Spring 2003, Volume 10 Number 1 SBI Project Completes Four Cruises in First Field Season by Jacqueline M

ARCTIC

Chronicles of the NSF Arctic Sciences Program Spring 2003, Volume 10 Number 1 SBI Project Completes Four Cruises in First Field Season by Jacqueline M. Grebmeier

unded through the NSF Arctic System enters the region through Bering Strait and where the greatest responses to climate FScience (ARCSS) Program and the and is modified as it transits over the changes are expected to occur. Office of Naval Research, the Western Arc- Chukchi and Beaufort shelves and slopes Phase I of SBI used retrospective tic Shelf-Basin Interactions (SBI) project to the Arctic Basin. Seasonal ice forma- research and analyses, opportunistic sam- began in 1999 (see Witness Autumn 2001). tion produces brine that is entrained in pling studies, and modeling to prepare The goal of the SBI project is to investigate this northward flow and helps maintain for Phase II fieldwork in the Chukchi and the production, transformation, and fate the current ice cover in the Arctic. Any Beaufort Seas. SBI Phase II involves 40 of carbon at the shelf-slope interface in the environmental change that reduces the principal and co-principal investigators on Arctic, both seasonally and interannually, extent and thickness of the sea ice in the 14 integrated projects working in the Ber- as a prelude to understanding the impacts Chukchi and Beaufort Seas will coinci- ing Strait region and over the outer shelf of a potential warming of the Arctic. dently influence hydrographic and ecosys- and slope of the Chukchi and Beaufort A considerable body of evidence indi- tem structure, both on regional and global Seas into the Arctic Basin from 2002 to cates that climate change will significantly scales. Research supported by SBI therefore 2006. SBI investigators recently completed impact the physical and biological linkages focuses on the outer shelf, shelf break, and four successful missions in their first year of between the arctic shelves and adjacent slope, where key processes control water fieldwork using three vessels (see map): ocean basins. Nutrient-rich Pacific water mass exchange and biogeochemical cycles, • USCGC Healy for two intensive process cruises—one in spring (5 May–15 June) and one in summer (17 July–26 August), • RV Alpha Helix for a mooring cruise 20–29 June in Bering Strait, and • USCGC Polar Star for a mooring cruise 15 July–13 August in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Each of the four cruises enlisted up to 39 scientists from 19 institutions in the U.S., Bermuda, Canada, and Europe in this interdisciplinary scientific endeavor, applying a broad array of physical, biogeochemical, and biological measurements.

Process Cruises The SBI spring and summer process cruises involved a variety of studies, ranging from hydrographic measurements to biological studies of different trophic levels. Sampling techniques at the stations of the two process cruises (see map) included: Each of the two process cruises in 2002 sampled at 30–50 stations on the Chukchi and Beaufort shelves and along four • a CTD (conductivity-temperature- main shelf-basin transect lines, including two lines from the Chukchi outer shelf to the Arctic Basin, one line from the depth)/rosette bottle system for physical head to the mouth of Barrow Canyon, and one line from the shelf to basin in the Beaufort Sea. Figure by Joint Office of Science Support. continued on next page

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and hydrobiochemical measurements in maximum layer. This accumulation and and Barrow Canyon (BC) regions of the the water column; decay of diatoms at depth suggests that SBI study area. In contrast, similar studies • subsamples from multiple CTD/rosette plankton grazers are not able to consume to the west of BC on the East Hanna Shoal bottle casts for primary production, most of the spring bloom; instead, the shelf-to-basin line indicate relatively low bacterial respiration and production, bulk of the phytoplankton bloom is either productivity and consequently low carbon chlorophyll content, nutrients, particu- decomposed by microbes or sinks to the transport offshore and to the sediments. late carbon, inorganic carbon, carbon benthos. Modification of waters over the shelf, biomarkers, microzooplankton, and Observations of sediment processes both in the water column and via sedi- stable- and radioisotopes; indicate varying patterns of sediment ments, and the subsequent transport of • various nets (vertical, bongo) for size focusing and carbon recycling in the SBI biogenic signals from the shelf to the fractions of micro-, macro-, and meso- study region. High rates of sediment car- basin, were observed during all cross-shelf zooplankton for both population and bon metabolism and nutrient flux (indica- sections for every SBI cruise on the main experimental purposes; tors of carbon supply) occur on the shelves, transects. By the time of the summer SBI • benthic grabs and cores to collect fauna with a general trend of high to low rates process cruise, most of the production had and sediment for population, commu- observed from shelf to deep basin. Benthic settled downwards in the water column nity structure, food web, tracer chemis- macrofaunal populations also indicate a and undergone transformation in the water try, and metabolism studies; and declining trend in carbon deposition as one and sediments. • in-situ pumps to measure the activities of moves offshore into the Arctic Basin. Both In support of the SBI field program, the particle-reactive radionuclides. radioisotope and sediment tracer studies Joint Office of Science Support (JOSS; see The spring cruise on the new icebreaker indicate that phytodetritus labeled during page 7) maintained a shipboard field data USCGC Healy (see page 14) was the first the spring cruise rapidly moved offshore catalog during both process cruises on the interdisciplinary research cruise to this and was found at depths as great as 1000 m Healy, providing real-time data to scientists region at this time of year. Scientists on by the summer along the East Barrow (EB) on the ship; select data were also available both the spring and summer cruises found unusually low ice cover and high sediment content in the first-year ice. These sediments can accelerate melting of sea ice and impact light levels and nutrient content that influence algal primary production in the ice layers and underlying water. During the spring cruise, the surface waters over the shelf near Bering Strait had high concentrations of nutrients, indicating that the main phytoplankton bloom had not yet begun. Although there was some variability, nitrate was relatively abundant over the shelf, with a declining gradient as the Healy moved over the slope to the Arc- tic Basin. This lack of nitrate in offshore waters was somewhat surprising and may indicate an unusually early bloom in this region. Because observations on productivity in this region are scarce, it is difficult to know if this early bloom is “normal” or related to the recent warming of the Arctic. By comparison, surface nutrient concentrations were low throughout the summer cruise, coincident with the highest water column chlorophyll level (an indicator of plant growth) near the bottom, suggesting post-bloom conditions. Micro- scopic analyses of plankton also indicated Nutrient concentrations measured along the Barrow Canyon line for nitrate (NO ), silicate (SiO ), and ammonium post-bloom conditions. Higher levels of 3 3 (NH4 ) in spring and summer 2002 during the SBI field project. It is notable that when comparing spring vs. summer bacteria and bacteria-consuming flagellates data from the same hydrographic sections we see an increase of 5 to 10 micromolar in maximum silicate concentrations occurred in the upper water column in the in the plume originating over the shelf in Barrow Canyon, as well as pulses of ammonium moving off the shelf to the deep basin. These nutrient values were higher than those seen coming in through Bering Strait, suggesting fairly rapid settling summer, whereas large diatoms (phyto- and remineralization of diatoms produced by the spring bloom over the shelf. Figure by SBI hydrographic team. plankton) occurred in a deeper chlorophyll 2 3 Feature Article

to onshore PIs. Products included satellite at the shelf edge appear to be the begin- • summaries of cruise activities sent via images, ship tracking, weather, CTD data nings of eddies. For example, a subsurface INMARSAT telephone to a district-wide from the hydrographic group and associ- eddy comprised of cold, turbid, Pacific- teachers in-service at Essex High School ated bottle data, and shipboard event logs. origin winter water was observed on the and to a public forum at the Burnham eastern transect of the study region (East Library, both in Colchester, Vermont. Mooring Cruises Barrow line). The same type of eddy has The Bering Strait mooring cruise on the Future Field Seasons been observed repeatedly throughout the RV Alpha Helix (see Witness Autumn 2001) Plans for 2003 include: interior of the Canada Basin, suggesting deployed three moorings in Bering Strait • a helicopter survey and field sampling that these eddies emanate from the shelf- during June to investigate hydrographic project in the SBI study region in March, edge boundary current. The results of the and flow properties of Pacific-origin water • participation by some SBI PIs in an April mooring cruise indicate the western arctic transiting northward through Bering Strait. ice camp sponsored by the Office of boundary current system is an “eddy fac- These moorings map upstream boundary Naval Research, tory,” and SBI scientists are investigating conditions for the SBI project as well as • the annual Bering Strait mooring cruise, why this shelf-edge system is so wildly continuing the time-series records of three • a hydrographic and sampling survey unstable. Eddy formation is obviously of moorings that have been maintained in cruise in July–August, and critical importance for shelf-basin flux of Bering Strait for the last decade. The cruise • a mooring cruise in September. physical and biogeochemical products, and included both hydrographic and acoustic In 2004, four cruises similar to those in particular, for the ventilation of the inte- Doppler current profiling (ADCP) surveys undertaken in 2002 will allow interan- rior Arctic. and deployed a number of instruments, nual comparison of processes in the SBI including: Outreach and Education sampling region. The last SBI mooring • hydrographic sensors, The SBI field program received excellent will be retrieved in 2004. Phase II of SBI • nutrient samplers, media coverage. A broadcast crew from will continue through 2006 with data syn- • optical instruments, CBS News, a reporter from USA Today, thesis. The final chapter of SBI (Phase III, • upward-looking sonar, and and a reporter from the Associated Press 2007–2009) will focus on using the new • upward-looking ADCP. were aboard the Healy during the summer understanding of this productive arctic The Chukchi/Beaufort mooring cruise cruise transit of Barrow Canyon. Other ecosystem to model and develop scenarios on the USCGC Polar Star deployed: media outlets that covered SBI included of the potential impacts of climate change • three moorings in the Chukchi Sea as the Nome Nugget and KBRW-AM/FM, a on shelf-basin interactions. part of the Chukchi outflow mooring National Public Radio affiliate in Barrow. The author would like to acknowledge array, including sensors to measure ocean As part of the NSF Teachers Experi- all the SBI Phase II participants for pro- physics and optical and biochemical encing Antarctica and the Arctic program viding many of the concepts and results parameters; (TEA; see page 29 and Witness Winter outlined in this article. For more infor- • The Beaufort Shelf Mooring Array, a 2000/2001), Betty Carvellas, a Vermont mation see the SBI web site (http://utk- tightly spaced (3–5 km spacing) line of high school science teacher, worked on biogw.bio.utk.edu/SBI.nsf), the JOSS web eight moorings with profiling instrumen- the summer process cruise on the Healy. site (http://www.joss.ucar.edu/sbi/), the tation, across the Beaufort continental In addition to serving on a benthic project WHOI web site (http://www.whoi.edu/ slope east of Barrow, Alaska; and team, Carvellas provided daily updates on science/PO/arcticedge), or the TEA web • an acoustic recording package to record research and ship operations, including site (http://tea.rice.edu/tea_carvellasfront- sounds of marine mammals along the spotlights on individual research groups. page. html), or contact Jackie Grebmeier, Beaufort slope, part of a joint effort with Other SBI outreach activities during the director, SBI Project Office in Knoxville, the NOAA National Marine Mammal field program included: TN (865/974-2592; fax 865/974-7896; Laboratory in Seattle and Scripps Insti- • a tour of the Healy for students from the [email protected]). tution of Oceanography. Anvil City Science Academy (a public Jackie Grebmeier is a research professor Investigators on the Polar Star also magnet school in Nome); and in the Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecology performed intense hydrographic sampling Group, Department of Ecology and Evolu- around each mooring deployment and tionary Biology at the University of Tennessee. within Barrow Canyon. Preliminary data on the origin and fate of the shelf-edge boundary currents indicate the outer shelf of the Herald Valley outflow site is filled The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage, with cold, dense, Pacific-origin winter Alaska, collaborated with SBI to survey marine mam- water as it flows eastward, forming a shelf- mals and seabirds during the spring process cruise. In mid-June, wildlife biologist Marc Webber took high- break jet. The high turbidity seen in this resolution digital photographs of more than 40 groups of bottom water may be due to sediments walrus. Analyses of these photos will be used to develop drawn into the water mass as it crosses correction factors for future surveys using remote sensing systems. Photo courtesy Marc Webber, U.S. Fish and the shelf. Small lenses of water observed Wildlife Service. 2 3 NSF News

NSF Highlights Broader Impacts, Environmental Systems

SF has announced two items of Criterion 2 includes: • disseminating information to broaden Nimportance to the arctic research • How well does the activity advance dis- public understanding of science and community. One is critical to getting pro- covery and understanding while promot- technology, or posals reviewed; the other is a report that ing teaching, training, and learning? • contributing to society in some way, recommends major directions in NSF- • How well does the proposed activity such as improving understanding of sponsored interdisciplinary environmental broaden the participation of underrepre- the environment, helping public policy, research and education for the next decade. sented groups? improving health and welfare, etc. • To what extent will it enhance the infra- The NSF grant proposal guide is avail- Proposals Must Identify structure for research and education, able at http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/ Broader Impacts such as facilities, instrumentation, net- getpub.cfm?gpg. More information and Proposals submitted to the NSF are evalu- works, and partnerships? examples of ways to meet criterion 2 are at ated on two merit review criteria, which all • Will the results be disseminated broadly http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/opp_advisory/ proposals must address: to enhance scientific and technological oaccrit2.htm. 1. the intellectual merit of the proposed understanding? activity, and • What may be the benefits of the pro- Environmental Research and 2. the broader impacts of the activity. posed activity to society? Education Report Released In July 2002, NSF announced that, Some examples of how this criterion In January 2003, the NSF Advisory Com- beginning in October 2002, proposals that might be addressed include: mittee on Environmental Research and did not explicitly address so-called criterion • integrating teachers and students into Education (AC-ERE) released 10-Year 2, the broader impacts of the proposed the research or integrating research into Outlook: Complex Environmental Systems activity, would be immediately rejected the classroom, Synthesis for Earth, Life and Society in the without review. Broader impacts must be • broadening participation of under- 21st Century. The report gives guidance addressed in a separate section in the proj- represented minorities and women, to NSF about environmental research and ect summary and described as an integral • enhancing the infrastructure for research education. part of the project description narrative. and education, In 2000, NSF established the Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education to: Issue of Arctic Research Focuses on Wildlife • provide advice, recommendations, and oversight for the NSF’s environmental n behalf of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC), NSF research and education portfolio; has published Arctic Research of the United States twice a year since 1987. Aimed O • be a base of contact with the scientific at national and international audiences of government officials, scientists, engineers, community; educators, private and public groups, and residents of the Arctic, Arctic Research contains • serve as a forum for consideration of • reports on current and planned federal research in the Arctic; interdisciplinary environmental topics as • reports of IARPC meetings; and well as environmental activities in a wide • summaries of other current and planned arctic research. range of disciplines; The current issue of Arctic Research of the United States focuses on wildlife research • provide broad input into long-range in Alaska. Much of the federal land in Alaska is preserved as parks, wildlife refuges, plans and partnership opportunities; and and wilderness areas. Scientific research and study provides the information needed • oversee program management, overall to manage these lands and resources. Scientists supported by several agencies work to balance, and other aspects of environ- ensure that the resources currently enjoyed by Alaskans and visitors will be available to mental research and education activities. future generations. The AC-ERE focuses on the coordi- The current issue illustrates some of the research conducted in Alaska by scientists nation, integration, and management of from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and the U.S. Geologi- environmental programs across the foun- cal Survey. It features articles about some of the fascinating animals of Alaska, ranging dation, but is particularly concerned with from the whales and sea lions of southern Alaska waters to the muskoxen of the north, aspects that affect multiple disciplines, such as well as several smaller but no less interesting animals, including sea otters, migratory as cyberinfrastructure, digital libraries, and birds, and resident small mammals. The issue also provides an overview of the eco- interdisciplinary programs, centers, and systems of Alaska and an introduction to the diversity of humans who have lived and major instrumentation. flourished in Alaska for many thousands of years. For more information or to download To receive a copy, send your name and address to Editor, Arctic Research of the the summary report, see the AC-ERE web United States, National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs, 4201 Wilson site (http://www.nsf.gov/geo/ere/ereweb/ Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22230. For more information, contact Charles E. Myers at advisory.cfm). To obtain copies of either OPP (703/292-8029; fax 703/292-9082; [email protected]). the full report or the summary report, send an e-mail to [email protected]. 4 5 Arctic Upper Atmosphere Research

