enabler for our presence and scientific accomplish- ments in that region, it is also the dominant consumer of the funds allocated to those endeavors.
    [Show full text]