Space Weather Strongly Affects Arctic Upper Atmosphere

This article continues a series on current topics in arctic (MeV). When these protons reach the Variability in space weather must be upper atmospheric research. poles, they blanket the regions with sig- traced back to variability in the Sun, and pace weather refers to conditions on the nificant ionization to quite low altitudes. upstream measurements are necessarily SSun and in the solar wind, magneto- Termed polar cap absorption (PCA) events limited due to the enormous volume over sphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere that because they absorb HF radio waves very which the physical interactions take place. can influence the performance and reliabil- efficiently (due to the large numbers of Progress is being made largely through ity of space-borne and ground-based tech- collisions between ionospheric electrons innovative active and passive remote sens- nological systems. Modern society increas- and neutral atoms at the lower altitudes at ing techniques as well as strategically placed ingly relies on space-based technologies for which they occur), these can cause com- in-situ measurements and increasingly communications, environmental monitor- munication blackouts in the HF bands and sophisticated assimilative models. Starting ing, mapping, navigation, and other appli- influence the chemistry of the polar atmo- at the Sun, spacecraft observations include cations, but detailed understanding of the sphere. The plasma in the polar cap can be those made by the Solar and Heliospheric processes and interactions involved in space very highly structured, especially during Observatory (a joint NASA and ESA proj- weather is just emerging. active conditions, resulting in communica- ect), located 1.5 million km sunward of This is relevant to the Arctic because tion difficulties between Earth-based and the Earth. Earth-orbiting spacecraft, such the magnetic polar regions can be strongly satellite-based transceivers. as the Wind and Polar spacecraft from the affected by solar plasma. While the upper Space weathermen need to derive a pre- International Solar-Terrestrial Physics pro- atmosphere is largely protected from the dictive understanding of the various phe- gram at NASA, supply measurements of Sun’s energetic protons and electrons by nomena to help develop mitigation strate- the solar wind and magnetospheric plasma. the Earth’s magnetic field, at high magnetic gies, but our current knowledge can be The Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora latitudes this shielding is much less effec- likened to the tropospheric weather predic- Global Exploration (IMAGE) spacecraft tive at ionospheric and atmospheric alti- tion capabilities of the 1950s. We know, in provides views of the entire inner magne- tudes. The aurora borealis and aurora aus- a broad sense, how the plasma ejected from tosphere for the first time. The Thermo- tralis manifest this incursion of solar the Sun affects the Earth’s magnetosphere sphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics plasma energy on the atmosphere (see and, ultimately, the upper atmosphere, and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite measures Witness Autumn 2001). Aurorae, which but not the details of that interaction. To energy inputs and select ion and neutral result primarily from accelerated electrons address these problems with a coordinated species from ionospheric altitudes. and ions impinging upon the upper atmo- effort, in 1996 several federal agencies initi- Several existing and planned ground- sphere’s neutral gasses, can carry significant ated the National Space Weather Program based observatories measure the ionospheric amounts of energy and impact atmospheric (NSWP), a joint program involving NSF, plasma variability. The incoherent scatter chemistry and dynamics down to altitudes NOAA, USAF, NASA, DOI, and DOE. radars in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland (NSF’s of roughly 90 kilometers. Although the NSWP has made progress Søndrestrøm Radar); in northern Scandina- Solar storms can impact the entirety of toward forecasting space weather, the via (European Incoherent SCATter radar); both polar regions. During solar storms the present generation of models remain inad- and in Svalbard, Norway (EISCAT Svalbard solar wind plasma can contain large fluxes equate, measurements of critical parameters Radar) allow the diagnosis of most impor- of very energetic protons, in the range of are scanty, and the scale of the problem is tant plasma parameters. NSF’s planned tens to hundreds of million electron volts tremendous. Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar (AMISR) should significantly extend

and enhance this coverage from several

locations in the Arctic, using a phased array antenna and distributed transmitter/receiver approach. Designed for remote and continuous operation, the AMISR will include three separate, relocatable phased-array radars. The proposed initial locations are near Fairbanks, Alaska, for auroral studies, and Resolute Bay, Nunavut, Canada, for studies of the central polar cap region. For more information, see the NSWP web site (http://www.spacescience.org/ The dramatic increase of ionization from the 2000 Bastille Day storm. Left: quiet-time measurements of electron density as a function of altitude from the NSF Søndrestrøm Incoherent Scatter Radar in Greenland. Solar illumination pro- SWOP/NSWP), or contact Craig Heinsel- duces E-region ionization down to approximately 90 kilometers altitude. Two profiles also show thin sporadic E layers man at SRI International in Menlo Park, at just under 115 km; these layers consist of monatomic metal ions left behind by meteor ablation. Right: the impact of CA (650/859-3777; fax 650/322-2318; high energy protons, showing a distinct peak in ionization at 70 km lasting for many hours, and significant ionization enhancements to below 50 km. Figure by C. Heinselman. [email protected]). 4 5 ARCSS Program

ARCSS Committee Aims for Long-term Synthesis By Jonathan Overpeck 002 was a big year for the Arctic as well Kruse for the job he’s done since 1997. • Second, setting the stage for a new lon- 2as for ARCSS. For the Arctic, unprec- ARCSS is a strong, well-funded program ger term research-intensive arctic system edented summer warmth and sea ice retreat with interdisciplinary strength that is better synthesis to ensure that we understand highlighted why arctic research is so timely and broader than ever. I look forward to how the entire integrated system works, and important. For ARCSS, partnership working with Neil, the AC, and the entire and how this understanding best meets with the Study of Environmental Arctic ARCSS community to build on the strong the needs of society. Change (SEARCH) program (see page 20– foundation that Jack and Mike organized. • Third, doing all it can to help NSF and 21) generated a major increase in funding The next year will be busy for the AC the arctic science community maintain (see page 22). The ARCSS Program also and ARCSS Program leadership, with a smoothly running and well-subscribed has new leadership. We offer thanks and the charge to produce the next Five Year NSF science program. best wishes to Mike Ledbetter, and wel- ARCSS Science Plan, as well as to ensure I’d like to thank the members of the come Neil Swanberg as the new program a smooth transition to this next stage of scientific community who’ve contributed director. Neil brings a wealth of experience ARCSS research. The process is as impor- their intellect, experience, and energy in interdisciplinary science and already has tant as the product. Building on the 2002 to strengthen the ARCSS Program. Feel built a good working relationship with the ARCSS All-Hands meeting (see Witness free to continue bringing issues and ideas ARCSS Committee (AC). His rich involve- Spring 2002), and the other activities over to individual AC members (including the ment with the International Geosphere- the past year, the AC will focus on: chair!) or your program leadership. Com- Biosphere Program (IGBP) will be a big • First, a one-plus year arctic system munication is key to a vibrant ARCSS. help in making ARCSS even stronger than synthesis, intended to be an intellec- Jonathan Overpeck is director of Institute for the Study of before. tual exercise as well as the process by Planet Earth and a professor in the Department of Geo- In 2002, I began serving as the chair which the next ARCSS science plan is sciences at the University of Arizona (520/622-9065; fax 520/792-8795; [email protected]) of the AC. We owe great thanks to Jack generated. New NSF ARCSS Program Director Reviews Progress By Neil Swanberg y all accounts 2002 has been an The broad topic required care to ensure until a new science management structure Bimportant year for the Arctic System program balance in all the key areas of the is in place. Science (ARCSS) program. freshwater cycle. The arctic paleoscience community The second ARCSS All-Hands work- Over the summer, discussions among organized in Paleoenvironmental Arctic shop in February opened a vital discussion the ARCSS leadership and in an ARCSS Sciences (PARCS; see page 10) is encour- in the ARCSS community about the cur- Committee meeting made clear that the aged to compete under the NSF Earth rent and future structure of the ARCSS ARCSS Program would benefit from a Systems History (ESH) banner now and Program (see Witness Spring 2002). The system-level synthesis effort. This would be in future years. Under a new arrangement Land Shelf Initiative (LSI; see page 12) and science-driven and take two forms: with the ESH program, ARCSS has access Pan-Arctic Cycles, Transitions, and Sus- • a short-term effort that would support to the ESH process without an irrevocable tainability (PACTS; see page 9) emerged as a reorganization of the program and commitment: i.e., ARCSS support will be strong new concepts in ARCSS. The pro- develop a model of the arctic system; contingent on successful arctic proposals. ceedings of the meeting will be published • a longer term effort that would lead to Investigators funded through the by ARCUS in March 2003. a variety of deeper, research-based syn- Human Dimensions of the Arctic System Over the summer, SBI had a highly thesis activities that would produce a (HARC) initiated several efforts to rein- productive field year, completing four sci- substantial scientific product. force the community of HARC researchers entific cruises (see page 1). The Land-Atmosphere-Ice Interactions (see page 12 and Witness Spring 2002). ARCSS held a special competition on (LAII) project Arctic Transitions in the At the end of 2002, I became perma- the arctic freshwater cycle for proposals Land-Atmosphere System (ATLAS; see nent director of the ARCSS Program. My addressing freshwater and hydrological page 9 and Witness Autumn 1998) and the guess is that next year will be as exciting as issues in the science plans of: Ocean-Atmosphere-Ice Interactions (OAII) this one was. • the Pan-Arctic Community-wide Hydro- project Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic For more information about the logical Analysis and Modeling Program (SHEBA, see Witness Spring 2000) held ARCSS Program, see http://www.nsf.gov/ (CHAMP; see page 11), their own synthesis workshops during the od/opp/arctic/system.htm, or contact • Arctic/Subarctic Ocean Fluxes (ASOF, fall. As science management entities, LAII ARCSS Program Director Neil Swanberg see Witness Winter 2000/2001), and and OAII are also likely to wind down in in Arlington, VA (703/292-8029; fax 703/ • the Study of Environmental Arctic their current form but will continue to 292-9081; [email protected]). Change (SEARCH; see page 21). support the ARCSS research community 6 7 ARCSS Program

JOSS On-line Field Catalog Supports SBI Cruises

ntegrated data management is important Ito the success of large, multiinvestigator projects like SBI (see page 1). The ARCSS Program funded the University Corpora- tion for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Joint Office for Science Support (JOSS) to produce a comprehensive data management strategy for the SBI Project, in cooperation with the SBI Project Office and investigators. This strategy provides project investigators and the general science community with timely access to a complete project database and associated documentation. A major component of this strategy is the implementation of an on-line field catalog during cruises to provide near- real-time documentation and browsing of operational data.

Field Catalog Previously deployed in the Arctic for the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA; see Witness Spring 2000) project, the on-line field catalog (see figure) is a valuable tool for reporting and monitor- The SBI field catalog front page can be found athttp://www.joss.ucar.edu/sbi/catalog . ing operational activities and a permanent archive of cruise activities. JOSS field cata- • an event log detailing station activities, section plots of specific variables for logs were installed onboard the USCGC including in-water and on-deck times various station transects; and Healy (see Witness Spring/Autumn 1999) and Seabeam water depth from the daily • reports, including the daily operational for both the spring and summer SBI pro- logs generated by the Coast Guard. summaries, Teachers Experiencing Ant- cess cruises. The catalog organizes data and During the spring cruise, a part of the arctica and the Arctic (TEA; see page 29 documentation for use in the field and acts field catalog allowed researchers to log and Witness Winter 2000/2001) daily as a detailed field report after operations detailed ice observations complete with journals, summary reports, cruise sum- have ended. It facilitates communication digital photos and automatically incorpo- mary, and science reports. during fieldwork by keeping participants rated current data from the ship, including Post-Cruise Catalog Use abreast of ongoing operations. Because a position, water depth, and current weather Near the end of each cruise, JOSS person- portion of the shipboard catalog content is parameters. Other products available nel onboard the Healy worked with service routinely uplinked via satellite to the JOSS through the field catalog included: team members to produce a CD for each Boulder facilities, land-based scientific • satellite products from NOAA and PI of the catalog station products as well co-workers and others can monitor the Defense Meteorological Satellite Pro- as all service data and ancillary PI datasets. ship’s operation and progress. During both gram (DMSP) polar orbiters; U.S. Coast Guard crewmembers also made cruises, the catalog was used by project • weather and related data, updated twice a CD copy of the ship’s underway data files participants aboard ship and ashore as well daily, including 24-hour time-series plots available. as by USCG staff and families at home, the of temperature, winds, pressure, humid- As part of JOSS’s data management Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, and ity, and water depth; services, several additional underway data- others interested in the ship’s operations. • CTD data in two standard formats, sets were archived to tape for availability including temperature, salinity, oxygen, Catalog Products through the SBI data archive at JOSS. transmittance, photosynthetically active Two components of the field catalog were For more information, see the com- radiation (PAR), and fluorometer mea- especially popular during SBI: plete field catalogs for both cruises, surements, vertical section plots of vari- • a ship track plot, updated every 15 to 30 which are now available at JOSS (http: ous parameters for station transects, and minutes, showing station locations, moor- //www.joss.ucar.edu/sbi/catalog), or con- comments on each cast; ings, and bathymetry (data from the tact James A. Moore (303/497-8635; fax • bottle data, including bottle hydro- International Bathymetric Chart of the 303/497-8158; [email protected]). graphic reports and synthesized vertical Arctic Ocean; see Witness Spring 2000); 6 7 ARCSS Program

Metadata is Vital to Long-term Utility of Data

he NSF Arctic System Science reason the data were collected, the long- and access. By providing high-level infor- T(ARCSS) Program’s effectiveness term archive of ARCSS data may have a mation about a specific data set, metadata requires the integration of knowledge from much broader audience than just ARCSS enable users to assess a data set’s charac- various disciplines, which in turn depends investigators. Data that lack adequate teristics and applicability to their research, on the accessibility and exchange of data documentation (metadata) can effectively focus their data searches, and retrieve the among the scientific community. The become “lost.” Technology will continue appropriate data sets. ARCSS Program requires its awardees to to provide access to data in the future, but To help ARCSS principal investigators submit data and metadata to the ADCC the usefulness of data is limited without meet metadata requirements, the ADCC after an interval allowing for analysis and accompanying metadata. Complete docu- produces two types of data set documenta- publication. mentation, including metadata (information, based on information that PIs submit The ARCSS Program funded the estab- tion about data), is key to ensuring the with their data: a data interchange format lishment of the ARCSS Data Coordination long-term preservation of data. (DIF) file and a summary document. Center (ADCC) at the National Snow and The ADCC collects metadata from Both act to standardize a given data set’s Ice Data Center (NSIDC) of the Univer- scientists working on ARCSS-funded metadata, increase ease of use, and allow sity of Colorado at Boulder in 1994. The and related projects. Metadata describe future access to that data set. In addition, ADCC is the permanent long-term data the “who, what, where, when, why, and the ADCC submits metadata to the Global archive for all components of the ARCSS how” of the data set and are crucial to Change Master Directory (GCMD) and Program. The ADCC, through long-term an investigator looking for suitable data ensures that all ARCSS Program metadata data archiving and documentation, strives sets to answer specific research ques- are complete and meet Federal Geographic to promote knowledge synthesis and tions. The ARCSS Data Policy (http: Data Committee (FGDC) standards. exchange among the research scientists who //arcss.colorado.edu/arcss/protocol/ For more information see the ADCC study the response of the Arctic to global protocol.html) describes minimum meta- web site (http://arcss.colorado.edu/) or climate change. data requirements, which help to ensure contact Rudy Dichtl at the National Snow Because researchers can use raw data for thorough and accurate metadata and and Ice Data Center, Boulder, CO (303/ purposes that may differ from the original archiving in a way that facilitates data use 492-5532; [email protected]).

New CD Compiles ATLAS Materials

new CD documents life in the field • developing models and parameterizations The Ivotuk CD also includes an over- Afor the Arctic Transitions in the Land- to allow extrapolation of how changes in view of the project, providing background Atmosphere System (ATLAS) project at climate could affect these fluxes. information with slide shows contributed Ivotuk, Alaska (see Witness Autumn 1998; Researchers collected data on compo- by the researchers, abstracts and field page 9). The data, collected at the Ivotuk nents of the system, including permafrost, reports, and an interview with Terry site by more than 30 researchers from Janu- soil, vegetation, atmosphere, and water—as Chapin by Robert Hannon of Alaska Pub- ary 1998 through June 2000, are archived liquid, vapor, and solid ice and snow. The lic Radio’s “Alaska Edition.” on the ATLAS Project Ivotuk Site CD, fluxes between the various components are A zoom sequence comprising 95 USGS published by the University Corporation primarily energy, moisture, and trace gases topographic grids orients the viewer to

for Atmospheric Research Joint Office (CO2 and methane). The Ivotuk CD inter- Ivotuk’s geography. Snow-melt sequences for Science Support (UCAR/JOSS; see face can access the data through an interac- provide graphic evidence of the progres- page 7), under the auspices of ATLAS. tive map or by sion of the seasons. The CD also shows the The main purpose of the Ivotuk CD is • discipline (active layer/permafrost, flux, human side of the research, including liv- to provide a single archive source for the hydrology, meteorology, snow, soil, and ing quarters, shared meals, and hikes across multidisciplinary data collected at the site. vegetation); the vast landscape. A PowerPoint “movie” James Moore, Greg Stossmeister, and Don • working group (snow, shrubs, and presents University of Virginia graduate Stott of JOSS worked with a number of weather; hydrological response; energy student Monika Calef’s unique take on her ATLAS investigators to determine the size and trace gas flux; substrate and vegeta- Ivotuk experience. and scope of the CD. tion; permafrost soils; trace gas fluxes; The CD is available at the UCAR/ The research at Ivotuk focuses on active layer and permafrost geophysics); JOSS web site (http://www.joss.ucar.edu/ • the exchange of energy and mass • site (any of five grid study areas, four study atlas). For more information contact Don between the tundra surface and the lines, or two meteorological sites); or Stott in Boulder, CO (303/497-8154; fax atmosphere, and • year. 303/497-8158; [email protected]). 8 9 ARCSS Program

ATLAS Research Enters Synthesis Phase

he Arctic Transitions in the Land- ing season to understand biotic-abiotic unanswered questions related to arctic TAtmosphere System Project (ATLAS; feedbacks in the Arctic. Another manu- biophysical and biogeochemical sys- see Witness Autumn 2001), which is a script documents the dramatic changes tems, and from these questions, define major part of the Land-Atmosphere-Ice that have occurred in the arctic terrestrial the critical areas of research that will Interactions (LAII) component of the system over the past 30 years, including: best advance knowledge of the Arctic ARCSS Program, has entered a synthesis • changes in vegetation (increasing shrubs System as a whole; phase after four years of intensive field- and northward migration of treeline), • Provide a strategy and approach that work. During the field component of the • changes in the date of freeze-up of the can guide how the new integrated project, researchers representing more tundra on the North Slope of Alaska research will address the critical ques- than a dozen institutions and universi- (more than 60 days later than in the tions; and ties with expertise ranging from ecology 1960s), and • Create a mechanism for the implemen- and soil science to atmospheric dynamics • changes in discharge of arctic rivers (flow tation of PACTS. and hydrology compared sites in northern has increased by as much as 10%). For more information, see the LAII Alaska, near Barrow, Atqasuk, and Ivotuk; In Victoria, ATLAS researchers also web site (http://www.laii.uaf.edu/) or con- in western Alaska, near Nome; and in Sibe- looked to the future, finishing a science tact LAII science steering committee chair ria, near Cherskii. plan for a new research program—Pan- Matthew Sturm (907/353-5183; fax 907/ The goal of the field program was to Arctic Cycles, Transitions, and Sustain- 353-5142; [email protected]). document the role of the arctic terrestrial ability (PACTS; see Witness Spring To obtain a copy of or to broadcast the system in global climate change, and more 2002)—concentrated on transitions and video “The Changing Landscape,” contact particularly, to explore how feedbacks in changes in arctic biophysical, biogeochemi- KUAC (907/474-7491; fax 907/474-5064; the land-atmosphere system might impact cal, and social systems. PACTS proposes to [email protected]). For more information arctic ecology and human society. The field investigate the interaction of physical and on the JGR special issue, contact A. David campaigns focused on processes occurring living systems (e.g., the hydrological cycle McGuire (907/474-6242; fax 907/474- in two specific and critical arctic transition and the tundra ecosystem), rather than 6716; [email protected]). zones—the forest to tundra transition, and individual systems themselves, using the shrub to tundra transition. the concepts of sustainability and the The ATLAS synthesis has already assessment of vulnerability in human produced some interesting products. A and natural systems as guiding prin- CD containing the data collected by all ciples to ensure that future research the projects that worked at Ivotuk, on the will be relevant to the identification North Slope of Alaska, is available (see of potential adaptive strategies in the page 8). A half-hour video on ATLAS face of a changing climate. research entitled “A Changing Landscape: While it builds on ideas and Investigating a Warming Arctic” has been accomplishments from LAII research, produced by KUAC-TV (University of the PACTS science plan more explic- Alaska) to air on West Coast TV affiliates itly emphasizes biotic and abiotic in 2003. A special issue of the Journal of interactions. Its scale and scope are Geophysical Research containing nine papers larger as well, with a regional view- from the ATLAS project was published in point that seeks to understand the late January 2003. Pan-Arctic as a large complex system. As part of the synthesis, ATLAS The plan provides a bridge between researchers met in October 2002 near the past disciplinary and geographi- Victoria, British Columbia, to explore the cally organized research and a more connections between their research efforts. thematic structure that cuts across Several important themes emerged that disciplines and geographic boundar- form the basis of papers being prepared ies. The LAII science steering com- for publication. Three papers focus on the mittee took the lead in developing winter processes taking place in the snow the plan, which was reviewed by a and soil, examining how these processes broad segment of the ARCSS science interact and how they impact the growth community. The major objectives of of shrubs and other plants and the winter the plan are:

release of CO2. These papers validate one • Using new knowledge generated of the key findings of ATLAS: that research during LAII and other ARCSS The sculpted snow near a tributary to the Oumalik River, 80 miles southeast of Atqasuk, reflects the intimate relationship between snow, must extend beyond the traditional grow- programs, identify important topography, vegetation, and wind. Photo by Ken Tape. 8 9 ARCSS Program

Working Group Meetings Advance PARCS Research Themes

he Paleoenvironmental Arctic Sciences 10,000 years) at centennial resolution are matic proxies now available. A general pat- T(PARCS; see Witness Spring 2002) also being investigated to assess whether tern of early warming in Beringia and later research community seeks to understand the millennial-scale variability identified in warming eastward from central Canada to past changes in the arctic environment and the North Atlantic region is a widespread the northwestern North Atlantic was clear, how they relate to global change. Discus- feature of Holocene climate. but quantitative estimates of temperature sions among PARCS investigators recently About a dozen members of the PARCS were too sparse to determine the relative identified two integrative and urgent Working Group on High-Resolution magnitude of warming among the regions. research themes: Records met in Boulder, Colorado, on Northern Eurasia appears to have displayed • modes of natural climatic variability 30 October–2 November 2002 to analyze a more synchronous thermal history. within the Arctic, and the spatial and temporal patterns of tem- Where quantitative estimates are available, • past warm arctic climates and their con- perature reconstructed from around the temperatures were generally 2 ± 1°C higher sequences. Arctic. The group than average 20th-century values. Partici- Following discussions between the NSF • compiled annual to subdecadal records pants developed a preliminary synthesis Earth Systems History Program (ESH), of summer temperature for the last 400 showing the spatial-temporal pattern of ARCSS, and PARCS, these two themes years using a variety of paleorecords; the HTM. The data compilation will form form the basis of a new effort within the • identified three principal modes of the foundation of one or more summary ESH Program. A coordinated paleosci- variability; articles. ence research initiative of the U.S. Global • analyzed instrumental data to infer phys- Arctic warmth was also the focus of a Change Research Program, the ESH pro- ical mechanisms and circulation patterns meeting in Maine in October 2002 on the gram is supported by the NSF Divisions of associated with these modes; and last interglaciation, cosponsored by PARCS Atmospheric Sciences, Earth Sciences, and • discussed strategies for long-term recon- and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Ocean Sciences, and the Office of Polar structions of the hypothesized mecha- Programme—CircumArctic PaleoEnviron- Programs, as well as the National Oceanic nisms and circulation patterns. ments (IGBP-CAPE). Twenty-five paleosci- and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) A major goal is to extend the high- entists reviewed quantitative evidence for Office of Global Programs. The ESH Pro- resolution records beyond 1,000 years to the extent of summer warmth in terrestrial gram Announcement released in October allow investigators to characterize climate and marine settings ca 125,000 years ago. 2002 included “Modes of Arctic Climate prior to the Little Ice Age. Boreal forest reached the Arctic Ocean Variability and Warmth” as one of four coast everywhere except the North Slope of Warm Arctic Climates and areas of research interest. Alaska. All Northern Hemisphere glacier Their Consequence As the first step in addressing these ice except the Greenland Ice Sheet and on Studies aimed at understanding the state of two research themes, PARCS sponsored mountains >5 km disappeared, and even marine, terrestrial, and biological systems three working group meetings this fall to Greenland’s ice sheet was half its current during previous periods when the Arctic review the current state of knowledge and size. Coupled GCM experiments indicate shifted toward and experienced warmer to generate summary articles to disseminate substantial warming from insolation forc- conditions concentrate on three periods of this knowledge to the wider arctic research ing but slightly less than the observed mag- warmer-than-present conditions: community. nitude in paleorecords. The group plans • intervals during the last two millennia; to write one or more papers that compare Modes of Climatic Variability • other warm intervals of the current inter- model and data results and that review the Understanding the full range of modes glacial period (Holocene), and status of the Arctic during the last intergla- of climatic variability in the Arctic, their • the last interglaciation. ciation and its significance for understand- relation to climate states at lower lati- Twenty-eight members of the PARCS ing extreme warmth in the Arctic. tudes, and the degree to which they are Working Group on the Holocene Thermal For more information, see the PARCS predictable requires the development of Maximum (HTM) met concurrently with web site (http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/ a network of high-resolution (annual to the High-Resolution Records Group in parcs), or the ESH Program Announce- decadal) paleoenvironmental records that Boulder to present and discuss: ment (http://www.nsf.gov/geo/egch/ span 2,000 years and extend through the • summaries of the major mechanisms and gc_esh.html), or contact PARCS co-chairs 20th century. This network will be used feedbacks responsible for the HTM (ca Darrell Kaufman at Northern Arizona to address questions such as the periodic- 8,000 years ago), and University (928/523-7192; fax 928/523- ity and persistence of recognized climatic • records from around the Arctic that 9220; [email protected]) or Glen phenomena within the Arctic (e.g., the attest to warmth and its environmental MacDonald at the University of California, Arctic Oscillation) and their interrelation consequences. Los Angeles (310/825-2568; fax 310/206- with the global climate system. Longer Considerable discussion focused on the 5976; [email protected]). records spanning the entire Holocene (last utility and sensitivity of the various cli-

10 11 ARCSS Program

New Program Links Freshwater to Ocean Dynamics

n September 2000, a strategy1 for identi- Study of Environmental Arctic Change • articulating the contents of an ini- Ifying, documenting, and understanding (SEARCH; see page 21) initiative. tial plan for integration and synthesis changes in arctic hydrological processes and To date, 18 projects have been funded research within CHAMP, ASOF, and their interactions with climate, ecosystem (see box) to quantify the freshwater balance SEARCH; and dynamics, and marine processes was devel- of the Arctic Basin and to elucidate how • soliciting input from project investigators oped by a group of more than 30 arctic changes in the freshwater cycle may impact on coordination and on partnership with scientists. The Pan-Arctic Community-wide the arctic system. The focus is on decades- ASOF and SEARCH. Hydrological Analysis and Monitoring to-century time scales; collectively these For more information, contact Larry Program (Arctic-CHAMP) was developed projects seek to articulate the interconnec- Hinzman at University of Alaska Fair- under guidance from NSF’s Arctic System tions between the freshwater hydrologic banks (907/474-7331; fax 907/474-7979; Science Program and a recently formed Sci- cycle and ocean/sea-ice dynamics. This is [email protected]) or Charles Vörösmarty at ence Steering Committee. inherently a synthesis effort, based on the the University of New Hampshire (603/ In January 2002, NSF released a $30 conjunction of routine observations, pro- 862-0850; fax 603/862-0587; charles.- million announcement of opportunity to cess-based field studies, and modeling. [email protected]). For more informa- study the freshwater cycle in the Arctic and The program held a meeting of prin- tion on ASOF, see http://asof.npolar.no. to address some of the issues raised in the cipal investigators 18–19 February 2003, Notes strategy document and in a complementary in Boulder, Colorado, to support program integration by: 1. Vörösmarty et al. 2001. The Hydrologi- international program, Arctic/Subarctic cal Cycle and its Role in Arctic and Global • introducing each research project to the Ocean Fluxes (ASOF; see Witness Winter Environmental Change: A Rationale and 2000/2001). The joint initiative constitutes CHAMP/ASOF community; Strategy for Synthesis Study. Fairbanks, an NSF contribution to the multiagency • identifying gaps, overlaps, and opportu- Alaska: ARCUS. nities for collaborative research;

Freshwater Projects Funded in 2002 Variability and Forcing of Fluxes Through Biogeochemical Tracers in Arctic Rivers: Circulation in the Freshwater Switchyard Nares Strait and Jones Sound: A Fresh- Linking the Pan-Arctic Watershed to the of the Arctic Ocean—M. Steele (Univ. water Emphasis—K. Falkner, M. Torres, Arctic Ocean—B. Peterson and R. Holmes Washington), P. Schlosser, W. M. Smethie R. Samelson (Oregon State Univ.), A. Mun- (Marine Biological Lab.) $1,648,366 (Columbia Univ.), and R. Kwok (Jet Propul- chow and K-C. Wong (Univ. Delaware) Winter Precipitation, Sublimation, and sion Lab.) $1,046,505 $3,385,912 Snow-Depth in the Pan-Arctic: Critical Freshwater Budget of the Arctic and High Detection and Attribution of Changes in Processes and a Half Century of Change— Latitude Mode of Atmospheric Vari- the Hydrologic Regimes of the Mackenzie, R. Pielke Sr. and G. E. Liston (Colorado ability—B. Tremblay (Columbia Univ.) the Kuparuk and the Lena River Basins— State Univ.), L. J. Mahrt (Oregon State $236,078 L. Hinzman, M. Nolan, D. L. Kane, and Univ.), and M. Sturm (Cold Regions Res. An Integrated Assessment of the Pan-Arctic K. Yoshikawa (Univ. Alaska Fairbanks), J. and Eng. Lab.) $1,556,546 Freshwater System: Analysis of Retrospec- Cassano and A. Lynch (Univ. Colorado), and Beaufort Gyre Freshwater Experiment: tive and Contemporary Conditions— W. Gutowski (Iowa State Univ.) $2,578,642 Study of Freshwater Accumulation and C. Vörösmarty, R. Lammers, E. Linder, S. Synthesis of Water Balance Data from Release Mechanism and the Role of Fresh Frolking, M. Fahnestock (Univ. New Hamp- Northern Experimental Watersheds—D. L. Water in Arctic Climate Variability—A. shire), M. Serreze (Univ. Colorado), and M. Kane and D. Yang (Univ. Alaska Fairbanks) Proshutinsky (Woods Hole Oceanographic Steele (Univ. Washington) $2,335,649 $214,673 Institution) $1,701,276 Development of Bias-Corrected Precipita- Decadal to Centennial History of Lena River Connections Among Atmospheric Forcing, tion Database and Climatology for the Discharge to the Arctic Ocean—E. Karabanov Runoff and Conditions in the Laptev and Arctic Regions—D. Yang and D. L. Kane and D. F. Williams (Univ. S. Carolina) $724,986 East-Siberian Seas—I. Semiletov and G. E. (Univ. Alaska Fairbanks) and D. R. Legates An Observational Array for High Resolu- Weller (Univ. Alaska Fairbanks) $187,390 (Univ. Delaware) $497,216 tion, Year-round Measurements of Volume, A Land Surface Model Hind-Cast for the Assessing the Long-Term Contribution of Freshwater, and Ice Flux Variability in Terrestrial Arctic Drainage System—M. Landfast Ice to the Arctic Freshwater Bud- Davis Strait—C. Lee, R. Moritz, J. Gobat Serreze (Univ. Colorado), D. Lettenmaier get—Y. Yu (Univ. Washington) $242,900 (Univ. Washington), K. F. Drinkwater (Bed- (Univ. Washington), and S. Ackerman and J. Changes in Freeze-Thaw and Permafrost ford Institute of Oceanography) $3,483,000 R. Key (Univ. Wisconsin) $654,802 Dynamics and Their Hydrological Impli- The Role of Spatial and Temporal Variability River Discharge from the Russian Federa- cation Over the Russian Arctic Drainage of Pan-Arctic River Discharge and Sur- tion: An Understanding of Contemporary Basin—T. Zhang and R. G. Barry (Univ. face Hydrologic Processes on Climate— Trends and Their Placement in a Holocene Colorado) $681,285 D. Lettenmaier (Univ. Washington) and Context—L. Smith and G. M. MacDonald E. Wood (Princeton Univ.) $1,255,682 (Univ. California LA) $583,114 10 11 ARCSS Program

Land-Shelf Interactions Science Plan Moves Forward

ork continued in 2002 on devel- the impacts of climate warming on coastal ence steering committees that met in San Wopment of a science plan for the features and processes such as Francisco in December 2002. Information Land-Shelf Interactions (LSI) Initiative, • near-shore and offshore permafrost, on LSI also has been shared in 2002 at which is meant to improve opportunities • sea-ice formation and melt, relevant international meetings including: for research across the land-sea boundary • atmospheric gas exchange, and • the International Arctic Science Com- in the Arctic. LSI grew out of research • biological communities. mittee’s Initiative for Scientific Research implementation efforts within the Rus- Because of the concentration of human in the Russian Arctic (Moscow, October sian-American Initiative for Shelf-Land activity in the arctic coastal zone, human 2002), Environments in the Arctic (RAISE), and dimensions will play an important role in • the Land-Ocean Initiative in the Russian from the recognition that recent ARCSS the implementation of LSI research. Arctic (Moscow, November 2002), research has not adequately addressed As part of the science planning efforts, • the Land-Ocean Interactions in the coastal processes (see Witness Spring 2002). the RAISE project management office Coastal Zone Synthesis and Futures The plan aims to lay the groundwork for and science steering committee have been Meeting (Miami, May), and a coordinated, interdisciplinary research reconfigured as the RAISE/LSI Project • the Swedish Polar Secretariat’s Oden opportunity in the Arctic that would Management Office, which is now located 2005 Expedition Planning Meeting • focus on the coastal zone, and at the University of Tennessee. Approxi- (Stockholm, November). • support land, river, and sea-based mately 100 members of the arctic research The science plan will be completed and researchers using coordinated logisti- community have contributed to developing support requested from the ARCSS Com- cal capabilities that otherwise would be the LSI science plan through: mittee and ARCSS Program management unavailable. • participation in two on-line forums, at NSF to implement of the LSI initiative. The overarching goal of the Land-Shelf • joining working groups at the February For more information, see the RAISE/ Initiative is to improve understanding of 2002 ARCSS All-Hands Workshop (see LSI web site (http://arctic.bio.utk.edu/ the biogeochemical, physical, and hydro- Witness Spring 2002), or #RAISE) or contact Lee Cooper at the logical processes that occur in the near- • commenting on the draft science plan. University of Tennessee (865/974-2990; shore zone of the arctic shelf and its adjoin- Progress this year on science plan devel- fax 865/974-7896; [email protected]) or ing shoreline with respect to changes in the opment has been reported to the ARCSS Ken Dunton at the University of Texas global climate system. Important potential Committee at its October 2002 meeting (361/749-6744; fax 361/749-6777; dunton research topics include freshwater runoff, in Arlington, Virginia, and to the joint @utmsi.utexas.edu). the rate of coastal erosion or accretion, and meeting of the ARCSS components sci-

Special Issue of Arctic and Workshop Explore HARC Topics

he Human Dimensions of the Arctic the interactions of people with global Eight interdisciplinary research teams TSystem (HARC) Science Management change. These manuscripts will begin the were represented at the workshop. The ple- Office (SMO) made several strides this peer review process in early 2003, and the nary discussions focused on two topics: year in developing a HARC community of human dimensions special issue is expected • encouraging integrated, interdisciplinary researchers and in integrating the HARC to be published in late 2003 or early 2004. research and interaction between investi- initiative more fully into the ARCSS Pro- The HARC SMO held a workshop gators and projects, and gram. Two major HARC activities have in Anchorage, Alaska, in October 2002, • stimulating further development of the added to this effort: sponsored by the NSF Biocomplexity in HARC initiative. • contributions by HARC PIs to a forth- the Environment (BE) program (see Wit- The discussions yielded a thoughtful coming dedicated issue of Arctic, and ness Spring 2002). The workshop had three series of recommendations concerning • a workshop on HARC and Biocomplexity primary goals: both topics for the ARCSS Committee (see in the environment. • to bring together interdisciplinary teams page 6). Henry Huntington, the HARC SMO to focus on questions and challenges For more information, see the HARC director, is coordinating manuscript sub- facing researchers doing integrated SMO web page (http://www.arcus.org/ missions from HARC PIs for an issue of human dimensions research, HARC) or contact Henry Huntington in the journal Arctic dedicated to human • to foster coordination and cross- Eagle River, AK (907/696-3564; fax 907/ dimensions research in the Arctic. The fertilization among teams, and 696-3565; [email protected]) or Dan Fergu- papers will highlight arctic research on • to support and develop work on HARC son at ARCUS in Fairbanks, AK (907/474- and/or BE projects. 1600; fax 907/474-1604; [email protected]).

12 13 ARCSS Program

Land-Shelf Interactions Science Plan Moves Forward Workshop Outlines New Photochemistry Studies

ecent field studies in the Arctic, dimethyl sulfide, and hydrocarbons. These University. The workshop brought together RAntarctic, and in mid-latitudes have reactions alter the composition of the 24 investigators working on issues in high- shown that sunlight illumination of snow atmosphere and can also affect climate. latitude chemistry and photochemistry to releases a host of trace gases to the atmo- At the Ocean-Atmosphere-Ice-Inter- • identify prospective collaborators; spheric boundary layer. These gases include actions (OAII) All-Hands meeting in • determine and prioritize current and

nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), November 2001, the OAII science steering future science needs;

bromine (Br2), bromine chloride (BrCl), committee recognized the need for a better • discuss creative logistics solutions; and carboxylic acids, aldehydes, and other spe- understanding of these emerging research • develop recommendations toward a cies that influence chemistry and composi- issues and recommended that the ARCSS coordinated study of these processes. tion of both the atmosphere and snowpack Program support a workshop to synthe- The workshop participants will produce (see Witness Spring 2000). Effects include size information and evaluate critically a preliminary research plan defining the rapid tropospheric ozone depletion and important unresolved issues, the means for objectives and logistical needs for a series depletion/mobilization of mercury. pursuing those issues, and the logistics and of field campaigns, model development For example, sea-salt particles, one support needed for research on air-snow- studies, and laboratory studies, under the of the most abundant aerosol types (by ice-water chemical exchange and its influ- proposed project name OASIS. mass), are important sources of reactive ence on climate. For more information, see the

halogen gases, such as Br2 and BrCl, to A three-day community workshop, workshop’s web site (http://www.chem. the gas phase. These photolyze to form Changing Environmental Controls on purdue.edu/arctic/arcticworkshop.htm) or reactive halogen radicals (e.g., Br and bro- Coupled Chemical Exchange Between the contact Paul Shepson at Purdue Univer- mine oxide), which react with important Ocean, Ice, and Atmosphere in the Arctic, sity (765/494-7441; fax: 765/496-2874; tropospheric gases such as ozone, mercury, convened in November 2002 at Purdue [email protected]).

Figure shows the exchange of gases, particles, and particle precursors between the ocean, snowpack, and frozen ocean surface, and the atmosphere, all important issues in the proposed OASIS project. Among those processes known to be important are the exchange of photochemically reactive halogen gases that lead to free radical consumption of atmospheric gases such as ozone, mercury, and volatile organic compounds. This chemistry can lead to particle production (a part of Arctic Haze), and subsequent deposition of the products to the surface. Many of these processes are known in qualitative terms, but are poorly understood quantitatively. Redrawn by P. Shepson from a figure by M. Fukuchi and P. Wassmann. 12 13 Arctic Research Support and Logistics

VPR Supports Complex Work on Alaska Glaciers

ECO Polar Resources (VPR; see Wit- single Otter from Ultima Thule Lodge hole from filling in) and two refrigerated Vness Spring 2002), NSF’s contractor to fly over 30,000 pounds of gear from trailer vans for storing the 20,000 pounds for arctic logistics, supported the research historic Black Rapids Roadhouse to the of ice core. A specially stripped down A- projects of 100 groups of investigators glacier. Although late-season snowstorms Star helicopter moved people to the drill across the Arctic in 2002. VPR worked bogged down work and access to the air- site, while Paul Klaus expertly piloted in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, strip, Echelmeyer and fellow researchers the turbine Otter to the hard-packed ice and Russia to fill researchers’ needs, rang- Will Harrison and Martin Truffer reported saddle. After more than a month of field- ing from a single Iridium satellite phone a successful season. work, every snowmachine, generator, and to complete field camps and air support. Working to the south at the same piece of equipment was flown back off Challenges of the 2002 season included time, Lonnie Thompson and Ellen Mosley the mountain and the core trucked away the complex arrangements required to Thompson of the Ohio State University to the Byrd Polar Research Center. These support drilling into Alaska’s mountain set up another drilling camp in the wil- high-resolution records, which may extend glaciers. derness area of Wrangell-St. Elias Park up to 18,000 years ago, fill a significant Funded by the Arctic Natural Sciences and Preserve. Also funded by ANS, the void in the global suite of ice-core records Program (ANS; see pages 15–17), Keith Thompsons drilled 450 m (1500 feet) into of Earth’s past climate and environmental Echelmeyer and a team of scientists from the glacial saddle between Mt. Bona and variations. the University of Alaska Fairbanks spent Mt. Churchill to extract the first high- VPR develops specific solutions for the spring studying the motion of Black quality ice core records from Alaska. The field projects using a global network of ser- Rapids Glacier in the Alaska Range near 15,300 foot altitude of the drill site added vice providers; VPR’s services are available Delta. Echelmeyer and his collaborators considerable complications to the logistics to NSF-funded investigators working in instrumented boreholes on the glacier to arrangements. Team members had to be the Arctic. allow continuous monitoring of deforma- acclimatized at a mid-level camp and snow- For more information, see the VPR tion and basal water pressure, to reveal machines and generators had to be spe- web site (http://www.vecopolar.com), or information about glacial dynamics and cially tuned for the thinner air. The project contact Marin Kuizenga at the VPR Fair- present-day climate. VPR provided and required 30,000 pounds of gear, includ- banks Office (907/455-4214; fax 907/455- coordinated their field camp and gear and ing gallons of 200-proof alcohol (used to 4126; [email protected]). arranged for two helicopters and a turbine lubricate the drill head and keep the drill

USCGC Healy and Polar Star Cruise the Western Arctic he U.S. Coast Guard Cutters Healy sea.htm) support science in both the Arctic was held in Seattle in February 2003. The Tand Polar Star completed successful and Antarctic, with one of the two ships AICC will prioritize issues raised in the summer 2002 field seasons in the west- traveling south each winter to support the assessments to improve science operations ern Arctic. Healy supported two large break-out of the U.S. bases in Antarctica. on board the USCGC icebreakers. programs: the Shelf-Basin Interactions Each vessel has undergone significant refits The AICC held its fall meeting in (SBI) project (see page 1) and a series of to improve their science capabilities. As the Washington, DC, in September 2002. In coring surveys throughout the Bering and ships approach the ripe old age of 30, the addition to the above, discussions included: Chukchi Seas, focused on developing a USCG is forming plans for their midlife • improving communications between high-resolution record of sea level since the refits. The Arctic Icebreaker Coordinating ocean-going scientists, funding agen- last glacial maximum (see Witness Spring Committee (AICC; see Witness Winter cies, and concerned members of Alaska 2002). The Polar Star also supported two 2000/2001) will likely be hosting a work- coastal communities; missions: a mooring support cruise for the shop to discuss improvements to the Polar- • engaging the scientific community in SBI program (see http://www.whoi.edu/ class ships this summer. More information expeditionary planning; and science/PO/arcticedge/arctic_west02/ will be available soon. • maximizing collection of underway data expedition/index.html) and an investigation The AICC will also be coordinating in conjunction with ongoing science of the hydrography of the Chukchi Border- a series of science assessments for all four mission activities. lands region (see Witness Spring 2002). of the summer 2002 deployments. Assess- For more information on the AICC, The USCGC Polar class icebreakers ments serve as a forum for information including copies of minutes from meet- have been used for science support for exchange between the scientists, the ships ings, see the UNOLS web site (http: approximately 30 years. The Polar Star and their support programs, the funding //www.unols.org) or contact AICC chair (http://www.polarstar.org) and her sister agencies, and the AICC. Discussion of Lisa Clough (252/328-1834; fax 252/ ship, the Polar Sea (http://www.uscg.mil/ the assessments is now the main agenda 328-4178; [email protected]) or the d13/dpa/background/ships/uscgc_polar_ topic for the winter AICC meeting, which UNOLS Office ([email protected]). 14 15 Arctic Research Support and Logistics

Station Upgrades Continue as Toolik Population Grows

cience use of the Toolik Field Station Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, • a new dock to support research boats; S(TFS; see Witness Autumn 2001) on Massachusetts. In 2002, 36 additional • safety equipment; and Alaska’s North Slope continues to increase. arctic research projects from 48 different • a new modular bathhouse with showers TFS supported 6,089 science days in universities and institutions covered aquatic and sinks. 2002, up 10% from 5,569 days in 2001. and terrestrial ecology and the physiology The Institute of Arctic Biology (IAB) at Projections for 2003 exceed 6,200. The of arctic breeding birds, mammals, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, which station is now staffed from 1 April to 31 insects. Forty-six principal investigators, 49 owns and manages TFS, worked with September, and use outside the operational graduate students, and 19 undergraduates VECO Polar Resources (see page 14) and season can be arranged as needed. participated in research this season. VECO Alaska on the upgrade projects. During peak use throughout July Future expansion plans include a year- Facility Upgrades 2002, TFS supported between 80 and 98 round science support building, new labo- As part of the continuing upgrades planned researchers each day, although the resi- ratories, a new dining hall, and expanded for TFS, the NSF Arctic Research Support dence trailers offer only 44 beds. The sta- workshop facilities. and Logistics Program funded installation tion’s population exceeded 44 continuously of a new 16-person, year-round residence Science Oversight from 23 May to 24 August. Polar tents facility. Construction of the modular unit The TFS management team receives infor- accommodated the overflow population. began this summer and is expected to be com- mation and advice from the TFS Steering The Toolik Lake area has been the plete in the spring of 2003. Other upgrade Committee and Science Users’ Group, focus of long-term, intensive, and inte- projects completed this summer included: which represent both organizational inter- grated research in the Arctic since 1975. • temporary expansion of the kitchen, ests and individual users of the station. TFS currently supports the Arctic Long including new ovens, range, steamer, IAB Director Brian Barnes serves as the Term Ecological Research (LTER) pro- walk-in coolers, and a storage tent; TFS science director, and IAB Research gram, based at the Ecosystem Center, • an incubation research facility with six Associate Syndonia (Donie) Bret-Harte 92-gallon, temperature- and light-con- was recently appointed as associate sci- trolled circulating water tanks; ence director. Bret-Harte, who has worked • a drainage project that resurfaced the sta- at TFS since 1993, will act as a liaison tion gravel pad; between TFS science users and TFS management. The modules for the new dormitory were constructed For more information, see the TFS web in Sedro Wooley, WA, by Skagit Pacific and trucked to site (http://www.uaf.edu/toolik), or contact TFS in August 2002. When completed, the dorm will accommodate 16 people in eight bedrooms, a common Mike Abels in Fairbanks, AK (907/474- room with chairs and table, a storage room, bathrooms 5063; fax 907/474-5513; [email protected]), with sinks, toilets, lockers and shower, and decking. The Brian Barnes ([email protected]), or Donie station plans to add a total of six similar dorms over the next several years. Photo by M. Abels. Bret-Harte ([email protected]).

Arctic Natural Sciences Program

The Arctic Natural Sciences Program

he NSF Arctic Natural Sciences Pro- • photochemistry of snow (see Witness Jane Dionne is the program manager Tgram (ANS) provides core support Spring 2000), for ANS. The former co-program manager, for basic disciplinary research in the atmo- • sea level rise in the Arctic Ocean, Neil Swanberg, recently accepted a perma- spheric, biological, and earth sciences, gla- • glacier dynamics (see page 17), nent appointment as program manager for ciology, and oceanography. Areas of special • the influence of the Chukchi Borderland the Arctic System Science (ARCSS) Pro- interest include: ozone depletion in the on Arctic Ocean circulation (see Witness gram (see page 6). OPP has begun a search Arctic (see Witness Winter 2000/2001), Spring 2002), for a new ANS program manager. exploration of the Arctic Ocean (see Wit- • the unusual coccolithophore blooms in For more information, contact Pro- ness Spring 2002), and environmental pro- the Bering Sea, and gram Manager Jane Dionne in Arlington, cesses (see Witness Spring 2002). • paleogenetics of arctic animals. VA (703/292-8029; fax 703/292-9082; Recent notable research funded by the Pages 16 and 17 showcase two projects [email protected]; http://www.nsf.gov/od/ ANS Program includes investigations of recently funded by the ANS Program. opp/arctic/natural.htm).

14 15 Arctic Natural Sciences Program

Eruptions Release Clues to Bering Sea Tectonic History

he Bering Sea Volcanic Province, • Cloud Lake and Imuruk Lake, near the • How do these mantle sources vary tem- Tfrom northwestern Alaska through eastern edge of the Bering Land Bridge porally and spatially? the Bering Sea to the northern part of the National Preserve, • Is the recent volcanism related to sub- Russian Far East, is located between two • the Grand Central Valley near the peak duction or decompressional processes major plates (Eurasia and North America). of Mt. Osborn, affecting the mantle sources? The complex geological history of this • St. Michael, • What is the interplay, if any, between the area involved subduction events as crustal • the three prominent volcanic peaks volcanism in the Bering Sea and interior blocks of various affinities amalgamated to across Grantley Harbor from Teller, Alaska and arc volcanism in the Aleutian form the landmasses and continental shelf • “Lake 277” on Nunivak Island, and Arc? we see today. There also is field evidence • St. Paul and St. George in the Pribilof • What can we infer about future volcanic for rifting, indicating that stress regimes Islands. hazards? changed through time. Mukasa and Andronikov hope to col- This work will contribute to a mandate Because details of the tectonic setting of lect additional materials on future expe- of the Arctic Natural Sciences Program by the Bering Sea region and Alaska mainland ditions to volcanic fields around Bethel, improving understanding of the tectonic remain ambiguous, the sources and causes as well as in interior Alaska. They will development of the Arctic, recognized to of magmatism outside of the Aleutian Arc generate major oxide, trace element, and be an important boundary condition for proper are not clearly understood. Con- isotopic data on minerals separated from other studies, including climate change, vergent zone (arc) volcanism, associated the peridotite inclusions in their attempts environmental change, and life/lithosphere with subduction of plates, is fundamentally to decipher the tectonic evolution of the interactions. Understanding the processes different from magmatism associated with region. They will also obtain 40Ar/39Ar and that control lithospheric evolution during mantle melting due to decompression 14C data to compute the eruption ages of extension will provide important con- along divergent plate boundaries. Arc melt- morphologically young lava flows to estab- straints on thermomechanical models of ing involves fluxing with water derived lish the temporal and spatial variation of rifting and on the chemical evolution of from the subducted slab. The presence of volcanism. A subset of the volcanic samples the mantle beneath continents. water in arc magmas often leads to violent younger than 50,000 years will be pro- For more information, contact Samuel and devastating eruptions. It also is not cessed for trace element concentrations as B. Mukasa at the University of Michigan in known whether the mantle in the Bering well as Sr, Nd, and U-series isotopic data to Ann Arbor (734/936-3227; fax 734/763- Sea region still retains memory of water address the following: 4690; [email protected]). addition by the subduction that occurred • What are the possible mantle sources of during the assembly of circum-Bering Sea the lavas? terranes during the Cretaceous Period (over 100 million years ago). Lava flows in the Bering Sea region are of particular geologic interest because they contain inclusions of peridotite believed to originate in the upper mantle, providing the only direct examples of rocks from 40 km or more below the surface. These peridotite inclusions contain geochemical information that can be used to deduce tectonic evolution, and their host volcanic rocks provide isotopic age information about the frequency of eruptions. The Arctic Natural Sciences Program has funded Samuel Mukasa and Alex Androni- kov of the Department of Geological Sci- ences at the University of Michigan to use these peridotite inclusions and their host lavas to describe the composition, structure, and evolutionary history of the Earth’s upper mantle in the Bering Sea region. With help from the Nome National Park Service office and bush pilots from Location map for the Bering Sea Volcanic Province (BSVP) and interior Alaska. Young volcanic fields to be studied in Nome, Kotzebue, and Aniak, the research- this project are shown with black triangles. The inset map (top left) shows the BSVP in relation to the Aleutian Arc ers collected samples from several young (dark line with half-track pattern) and the Eurasian and North American Plates. Arrows show the relative motion of the volcanic fields, including: Pacific plate. Modified after Moll-Stalcup, E. J. (1996). The origin of the Bering Sea Basalt Province, Western Alaska. Geol. Pac. Ocean 12, 671–690. 16 17 Arctic Natural Sciences Program

Glacier Behavior Linked to Seasonal Hydrology

emperate glaciers transmit large vol- on the glacier in summer of 2002 allowed to drainage, point to the importance of Tumes of melt water each summer detailed analysis of glacier movement. dynamic subglacial hydrology in triggering through a dynamic subglacial drainage Meltwater inputs exceeded water outputs lake drainage. The outlet river chemistry system of conduits and cavities. Much of throughout a subtle sliding event in late suggests that lake drainage occurs when glacier behavior is linked to the annual May, during which water storage at the water pressures are higher in the distributed evolution of this subglacial plumbing— bed in growing subglacial cavities can be system than in conduits—conditions that especially in spring when the system is too inferred from the vertical uplift of the gla- presumably promote conduit extension. small to handle the growing inputs from cier surface. Two exceptionally warm days Prerequisites for the outburst appear to snow melt. Melt water enters the glacier in mid-June caused stream discharge to include both that the lake reach a threshold through crevasses and vertical pipes called more than quadruple about 12 hours after level and that a subglacial conduit system moulins, ultimately reaching the glacier sliding velocities increased simultaneously be in place nearby the lake. Models that bed. Much of the year a distributed system across the glacier. The first sliding event link water pressures, water balance, glacier of linked cavities slowly drains the bed; appeared to open up cavities at the bed sliding, and conduit growth are being this is augmented in summer by a network but did not awaken the stream system, and developed to explain the Bench and Ken- of river-like conduits in which water flow high water pressures were maintained. The nicott Glacier observations. velocities are high. The conduits close due second event promoted development of a For more information, see http:// to viscous creep of the ice under the weight conduit system, which drained the stored es.ucsc.edu/~spa/SPAnderson.research.html of the overlying glacier when counteracting water. and http://www.geol.pdx.edu/Glaciers/ water pressures are low—which occurs with Water chemistry can be used to probe Kennicott/, or contact Suzanne Ander- waning melt in the fall, or possibly during the subglacial hydrologic system. Fast- son at the University of California, Santa cold spells in the summer. The continu- flowing water in conduits, with little Cruz (831/459-5827; fax 831/459-3074; ally evolving nature of this conduit system opportunity to react with bed materials, [email protected]). impacts all aspects of glacier behavior, from has low dissolved ion concentrations. The glacier sliding to solute flux, and poten- higher solute concentrations of the water tially to outburst flood initiation, through within the distributed flow system reflect poorly understood effects on water pressure its greater residence time at the bed in and water storage within the glacier. contact with ground-up rock particles. At Two Alaskan glacier projects funded by Bench Glacier, solute concentrations sug- the NSF Arctic Natural Sciences Program gest that average subglacial residence time share glacial hydrology as an integrating of water declines through the summer, as theme, although the projects focus on dif- expected for an increasingly efficient drain- ferent glaciological problems. At Bench age system. At the much larger and thicker Glacier in the Chugach Range, a group Kennicott Glacier, river chemistry under- from the University of California, Santa goes long-period cycles lagged relative to Cruz (UCSC), and University of Washing- discharge variations. The chemistry reflects ton works on glacier dynamics and erosion, water pressure fields that alternately pro- while at Kennicott Glacier in the Wrangell mote and prevent drainage of high solute Mountains, a group from UCSC, Portland water from the distributed flow system. State University, and the U.S. Geological Ice-dammed Hidden Creek Lake at Survey monitors annual jökulhlaups (gla- Kennicott Glacier drains through a 16- cier outburst floods) from an ice-dammed km-long subglacial conduit each summer, lake. permitting planned monitoring of an By surveying targets on the 7-km-long extreme event. For two field seasons, the When a glacier slides over its bed—as opposed to normal Bench Glacier, researchers identified a Kennicott Glacier team measured lake slow deformation—it attains higher speeds and, impor- wave of relatively high sliding velocity that level and ice-dam deformation, drilled tantly, both drags rocks along the bed, causing abrasion, and promotes crack growth leading to quarrying. At propagates upglacier in early summer. The boreholes, and gauged the glacier outlet Bench Glacier, the wave of sliding in the spring moves the maximum sliding velocities coincide with stream. These data yielded the first com- ice ~1 m and produces most of the present-day ~1 mm a peak in water storage within the glacier. plete pair of hydrographs—one of flow per year erosion of the rock bed, demonstrating the extreme efficiency of glacial erosion. Although the high The high temporal resolution of horizon- out of the lake, one of flow out of the gla- water pressures that precede the opening of a subglacial tal and vertical displacements provided cier—through a glacier outburst flood, or conduit are important in promoting sliding and therefore by five differential GPS receivers (from jökulhlaup. Observations of the water level in eroding the bed, sediment delivery to the terminus is associated with transport in fast-flowing conduits, par- the University NAVSTAR Consortium in the lake at the time of drainage, and of ticularly as the conduits first open up. Photo by Suzanne [UNAVCO; see Witness Spring 2002]) the discharge in the Kennicott River prior P. Anderson.

16 17 Arctic Social Sciences Program

Ethnicity and Trust are Key to Russian Transition

uthoritarian regimes (particularly the political and economic institutions, and amount tripled to 240 rubles. So long as a ASoviet regime) are thought to produce an array of social and demographic charac- trustee returns at least 90 rubles, the truster social atomization, in which people are teristics. The survey data were collected by is better off. On the other hand, the truster unlikely to trust one another. As societ- Demoscope, housed in the Institute of Soci- risks losing everything sent if the trustee is ies emerge from authoritarianism, how- ology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. not trustworthy. This portion of the experi- ever, trust is important in shaping both The second part of the research ment posed a real dilemma, and subjects democracy and markets. In the political brought a subsample of the interviewees spent a good deal of time contemplating realm, interpersonal trust promotes civic together to participate in controlled, labo- their choices. engagement and community building, ratory experiments to test concepts of fair- The research team has begun to analyze and institutional trust helps overcome the ness, equity, risk orientation, and trust. As these data. Preliminary results indicate dilemmas of collective action. In the eco- an example, a typical experiment involved that levels of trust are higher than were nomic sphere, interpersonal trust reduces 14 individuals in the same room. Subjects originally expected. The Russian sub- transaction costs for exchange and facili- had a private workspace (a cardboard box jects are trusting at rates similar to those tates cooperation. at their desk) and were given money, which reported in the U.S. for comparable types The Arctic Social Sciences Program they kept, with which they made deci- of experiments. The team is looking at has funded a project to measure levels of sions. On average, subjects made almost whether this trust is confined to networks trust in two Russian republics in transition. 550 rubles ($18) for two hours in the lab, of close friends, centered in ethnic groups, Donna Bahry (Political Science, Vander- equivalent to anywhere from half a day’s or widespread. While most subjects are bilt University) and Rick Wilson (Political wage to many months’ pension for sub- trustworthy, the amounts reciprocated are Science, Rice University) are investigat- jects. A total of 651 subjects participated in slightly less than what is sent. Again, such ing whether individuals rely on personal 47 experimental sessions. findings are common in similar experi- networks or use ethnic attachments and In the trust game, half the subjects (the ments conducted in the U.S. In future whether new political and economic insti- trusters) were handed an envelope contain- analyses combining the rich attitudinal data tutions are used to build trust. ing eight 10-ruble bank notes and eight from the surveys with the behavioral data, Bahry and Wilson completed fieldwork blank slips of paper the size of a bank note. it will be possible to test hypotheses about for “Collaborative Research on Ethnicity They were asked to put eight objects in the sources of trust and the impact of tran- and Transition in Russia” in Tatarstan and the envelope and keep the remaining eight sitional institutions on the levels of trust in Sakha. Both republics are leaders in the objects. The envelope then would be given these societies. campaign for republic sovereignty and for to another subject. Before being handed For more information, see the project interethnic accommodation and represent to that person, however, any money in the web page (http://brl.rice.edu/Siberia/), or critical cases for the study of interethnic envelope would be tripled. The second per- contact Rick Wilson at Rice University in relations. Both experienced indigenous son (the trustee) then opened the envelope Houston, TX (713/348-3352; fax 713/ ethnic mobilization in the late 1980s and and returned whatever he or she wished. 348-5273; [email protected]). early 1990s, and both governments pro- Whatever remained mote ethnic accommodation between the in the envelope was titular group and local Russians. The two returned to the truster. Republics also provide powerful contrasts. This experiment taps Tatarstan is better integrated into the Rus- both trust and trustwor- sian transportation and market system and thiness. Any amount has a fairly dense population. Sakha has that the truster sends rich natural resources but lies largely within risks being taken by the the Arctic Circle, has very low population trustee. Because subjects density, and has exceedingly limited trans- are randomly paired portation networks. and never know with The project brings together two distinct whom they are paired, types of data collection. The first involved a the truster has to believe two-hour face-to-face survey of a stratified that the other subjects cluster sample of citizens of Tatarstan and are trustworthy. There Sakha. Approximately 1200 individuals in are real rewards for trust- each republic were asked about their working: a subject sending place experiences, political activity, ethnic- 80 rubles (about one Bahry and Wilson worked in several villages in Sakha and Tatarstan. This village was approximately 140 kilometers east-northeast of Yakutsk, in Sakha. The forest fires ity, experiences with ethnic discrimination, third of a day’s wage raging throughout Sakha had created a haze in the air. The teepee in the center of the trust of and experiences with a variety of in Sakha), has that picture was prepared for a celebration of the summer solstice. Photo by Rick Wilson.

18 19 Arctic Social Sciences Program

Mixed Siberian Communities Defy Ethnic Categorization

“We are locals. We do not have a nation ...” Markovo. Pokhodsk, similar to Russkoe status. Generally speaking, the predomi- —a 72-year-old woman in Russkoe Ust’e, Ust’e, is a small village located in a tundra nant group status was, until recently, Sakha, 1999. environment along the Kolyma River, close that of middlemen and/or cultural bro- to the shores of the Arctic Ocean in north- kers between “Russians” and “Natives.” he quote above, from a resident of eastern Sakha. Markovo is a slightly bigger • The current cultural and social condi- TRusskoe Ust’e, refers to the problems regional center situated on the Anadyr tions led to the gradual disappearance of faced by members of ethnically and linguis- River in the forest tundra zone of western the cultural elements that had character- tically mixed communities of northeastern Chukotka. ized mixed communities in northeastern Siberia when trying to define themselves Focused on issues of history, power, and Siberia for centuries. At the same time, in terms of state-approved ethnic labels. ethnicity, study methods included archival the global processes of cultural commod- Russkoe Ust’e is a village of slightly more research, semistructured interviews, collec- ification make these disappearing—and than 200 inhabitants located at 71˚ N tion of oral histories, and participant obser- previously low-esteemed—traits into in the delta of the Indigirka River in the vation. Data analysis is in the final stages, emblems of cultural identity. northeastern part of the Republic of Sakha and a Russian book on the subject will To clarify whether the specific quali- (Yakutia). The majority of local residents appear in 2003. Notable findings include: ties and problems of mixed communities have been registered as “Russians” by rep- • All communities under consideration in northeastern Siberia are idiosyncratic resentatives of the state bureaucracy, while define themselves in varying degrees or typical for a wider range of northern their favorite self-designation—“locals”—is through their mixed heritage. communities, Schweitzer co-organized and not recognized beyond colloquial and spa- • This mixed heritage puts them in a cat- chaired a session at the 2002 meeting of tially circumscribed contexts. Similarly, the egory separate from “Russians” (or “colo- the American Anthropological Association broad label “Native,” which is applied to nizers”) and “Natives” (or “colonized”). entitled Creole Identities? The Predicaments most communities neighboring Russkoe Various individuals and groups differ of Mixed Communities in the Circumpo- Ust’e, is unavailable to the “locals,” despite significantly, however, in where they lar North. Case studies from Greenland, their often close resemblances in subsis- place themselves on such a “continuum Canada, Alaska, and Siberia revealed a tence techniques, spiritual beliefs, and of identities.” remarkable number of commonalities. In physical appearance. • Ethnic labels—both as self-designations addition to making their results available to The Russian scholarly literature refers and designations by others—play an an English-speaking audience, Schweitzer to these people as starozhily, which literally important role in these processes of eth- and colleagues will focus future endeavors means “long-time residents” and is com- nic identity. on developing a broadly comparative and monly translated as “Old Settlers.” Old • The current situation of these com- circumpolar perspective. Settlers is a broad label applied to several munities cannot be understood without For more information contact Peter groups of Russian descent who have lived considering their historical genesis. Con- P. Schweitzer at the University of Alaska in various Asian parts of the former Rus- versely, the current situation does not Fairbanks (907/474-5015; fax 907/474- sian Empire since at least the 19th century. necessarily represent previous epochs. 7453; [email protected]), Nikolai B. Vakhtin The existence of Old Settler groups is tied • The Soviet period of the region’s history ([email protected]), or Evgeniy V. Golovko to the process of Russian colonization of was particularly influential in triggering ([email protected]), the latter two North Asia, reaching back to the 16th and social, cultural, and economic changes. at the European University at St. Peters- 17th centuries. Many of the early Russian • While “isolation” has been a character- burg, Russia. settlers married indigenous women. Their istic feature of the genesis ethnically mixed descendants developed and historical develop- distinctive religious, economic, and social ment of these communi- practices that share elements adopted from ties, longstanding social neighboring indigenous groups. relations with a limited In 1998, the Arctic Social Sciences number of neighboring Program funded Peter P. Schweitzer of the groups was a precondition University of Alaska Fairbanks and Niko- for the sustained existence lai B. Vakhtin and Evgeniy V. Golovko, of these communities. The both of the European University at St. three study communities Petersburg, to compare past and present belonged to two distinct processes of social and cultural exchange regional networks. in three Old Settler communities in north- • The study communities eastern Siberia. In addition to Russkoe held changing positions The “harbor” of Russkoe Ust’e: the boats are used to check fishing nets on the Ust’e, the collaborators conducted field- in regional hierarchies of Indigirka River. Riverine fishing is the primary subsistence activity for the Old work in the communities of Pokhodsk and political power and social Settlers of the region. Photo by Peter Schweitzer. 18 19 Arctic Social Sciences Program

New Program Manager Joins Arctic Social Sciences By Anna Kerttula s the new program manager for the always be at the frontier of science. We from men as from women, and minor- ANSF Arctic Social Sciences Program, need to find new questions about humans ity researchers are practically nonexistent. I would like to introduce myself and some in the Arctic and new ways to answer those You can help change this by mentoring of my goals for the program. I grew up in questions. We need to collaborate not undergraduate and graduate students. Take Alaska and received my baccalaureate and only with natural and physical scientists them to the field and encourage them to masters degrees from the University of but among our own disciplines as well do research in the Arctic. For my part, I Alaska and my PhD in anthropology from to gain greater insight into arctic systems hope to encourage students in arctic social the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. and change. Larger interdisciplinary pro- sciences by funding more student research, My fieldwork included extensive research grams offer opportunities for this type of by providing more support for students to in Alaska, but my PhD work was in Chu- work that ASSP can’t support alone; these participate in workshops and conferences, kotka, Russia, where I worked in the village programs include Human Dimensions of and by finding other programs at NSF that of Sireniki on the Bering Sea coast from the Arctic System (HARC; see page 12); can fund educational activities. 1989–91 on social and cultural group for- Coupled Natural and Human Systems I encourage everyone in the research mation and change among the Chukchi (CNH), part of the Biocomplexity in the community to contact me with your ideas. and Yup’ik during the Soviet period. After Environment Initiative (BE; see Witness I am a permanent federal hire at NSF and I returned to the U.S., I became the special Spring 2002); and the Study of Environmen- plan to be here for the long haul; together we assistant for Russian affairs to Senator Ted tal Arctic Change (SEARCH; see page 21). can build a strong, sustainable Arctic Social Stevens. For the last five years I have been The fields of archaeology and ethnol- Sciences Program. I look forward to it. the associate director for the Alaska Gover- ogy dominate current ASSP awards—we For more information, see the ASSP nor’s Office in Washington, DC. After my need to expand this to other fields such as web page (http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/ stint in public policy, I looked for a way to sociology, philosophy, history, economics, arctic/social.htm), or contact Anna return to academia and had the good for- psychology, political science, etc. ASSP Kerttula at OPP (703/292-8029; fax 703/ tune to be chosen by NSF for this position. receives four times as many proposals 292-9082; [email protected]). I feel fortunate to join the Arctic Social Sciences Program (ASSP) at this propitious time. The past decade has been remarkable First SEARCH Open Science Meeting in expanding social science research in the Set for October 2003 Arctic. In the last 10 years, several programs at NSF have contributed resources he Office of Polar Programs is sponsoring an open science meeting in support of to further social scientific understanding Tthe Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH; see facing page) program. and education in the Arctic—over $20 Planned for 27–30 October 2003 in Seattle, Washington, the meeting will focus on sci- million through OPP alone. Currently the ence with addresses from keynote speakers, posters, and working groups discussing the ASSP is funded at about $1.9 million a state of our knowledge on SEARCH research themes and activity areas. year. The annual mean award over the last The planning phase for the U.S. SEARCH effort is now complete: five years is $65,000. Now we should build • a large number of scientists contributed to the development of the SEARCH on this investment and take the program Science and Implementation Plans (http://psc.apl.washington.edu/search/) into new and exciting research areas. through an open process in a comprehensive series of disciplinary meetings, and NSF’s founding legislation includes a • the plans have been or soon will be approved by the sponsor, an Interagency broad vision of education, social policy, Working Group of federal agencies. international goals, and national defense, SEARCH plans and successes will be presented to the community in an open meeting, along with basic research. In other words, a symposium focused on current understanding of the science of environmental change in ASSP can fund education, international the Arctic, with the goal of informing and engaging the broad arctic research community collaborations, policy research, etc., as well in the activities contributing to SEARCH, both in the U.S. and international arenas. as traditional social science research proj- An organizing committee established by ARCUS is working with the SEARCH Sci- ects. In addition to this expansive mission ence Steering Committee, the Interagency Working Group, and the International Arctic statement, the current NSF leadership’s Science Committee (IASC; see page 26), to determine the broad themes and format of vision is very pertinent to ASSP. At a recent the meeting and to enrich international involvement in SEARCH science planning. meeting, Deputy Director Joseph Bordo- The sponsoring agencies and organizing committee invite anyone interested in the gna talked about “science at the frontier.” potential of the SEARCH effort, particularly students and colleagues from outside of The frontier is not just your research the U.S., to participate in the discussions. We expect about 300 participants. There will site but the frontier of your intellect and be a registration fee of approximately $200 (USD). imagination. Research in the Arctic is in an For more information about the SEARCH open science meeting, or to preregister, extreme environment, and our ideas should see the ARCUS web site at http://www.arcus.org/SEARCH/search.html. 20 21 Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH)

SEARCH Develops Implementation Strategy

broad, interdisciplinary program, The Draft SEARCH Implementa- The strategy recommends that the earliest Athe Study of Environmental Arctic tion Strategy is available for community first-tier efforts include: Change (SEARCH; see Witness Spring comment on the SEARCH web site. The • establishing the operational organiza- 2002) seeks to understand the complex of strategy includes a description of science tional structure of SEARCH, significant, interrelated changes that have questions arising from the key SEARCH • maintaining existing observational pro- occurred in the Arctic in recent decades. hypotheses, an organization plan, a detailed grams of the Large-scale Atmospheric, To describe this complex of atmospheric, list of activities required to address the Distributed Marine, and Distributed oceanic, and terrestrial changes, SEARCH SEARCH goals, priority and schedules Terrestrial Observatories, and uses the term Unaami, from the Yup’ik for these activities, and summary recom- • beginning the Arctic System Reanalysis word for “tomorrow.” SEARCH is envi- mendations. The activities are grouped into and elements of Detecting and Quanti- sioned as a long-term interagency effort of eight areas. These are: fying Unaami and Social and Economic observations, modeling, process studies, • Arctic System Reanalysis will assimilate Interactions. and applications devoted to understand- data into models of various components These actions will provide overarching ing Unaami, its relation to global climate, of the arctic system to produce optimum SEARCH activities to keep future activities and its impacts on ecosystems and society. estimates of key variables. coordinated and spur further work. Following the 2001 publication of the • Detecting and Quantifying Unaami The second-tier actions focus on clos- SEARCH Science Plan, SEARCH is begin- and Related Modes of Variability will ing observational gaps by building up ning implementation with the funding of use paleoclimate, historical, and archeo- the Large-scale Atmospheric, Distributed the first SEARCH projects and release of a logical records as well as more recent Marine, and Distributed Terrestrial Obser- draft implementation strategy. observations to better define the scope of vatories. The highest priority activities in NSF announced the first major Unaami and its relation to other decadal this tier mainly seek to augment existing SEARCH funding opportunity, the Fresh- modes of variability. programs and extend observations into water Initiative, in February 2002 (see page • Social and Economic Interactions will strategic areas that will allow us to learn the 11). Twenty-seven proposals were awarded examine the interactions of the physical full scope of Unaami and begin to under- funding totaling $30 million over five and biological elements of Unaami with stand linkages within the arctic system and years; 18 separate projects will examine the social and economic systems. with global climate. arctic freshwater cycle, including hydrol- • Large-scale Atmospheric Observato- The third-tier actions include begin- ogy, Arctic Ocean freshwater pathways, and ries will make large-scale atmospheric ning the Linkages and Global Coupling freshwater fluxes to and impacts on sub- observations. and Social Response activities. The Link- arctic seas. • Distributed Marine Observatories will ages and Global Coupling activity area The SEARCH Science Steering Com- make large-scale surface atmospheric, will test key hypotheses by undertaking mittee (SSC), Interagency Working Group oceanographic, sea ice, and ecosystem analysis and modeling efforts aimed at the (IWG), and Project Office have developed observations in the marine environment. various linkages within the arctic system a draft implementation strategy based on • Distributed Terrestrial Observatories will and with global climate. These efforts will the science plan, community input, and make large-scale surface atmospheric, take advantage of the analysis and observa- the IWG’s FY 2003 Funding Implemen- hydrological, glaciological, and ecosys- tional activities in tiers 1 and 2. The Social tation Framework (see Witness Autumn tem observations in the terrestrial envi- Response activity area will investigate social 2001). Contributions to the SEARCH ronment. and economic adaptation to climate change implementation strategy came from discus- • Linkages and Global Coupling will use in the past and apply this knowledge to the sions at many community meetings and modeling and analysis to elucidate the future. To do this, Social and Economic workshops, including: connections between Unaami and global Interactions and Social Response will estab- • the 2000 Hydrology Workshop, climate and the connections within the lish a system of coordinated local and tra- • the 2001 Atmospheric and Cryo- arctic system as they pertain to Unaami. ditional knowledge co-ops and community spheric Change in the Arctic (ACCA) • Social Response will research social data networks to connect with communi- Workshop, and economic adaptation to climate ties and industries. • the June 2002 Arctic Ocean Measure- change in the past and apply research on For more information, including cop- ments and Modeling Workshop, Unaami to economic and social concerns ies of the SEARCH science plan and draft • the September 2002 Bering Sea in the future. implementation strategy, see the SEARCH Workshop, Given the decline of several historically web site (http://psc.apl.washington.edu/ • the October 2002 SEARCH Terrestrial important observing systems, the highest search/) or contact SEARCH SSC chair and Marine Ecosystem Workshop, implementation priority has always been to Jamie Morison at the University of Wash- • the October 2002 SEARCH Human establish a program of long-term observa- ington (206/543-1394; fax 206/616-3142; Dimension Workshop, and tions. The implementation strategy estab- [email protected]). • two joint SEARCH IWG-SSC meetings. lishes a three-tiered scheduling guideline. 20 21 Capitol Updates

Bill Authorizes Doubled NSF Budget by Fiscal Year 2007

n November 2002, Congress approved Further, it states that in making the at least a 12% increase above FY ’02, except Ia compromise bill to authorize NSF determination to grant the funding Polar Programs and Social, Behavioral and and double its budget over five years, increases, Congress should take into con- Economic Sciences (up 3.9%). with the last two increases contingent on sideration whether OMB certifies NSF has Within the R&RA account, Integrative evaluations of the agency’s progress toward “overall, made successful progress toward Activities receives $147 million, up $41 management goals. Authorization bills are meeting those goals.” The bill also million (39%). Programs supported by intended to provide guidance to the appro- • requires the NSF director to prepare a Integrative Activities include: priations process, when actual funding plan showing where and how the funds • Major Research Instrumentation, levels are determined (see below). will be used during the following year, and • Science and Technology Centers, The president signed the National Sci- • contains provisions strengthening • Science of Learning Centers, ence Foundation Authorization Act of 2002, National Science Board oversight capa- • the Science and Technology Policy Institute, P.L. 107-368 (see Witness Spring 2002) on bilities as NSF’s governing body. • Partnerships for Innovation, and 19 December. The compromise bill, which The 2003 and 2004 Budgets • Disaster Response Research Teams. includes language from several NSF-related The 2003 federal fiscal year began 1 Octo- The president’s FY ’04 budget request, bills, authorizes an NSF budget of: ber 2002 with only two of the 13 FY ’03 released in February 2003, provides a mod- • $5.5 billion for FY ’03, appropriations bills enacted; those two bills est overall increase for federal spending • $6.4 billion for FY ’04, fund defense and military construction. In on research and development; most of the • $7.4 billion for FY ’05, February 2003 the new Congress resolved increase would go to defense development. • $8.5 billion for FY ’06, and the 11 deadlocked FY ’03 bills with an omni- The president’s FY ’04 request for NSF is • $9.8 billion for FY ’07. bus appropriation bill (H.J. Res. 2). The bill $5.48 billion, a 9% increase over his FY ’03 The bill stipulates that FY ’06 and FY funds NSF at $5.3 billion, an increase of request, but considerably less than the $6.4 ’07 funding increases be tied to a congres- $501 million (10.4%) over FY ’02. billion authorized under P.L. 107-368. sional review of NSF progress toward The FY ’03 budget increases the Research For more information, see the NSF meeting management goals in: and Related Activities (R&RA) account, web site (http://www.nsf.gov), the Library • “strategic management of human capital,” which funds most of NSF’s research and of Congress legislative information web • “competitive sourcing,” development, to $4.1 billion, 12.7% or site (http://thomas.loc.gov), the Ameri- • “improved financial performance,” $458 million more than FY ’02. Polar Pro- can Institute of Physics web site (http: • “expanded electronic government,” and grams receives $319 million, an increase of //www.aip.org), and the American Associa- • “budget and performance integration.” $18 million (6.1%) over FY 2002. Each tion for the Advancement of Science web program within the R&RA account receives site (http://www.aaas.org).

Over 1300 People Meet to Review Climate Change Plan n November 2002, the Bush Adminis- ment structure to balance broad-based implications for natural environments Itration issued a draft strategic plan to fundamental research with a near-term and human activities. These research areas guide its climate change research strategy focus on key issues needed for policy deci- include: and directions. Over 1300 scientists, gov- sions. The strategic plan is intended as a • atmospheric composition, ernment officials, and other stakeholders, roadmap for these efforts. • climate variability and change, both domestic and international, gathered While acknowledging that “humans • global water and carbon cycles, 3–5 December at a workshop to review have become agents of environmental • ecosystems, the draft plan and provide comments change,” the draft plan points to “incon- • land use and land cover change, and suggestions to the Climate Change sistencies in the observational record” and • human contributions and responses to Science Program (CCSP). The CCSP calls for more and better observations in environmental change, and accepted additional public comments on order to discern human-induced changes • grand challenges in modeling, observa- the draft “Strategic Plan for the Climate against a background of natural variabil- tions, and information systems. Change Science Program” into January ity. It also calls for additional research in An ad-hoc committee of the National 2003. More than 250 individuals and many areas to reduce uncertainties and Academy of Sciences reviewed the draft organizations submitted comments. improve current climate models. plan, the results of the workshop, and the The federal government has several The draft plan sets out a series of comments received. A final version of the ongoing, interrelated multiagency initia- major research questions addressing how strategic plan is expected to be published tives to address global warming and cli- the components of the Earth’s environ- in April 2003. mate change. In February 2002, President mental system function and are affected For more information, see the CCSP Bush established the CCSP as a manage- by human and natural forcing, and the web site (http://www.climatescience.gov). 22 23 U.S. Arctic Research Commission

USARC Promotes Arctic Research on Many Fronts

he U.S. Arctic Research Commis- In addition, USARC representatives in the formation of a working group, Tsion (USARC) continues its efforts to attended multiple meetings to address headed by Larry Mayer (University of assess survey needs, particularly the need other arctic research issues, including: New Hampshire), to oversee operation for submarine surveys, toward defining the • testifying on arctic initiatives before the and data availability of SWATH map- boundaries of the arctic continental shelf U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy; ping sonar on the USCGC Healy; and under Article 76 of the U.N. Convention • exploring the use of high endurance geo- • attending the planning workshop to dis- on the Law of the Sea. In the past several physical mapping autonomous undersea cuss the new strategic plan for the U.S. months, representatives of the USARC met vehicles to replace the mapping done by Climate Change Science Program (see with several groups on this issue, including: SCICEX (see Witness Autumn 2001); page 22). • researchers from the northeast U.S., • discussing site surveys for Arctic Ocean For more information, see the new • an interagency meeting at the State drilling planned to begin in late 2003 USARC web site (http://www.arctic.gov), Department, under the Joint European Ocean Drill- or contact USARC Executive Direc- • a representative of the National Security ing Initiative; tor Garry Brass in Arlington, VA (800/ Council, and • assisting the Arctic Icebreaker Coordi- AURORAB or 703/525-0111; fax 703/ • the Danish Hydrographic Office. nating Committee (AICC; see page 14) 525-0114; [email protected]).

Polar Research Board PRB Guides Long-term Research Plans in Gulf of Alaska

f you had funding to study an ecosystem • involvement of stakeholders in the plan- • accommodating differences in space- Ifor 100 years, what would you do? The ning process and research, time scales among ecosystems as they Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council • attention to data management to ensure affect sampling design; faces this question as it plans the Gulf Eco- safekeeping and accessibility, and • developing an effective archival and data system Monitoring (GEM) Program. In • periodic assessment of progress through dissemination strategy; 1999, the Trustee Council set aside $120 synthesis and evaluation. • developing data products that will be million of the $900 million 1991 civil set- Overall the committee found that useful to decision makers; tlement in a trust fund for long-term sup- GEM planners have made good efforts to • providing for periodic program review port of the GEM program. As envisioned, involve the science community and a solid and flexibility in program design; and the program’s annual budget of $5–6 mil- start on plans to use modeling effectively • establishing a stable funding base and lion will offer an unparalleled opportunity and in developing a data management management infrastructure. to increase understanding of how large strategy. Although it may seem obvi- The committee was composed of marine ecosystems in general, and Prince ous, many of these positive strides have Michael Roman (chair), University of William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska in occurred because the Trustee Council and Maryland; Don Bowen, Bedford Institute particular, function and change over time. GEM staff have set up a planning process of Oceanography; Adria Elskus, University As part of its planning, the Trustee Coun- and are allowing adequate time for input, of Kentucky; John Goering, University cil asked the Polar Research Board (PRB) discussion, and revision. Community of Alaska Fairbanks (emeritus); George for advice, and over the past two years a involvement remains a challenge. Hunt, University of California Irvine; PRB committee has provided two interim Because GEM offers the prospect of a Seth Macinko, University of Connecticut; reports and now a final volume, “A Cen- century-long time horizon, GEM planners Donal Manahan, University of Southern tury of Ecosystem Science: Planning Long- have an obligation to craft a research plan California; Brenda Norcross, University of Term Research in the Gulf of Alaska.” that can endure over time. The committee Alaska Fairbanks; Steven Picou, Univer- The report reviews GEM draft plan- hopes the GEM plan will lead to a core set sity of South Alabama; Tom Royer, Old ning documents, but more importantly it of measurements that can be taken consis- Dominion University; Jennifer Ruesink, addresses general issues related to planning tently and indefinitely, as well as some flex- University of Washington; and Karl long-term ecosystem science, including ibility to adjust to changes in conceptual Turekian, Yale University. • development of a clear conceptual foun- understanding and research interests. Some “A Century of Ecosystem Science” is dation for the program, of the elements that contribute to success- available at http://www.nap.edu. For more • early definition of a geographic scope ful long-term science programs include: information, see the PRB web site (http: and focus for study, • clearly defining program goals and antic- //national-academies.org/prb), or contact • an organizational structure led by a ipated management products; PRB Executive Director Chris Elfring in qualified chief scientist, • recognizing the differences between Washington, DC (202/334-3479; fax 202/ physical and biological monitoring; 334-1477; [email protected]). 22 23 Arctic Policy

Iceland Takes Helm of Arctic Council

inisters from the eight member to the first AMAP symposium in 1997, see Witness Spring 2000). The ministers Mcountries of the Arctic Council (see the forum reviewed changes in levels of were concerned by the ongoing signifi- Witness Spring 2002), together with repre- contaminants such as persistent organic cant warming of most of the Arctic and sentatives from the council’s six permanent pollutants (POPs), heavy metals (mercury, recognized that the impacts of global participants, which represent arctic indig- lead, and cadmium), and radionuclides and climate change and increased possibilities enous populations, gathered 9–10 Octo- culminated in the presentation of a report of extreme weather events will have large ber in Saariselka, Finland, for the Third entitled Arctic Pollution 2002. The report consequences in the Arctic. Norway’s State Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic Council. summarized evidence that: Secretary Kim Traavik invited all Arctic The meeting, hosted by Finnish Foreign • Most pollution reaches the Arctic via Council ministers to an inter-sessional Minister Erkki Tuomioja, was the culmina- long-range transport. meeting on climate change in Svalbard in tion of Finland’s two-year chairmanship of • The Arctic’s unique geographical features, August of 2003. He asserted that policy- the council and set the stage for the com- food webs, and cultures make the region makers should not wait for the ACIA ing two years under Icelandic leadership. particularly vulnerable to the accumula- results and policy recommendations to be Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs tion and effects of contaminants. presented at the Fourth Ministerial Meet- Paula Dobriansky led the U.S. delegation, • The routes and mechanisms by which ing in 2004. The foreign ministers from stressing U.S. commitment to the council contaminants reach the Arctic are Canada and Sweden as well as the repre- and praising the forum as an excellent exam- strongly influenced by climate variability sentative from Russia accepted Norway’s ple of the voluntary partnerships the U.S. and global climate change. invitation on the spot. championed at the 2002 United Nations • Levels of some POPs are decreasing in For more information, see the Arctic World Summit on Sustainable Development most species and media as their release is Council web site (http://www.arctic- in Johannesburg. The foreign ministers of reduced but are declining slowly in marine council.org), or contact Sally Brandel at Canada, Iceland, and Sweden participated in biota due to large oceanic reservoirs. the Department of State in Washington, the Third Ministerial meeting. • Certain regions and species in the Arctic DC (202/647-3264; fax 202/647-4353; Iceland’s Plans have elevated levels of heavy metals. [email protected]). In assuming chairmanship of the council, • Levels of radionuclides in the Arctic are generally declining but remain of concern. Iceland announced that it would focus the he members of the Arctic The report identifies the Inuit popula- council’s attention on improving the lives Council are Canada, Denmark, of arctic residents through enhanced com- tions of Greenland and Canada as facing T Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Rus- munications infrastructure and support for potentially hazardous exposure to con- sian Federation, Sweden, and the economic and social development initia- taminants because of their high intake of U.S. The Permanent Participants of tives. In support of these aims, Iceland will: marine mammals. The AMAP Secretariat • develop an assessment of human devel- emphasized that the overall health benefits the Arctic Council include the: opment in the region, of traditional diets to indigenous people of • Association of Indigenous Minori- • sponsor an international conference on the Arctic currently outweigh the risks. The ties of the North, Siberia and the information technology in the Arctic, and Arctic Council supports continued monitor- Far East of the Russian Federation, • host Arctic Science Summit Week (see ing of levels of contaminants in traditional • Inuit Circumpolar Conference, page 26) in spring 2004. foods and their effects on human health. • Saami Council, Iceland also intends to maintain the During its chairmanship, Iceland will • Aleut International Association, council’s commitment to environmental use the AMAP report as a roadmap for • Arctic Athabaskan Council, and protection and to work with member “environmental threats to be faced” by the • Gwich’in Council International. countries and permanent participants to council. Based on the report, a number of The category of Permanent Par- facilitate the successful completion of the members hoped that the council could add ticipant provides for the active par- Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA; its voice to those calling for a global reduc- ticipation and full consultation with see Witness Winter 2000/2001). tion of mercury emissions. Some members arctic indigenous representatives also suggested that the council advocate New AMAP Findings within the Arctic Council. adding more substances in current use Immediately prior to the ministerial meet- France, Germany, the Neth- (brominated flame-retardants and some pes- ing, the council’s Arctic Monitoring and erlands, Poland, and the United ticides) to the POPs banned by the Stock- Assessment Program (AMAP; see Witness Kingdom are observer countries. holm Convention. Spring 2002) hosted the second Inter- Currently, 18 international and national Symposium on Environmental Interim Report from ACIA nongovernmental organizations rep- Pollution of the Arctic from 1–4 Octo- The U.S. presented interim results of the resenting a variety of interests also ber in Rovaniemi, Finland. A followup Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA; have observer status.

24 25 International News

ACUNS Celebrates 25 Years of Northern Studies

he Association of Canadian Universi- Other ACUNS activities include: ACUNS, was established in 1982 to Tties for Northern Studies is a non- • “Ethical Principles for Conduct of encourage young scholars to undertake profit member organization that advocates Research in the North,” a key inter- northern research. The trust relies upon on behalf of northern research, encourages national guide to northern and polar donations from a number of sources, the development of future researchers, and research ethics, is available in French, including the Royal Canadian Geo- facilitates communication and cooperation. English, and Inuktitut in hard copy. A graphical Society, the Canadian Polar Founded in 1977, ACUNS now has 39 new edition (2003) will include a Rus- Commission, the Meterological Service member institutions—Canadian universi- sian translation. of Canada, the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq ties and colleges involved in northern and • The association is a member of the Caribou Management Board, Arctic arctic studies. In 2003, the Association Council of University of the Arctic Cooperatives Limited, as well as anony- will celebrate its 25th anniversary, with (http://www.uarctic.org) and chairs the mous donors, to provide scholarships to two linked international conferences in Council’s Membership and Nominations northerners and southerners at all levels Edmonton. Committee, providing a direct con- of postsecondary education. The triennial National Student Con- nection between the University of the For more information, see the ACUNS ference will be held 24–26 October 2003 Arctic’s activities and Canadian north- web site (http://www.cyberus.ca/~acuns), (http://scns.onware.ca), to be followed ern studies institutions, experts, and or contact ACUNS Executive Direc- immediately by the International Con- programs. tor Denis Wall in Edmonton, Alberta ference on Canada’s Northern Research • The Canadian Northern Studies (613/562-0515; fax 613/562-0533; Capacity (27–28 October). Trust (CNST), the scholarship arm of [email protected]).

Oden to Undertake Beringia Expedition in 2005

he Swedish Polar Research Secretariat • water mass variability and circulation northern sea route to the Pevek/Chukotka Tis organizing a research expedition patterns, Peninsula, but little or no station time. to the Beringia region in the summer of • atmosphere-ocean interactions, During leg 2, from mid July to mid 2005 on the icebreaker Oden. The scien- • geology and geophysics of the Arctic August, scientists will do terrestrial research tific focus and logistical framework for the Ocean, during two- to three-day visits at selected expedition are based on interests expressed • biogeochemical cycles, and sites along the north slope of the Chukotka by the Swedish research community and • land-shelf-basin interactions. Peninsula, including Wrangel Island and by scientists and representatives of research A call for proposals has been distributed the north slope of Alaska, possibly includ- organizations in Russia and the U.S. An among the scientific community in Swe- ing St. Lawrence Island. Marine research international workshop for the design of den, and the Swedish Polar Research Sec- from the ship may be possible in the area. the Beringia 2005 expedition was held in retariat will select from Swedish candidate From the beginning of July to mid Stockholm in November 2002. projects in spring 2003. The secretariat August, the ship will be at selected sites A continuation and expansion of the • expects to give space on the expedition on the east coasts of Kamchatka and the Swedish Tundra Ecology Expeditions in to a diverse group of researchers, includ- Chukotka Peninsula, including islands in 1994 and 1999 to northern Russia and ing ecologists, geologists, and cultural the area. There will be short visits at sites the Canadian Arctic, the 2005 expedition researchers, ashore from the vessel or by air transport will focus on Beringia, including the Chu- • seeks to make this an international from Petropavlovsk and Anadyr. During kotka Peninsula, Kamchatka, and Alaska, venture and to develop collaborative July and August there will also be semiper- with both terrestrial and marine research. arrangements with arctic organizations Beringia 2005 terrestrial research activities manent camps in western Alaska and on operating in this region, and the Chukotka Peninsula. will focus on causal processes of Beringian • encourages interested scientists to com- biocomplexity, including: Leg 3 of the cruise will include marine municate with Swedish colleagues and to research along a transect from northern • biodiversity—patterns and evolution, approach their own organizations toward • ecosystem trophic interactions, Alaska over the polar basin to Scandinavia establishing direct relations with the sec- from mid August to the end of September. • migration, retariat to work out joint agreements. • biogeography—past and present, and For more information, see http: • human dimensions. Preliminary Route and Time Frames //www.polar.se/english/expeditions/ Marine research will investigate the role Leg 1, from the beginning of June through beringia2005, or contact scientific coor- of the Arctic Ocean in the climate system, mid July, will include marine research dur- dinator Magnus Tannerfeldt at the Swed- including: ing the transit from Scandinavia along the ish Polar Research Secretariat (magnus.- [email protected]). 24 25 International News

IASC Fosters International Opportunities

ounded in 1990, the International planning, funding, and achievements of Travel Support to Younger Scientists FArctic Science Committee (IASC; current IASC projects, which include: The IASC Council supports modest travel see Witness Winter 2000/2001) is a non- • Arctic Coastal Dynamics (see Witness grants for younger scientists to enable governmental organization whose aim is Winter 2000/2001), them to participate in IASC projects. This to encourage and facilitate cooperation • Arctic Climate Impact Assessment opportunity is available to investigators among all countries engaged in arctic (ACIA; see Witness Winter 2000/2001), under 40 years of age working on key sci- research. Eighteen countries are presently • Feedbacks of Climate Change on Arctic entific issues relevant to an IASC project. represented on the IASC Council. Terrestrial Ecology, Candidates should identify an appropriate The members of the IASC Council are • Human Role in Caribou/Reindeer Graz- project and contact the project leader or national science organizations involved in ing Systems, IASC Secretariat, briefly summarizing their all fields of arctic research; each member • Contaminants and Human Health in the scientific background and how their work organization has a representative on the Arctic, could contribute to the IASC project. The Council. In the U.S., the Polar Research • Land-Ocean Interactions in the Russian project leader, in consultation with project Board (PRB; see page 23) is the member Arctic, group members, evaluates the proposals. organization and principal contact point • Map of Arctic Sediment Thickness, Other Activities between U.S. scientists and IASC. The • Mass Balance of Arctic Glaciers and Ice IASC is the principal science advisor to the present U.S. representative to the IASC Sheets, Arctic Council (see page 24). IASC also Council is Patrick Webber of Michigan • Nutrition and Health of the Northern advises investigators and groups regard- State University (see Witness Spring/ Indigenous Peoples, ing funding opportunities and proposal Autumn 1999), who was recently elected • Sustainable Use of Living Marine preparation. president of IASC. Resources in the Arctic, and An IASC Group of Funding Specialists In addition to the Council, IASC has • Tundra-Taiga Interface. published a report on funding strategies a Regional Board comprised of govern- Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) and sources for arctic research in 1996. ment representatives from the eight arctic IASC is a major participant in the planning This group is now discussing the possibil- countries. The U.S. representative is Karl of the annual Arctic Science Summit Week ity of a special funding web site, which is Erb, director of the NSF Office of Polar (ASSW; see Witness Autumn 2001). ASSW likely to become available towards the end Programs. The current chair of the Regional is organized around the business meetings of 2003. Board is Niels Einarsson, director of the Ste- of On occasion IASC convenes major fansson Arctic Institute in Akureyri, Iceland. • IASC, conferences to plan future directions for IASC has a modest operating budget • the Arctic Ocean Sciences Board arctic science. IASC anticipates that its from annual member contributions to (AOSB), next large conference will be held in 2005, meet common expenses; this general fund • European Polar Board (EPB), and following the 2004 publication of the is used to encourage international science • the Forum of Arctic Research Opera- ACIA reports (see page 24 and Witness research planning and activities concerned tors (FARO; see Witness Spring/Autumn Spring 2000). with urgent arctic and global science issues. 1999). IASC also publishes a quarterly news- The Norwegian government funds the ASSW draws other arctic science groups as letter “Progress,” available both in print IASC Secretariat, which is located in Oslo. well. Almost 200 people attended ASSW and online, that documents developments The executive secretary, Odd Rogne, has 2002, held in Groningen, the Netherlands. in IASC and international arctic science. managed the Secretariat since the establish- In addition to the group meetings, ASSW “Progress” includes a selection of Survey of ment of IASC. 2002 included two day-long plenary Arctic Meetings (SAM), a comprehensive The main activity of IASC is to develop sessions: Project Day and Science Day, listing of forthcoming arctic meetings. A arctic research projects for which cir- with the theme of “Interactions Between full SAM listing is available on the IASC cumarctic or international cooperation is the Arctic and the Temperate Zones.” web site, http://www.iasc.no. Groups can required. IASC gives priority to multidis- In addition to the formal meetings have their meetings included in SAM by ciplinary projects and draws on its Council and programs, the ASSW allows ample contacting the IASC Secretariat. to identify scientific priorities and to select opportunities to exchange information, For more information, see the IASC from among competing proposals. IASC establish contacts, and participate in web site (http://www.iasc.no), or contact projects tap contributions from multiple informal discussions. ASSW 2003 will be IASC President Patrick Webber in East funding agencies in member countries. held in Kiruna, Sweden, from 31 March Lansing, Michigan (517/355-1284; fax Current IASC Projects to 4 April. The theme of the Science 517/432-2150; [email protected]) or The IASC Project Catalogue, an annual Day will be “Space and Polar Research.” Executive Secretary Odd Rogne in Oslo, summary available on the IASC web site, Details of the program are available at http: Norway (+47/2295 9900; fax +47/2295 provides information on the objectives, //www.polar.se/assw. 9901; [email protected]). 26 27 International News

International Project Excavates Icelandic Settlements

he North Atlantic Biocultural Orga- show that up to 90% of the original Ice- student ratios and an intensive program of Tnization (NABO) is an international, landic forest was cleared before AD 1000. lectures, student projects, field trips, and interdisciplinary research cooperative set up Around the same time the number of ani- hands-on lab modules as well as experi- a decade ago through a grant from the NSF mal bones declined at these interior farms, ence in excavation and survey. Part of the Arctic Social Sciences Program (see page 20 indicating that the inhabitants struggled international University of the Arctic (see and Witness Autumn 1998). Among other before abandoning the farms around page 28), the program is an academic col- projects, NABO has promoted collabora- AD 1100—probably victims of their own laboration of tion among Icelandic, U.K., Norwegian, success in land clearance. Soil profiles dated • the City University of New York Polish, U.S., and Canadian scholars under by multiple tephra reveal that this inland (CUNY) Northern Science and the direction of the Archaeological Institute zone was highly unstable for centuries prior Education Center, Iceland (FSÍ) since 1996. The NABO/FSÍ to human occupation. The period of Norse • the University of Oslo’s Viking and long-term investigation “Landscapes of Set- settlement of Iceland (the Landnám, from Medieval Studies Center, and tlement in Northern Iceland” is supported around AD 870–930) may have followed • FSÍ. by grants from the NSF Archaeology a brief period of unusual landscape stabi- Since 2000, an innovative OPP Program, OPP, and the Icelandic Research lization, which was soon disrupted by the Research Experience for Undergraduates Council (RANNÍS). The Landscapes of grazing impact of the imported European (REU) program has involved inner-city Settlement project uses an interdisciplinary domestic stock. CUNY students in a combination of two combination of historical documents, geo- Other interactions of humans and semesters of class and lab experience, archaeology, zooarchaeology, and archaeo- natural resources seem to have had hap- supervised individual projects, and Ice- botany to reveal the complex interactions pier outcomes. Modern Mývatn residents landic summer fieldwork. This program among human management, natural envi- have sustained a harvest of 10,000 water- has already attracted several students to ronmental variability, climate change, and fowl eggs per year for at least a century by northern doctoral programs and energized evolving local and regional economy in the regulating the number of eggs taken from interest in northern science on the CUNY creation of the modern landscape of north- each nest and rarely killing adult birds. The campus. The Landscapes of Settlement ern Iceland. zooarchaeological evidence of egg shells but project is also supported by the Profes- Initially focused on excavations of the few bird bones suggests that this traditional sional Staff Congress-CUNY grants pro- chieftain’s great hall at Hofsta∂ir near lake resource management has roots extending gram, National Geographic Society, and Mývatn, the project has expanded into a back over a millennium. the U.K. Leverhulme Trust. broader investigation of the formation of The Landscapes of Settlement project For more information, see the NABO a cultural landscape from previously unin- has tested several new interdisciplinary web site (http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/nabo/) habited wilderness. In part because the approaches, including using: or contact Tom McGovern (212/772-5410; Hofsta∂ir great hall is about four times the • lipid residues to identify animal dung, fax 212/772-5423; [email protected]) or size of the average Viking-age long hall, it • soil thin sections to localize traffic pat- Sophia Perdikaris (718/951-4192; fax 718/ has long been (controversially) claimed as terns on dirt floors, 951-3169; [email protected]), a pagan temple site. Excavations have con- • scanning electron microscopic imagery both at CUNY. firmed that the site was definitely a work- of wear on sheep ing farm with extensive animal husbandry teeth to indicate and iron working. changing amounts Surveys have located a dozen other sites of grit in fodder, in the region, which can be tied together • DNA studies to by a new regional tephrochronology. The track origins of sites of Sveigakot and Hrísheimar in the Viking livestock. highland zone south of Mývatn were Perhaps the founded shortly after the deposition of project’s most suc- tephra that dates to AD 871+/-2 (through cessful spin-off has correlation with the GISP2 ice cores; see been in education. Witness Spring 1998). By AD 950, the sites The NABO field were prosperous middle-sized farms, with school associated substantial numbers of cattle and pigs as with the Landscapes well as sheep and goat bones in their mid- of Settlement project dens. Root casts and abundant charcoal has attracted gradu- indicate that this now treeless and heavily ate students from 23 The great hall at Hofsta∂ir seen from the north. Turf walls provided insulation for what eroded inland zone was largely covered nations, providing was probably a largely timber construction. Modern farm buildings in the background are with dwarf birch forest. Pollen records one-to-one staff-to- near the later Christian chapel and churchyard. Photo by Tom McGovern. 26 27 Education News

Graduate Students Analyze Regional Impacts in the North

ecognizing the need to train young The feedback received from the stu- Although both students and lecturers Rscientists in interdisciplinary global dents was overwhelmingly positive. Being recommend that there be more courses like change research, the European Com- exposed to a variety of disciplines and IRISEN-II, this will depend on appropri- mission, under its Fifth Framework research fields as well as participants from ate funding. Depending on the funding Programme, funded an Advanced Study a wide spectrum of backgrounds was an source, it may be possible for U.S. students Course from 21 July–3 August 2002, as important factor in the success of IRISEN- to participate in future courses. part of the University of the Arctic Field II. The course clearly demonstrated the For more information, see IRISEN-II School Program (see box). Thirty gradu- usefulness of interdisciplinary cooperation web site (http://www.uni-muenster.de/ ate students from 12 European countries in integrated regional impact studies as Umweltforschung/irisen/index.html), and 26 eminent scientists from around the well as the need to involve stakeholders or contact Manfred Lange (+49/251- world participated in Integrated Regional in all phases of the research. As one of the 833-3591; fax +49/251-833-6100; Impact Studies in the European North: students said: “IRISEN opened my eyes to [email protected]) or Dörte Basic Issues, Methodologies and Regional the fact that global change research needs Poszig (+49/251-833-8465; fax +49/251- Climate Modelling (IRISEN-II) at Abisko interdisciplinarity and requires close atten- 833-8464; [email protected]) in Research Station in northern Sweden. tion to the interests of the people being Münster, Germany. Twenty-five students from 13 countries subjected to climate change.” participated in the first IRISEN course offered at Abisko in 1999. The 2002 course addressed the issue of University of the Arctic Unites Field Courses regional climate change and its impacts on the one hand and the methodologies for he University of the Arctic, a cooperating network of universities, colleges, and regional climate modeling and integrated Tother organizations concerned with higher education and research, celebrated its climate impact studies on the other, with official launch in 2001 (seeWitness Autumn 2001 and Spring/Autumn 1999). Mem- the following objectives: bers share resources, facilities, and expertise to develop postsecondary educational • to explain major regional climate change opportunities that are relevant and accessible to northern students. These include impacts on natural and societal systems formal courses or degree programs, such as the bachelor of circumpolar studies, which in the European North, provide education on northern issues. These formal courses and programs are com- • to discuss methods to identify and assess plemented by more informal courses focusing on specific themes or subjects, which climate change impacts for natural- frequently include fieldwork. The field courses affiliated with the University of the resource-dependent sectors and for resi- Arctic are organized under the umbrella of a UArctic Field School. dents and stakeholders in the region, To promote cooperation between courses and foster circumpolar exchange, the • to discuss possible responses, UArctic Field School provides an organizational hub for individual field courses, • to clarify the interconnections and feed- including streamlining application procedures, engaging in cooperative activities, backs of natural and societal systems to developing common funding approaches, providing assistance in identifying students, climate change and to demonstrate the and creating broader student networking between courses. need for interdisciplinary research in Most of the field courses existed independently before becoming affiliated with order to tackle these issues, and UArctic. These include Integrated Regional Impact Studies in the European North • to stimulate multidisciplinary studies (IRISEN-II; see article this page), the North Atlantic Biocultural Organization Inter- during the course to motivate participants national Field School (NABO; see page 27), the Circumpolar Arctic Social Sciences to pursue interdisciplinary research. (CASS) and Circumpolar Arctic Environmental Studies (CAES) PhD networks (see While largely built on classroom teach- Witness Autumn 2001), and GlacioEuroLab. ing, the course included a number of field Additional UArctic field courses are under development. The Field School is com- trips. The group work encouraged inter- mitted to community involvement in its courses to improve access to higher educa- disciplinary discussions and cross-cultural tion for northern residents, especially indigenous youth. exchange between students. Groups of The Field School plans to publish an online and print a field school catalogue to participants from different scientific back- broaden the exposure of the courses, providing relevant information on each field grounds were asked to prepare an integrated course. Other northern field courses that have not previously been affiliated with regional impact assessment and to design UArctic may be included in the catalogue, provided they are also open to students at adaptation and mitigation strategies for a UArctic member institutions. specific northern European region affected For more information, see the UArctic web site (http://www.uarctic.org/ by climate change. Papers from these pre- fieldschool), or contact the UArctic Circumpolar Coordination Office in Rovaniemi, sentations and the lecturers’ contributions Finland (+358/16 341-2716; fax +358/16 341-2777; [email protected]). will be published as course proceedings.

28 29 Education News

Five Teachers Set to Experience the Arctic

he NSF Teachers Experiencing Ant- Five teachers have been selected to work • join the project’s annual sampling trip on Tarctica and the Arctic (TEA) Program with arctic research projects in the 2003–04 the Canadian Coast Guard Service ship began in 1992; the program’s centerpiece academic year: Sir Wilfrid Laurier. is a research experience in which a K–12 Dora Nelson of Carolina Day School Amie Foster of Simmons Middle teacher participates in a NSF-sponsored in Asheville, North Carolina, will work School in Aurora, Illinois, will work with polar research expedition. Working closely with Judy Curry of the Georgia Institute of Lisa Clough of East Carolina University on with scientists on cutting-edge research, the Technology, using a robotic Aerosonde air- an interdisciplinary study combining sci- TEA teacher is immersed in the process of plane for remote sensing of environmental/ entific ecological knowledge and the tradi- science. Enveloping this field experience weather factors to study the human dimen- tional ecological knowledge of the Inupiat is a diversity of professional development sions of climate change in the Arctic. people to develop an ecological profile of opportunities through which TEA teach- Jim Rogers of Polson High School in Kotzebue Sound, Alaska. ers increase content knowledge, enhance Polson, Montana, will work with Jim Swift Lars Long of DeLong Middle School in teaching skills, transfer the research experi- of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Eau Claire, Wisconsin, will work with Joe ence to the classroom, assume leadership Rogers will assist with service measure- McConnell of the Desert Research Insti- roles, and collaborate with a network of ments in support of the Shelf-Basin tute in May to collect two ~150 m ice cores researchers and education colleagues. Interactions (SBI) Phase II program (see in regions of high snow accumulation in A partnership between teachers, page 1). west-central Greenland, the highest resolu- researchers, students, school districts, and David Brown of St. Peter School in tion, multicentury glaciochemical records communities, TEA is sponsored by the Quincy, Illinois, will work with Lee Cooper ever developed for Greenland. NSF Division of Elementary, Secondary, of the University of Tennessee at the Bering For more information, see the TEA and Informal Education in the Directorate Strait Environmental Observatory on Little web site (http://tea.rice.edu) or contact of Education and Human Resources and Diomede Island, Alaska. Brown will Deb Meese at Cold Regions Research and the Office of Polar Programs and facili- • help collect data on water flowing north Engineering Laboratory (603/646-4594; tated by Rice University, the Cold Regions into the Arctic Ocean, fax 603/646-4644; [email protected]. Research and Engineering Laboratory, and • interact with the teachers and students at army.mil). the American Museum of Natural History. the Diomede School, and Visiting Speakers Share Knowledge Across the Arctic ow in its third year, the Arctic Visit- marine law, linguistics, oral history, geogra- State University in Yakutsk, Siberia, to Ning Speakers’ Series is designed to phy, and reindeer herding. present her doctoral research about cir- increase communication and collaboration In October 2002, Leonid Baskin, a cumpolar Native literature. The majority among the dispersed arctic research com- reindeer herder, biologist, and senior scien- of students at the university are indig- munity, nurture better understanding and tist for the Institute of Ecology and Evolu- enous—Sakha (earlier, Yakut), Even, communication between arctic research- tion at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Evenk, and Dolgan. ers and arctic community residents, and visited Anchorage, Fairbanks, Nome, and She was able to deliver a series of five improve the general public’s understanding Kotzebue, hosted by the State of Alaska lectures emphasizing Native American of the importance of arctic research. Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). literature curricula and an in-depth explo- Funded by the NSF Office of Polar Pro- His visit made the 24 October 2002 head- ration of Sámi (earlier, Lapp) poet and grams Arctic Sciences Section, the program lines of The Arctic Sounder: “Reindeer artist Nils-Aslak Valkeapää. The Univer- sponsors distinguished scholars and experts Expert Visits Kotzebue.” Baskin addressed sity of Washington Press also contributed on the Arctic to visit academic institutions the Kawerak Reindeer Herders Association a number of contemporary northern and community organizations for seminars, in Nome and public radio listeners in both Native titles to the Sakha State University. lectures, and discussions. The program cov- Nome and Kotzebue. For Baskin, the trip Since her visit, the university is revamping ers travel costs and a modest honorarium was an opportunity to learn about reindeer their literature programs and working on for the visiting speaker. Speakers may travel herding and tracking techniques used on a curriculum that will emphasize Siberian within the U.S. or between the U.S. and the Seward Peninsula. He also shared his and other northern, Native contemporary other countries. knowledge about both domestic and wild literatures. Between April 2002 and February reindeer herds in Russia with ADF&G For more information about the series, 2003, seven presenters addressed a variety biologists, University of Alaska students see http://www.arcus.org/arctic_speaker/ of audiences at graduate and undergraduate and researchers, and the general public. or contact ARCUS Project Manager Janet university seminars, in K–12 schools, and In May 2002, Kathleen Osgood Dana Warburton (907/474-1600; fax 907/474- the public. Speakers have covered topics of the Center for Northern Studies in 1604; [email protected]). including anthropology, geology, arctic Wolcott, Vermont, travelled to Sakha 28 29 Education News

Barrow Students Focus on Endangered Wildlife

ider Journey is a comprehensive educa- and develop a protective attitude toward breeding and information on distribution Etion and stewardship program address- the local eider population, Eider Journey of Steller’s eiders in the Barrow area. ing issues of conservation and management highlights the significance of the species In September 2002, a USFWS biolo- of wildlife populations. Based around through local partnerships and an educa- gist, a Barrow science teacher, and the the threatened North American breeding tion program that reflects local needs and high school students traveled to Izembek population of Steller’s eiders (Polysticta stel- community issues. Eider Journey exposes National Wildlife Refuge. During the field trip, students worked with Peter McRoy leri), Eider Journey builds upon an existing students to research that addresses issues of collaboration among two entities of the of the Institute of Marine Science, Uni- conservation and management of wildlife U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)— versity of Alaska Fairbanks, to learn about populations. The multifaceted and devel- Fairbanks Fish and Wildlife Office and Izembek Lagoon’s eelgrass beds and their Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, the oping project has four long-term goals: importance to eiders. The group collected Alaska North Slope Borough Department • inform the public about Steller’s eiders and processed eelgrass samples and partici- of Wildlife Management, the Alaska North and involve communities in the deci- pated in banding eiders. Later, McRoy and Slope Borough School District, the Barrow sion-making processes related to eider USFWS staff traveled to Barrow to work Arctic Science Consortium (BASC), the conservation issues; with the students and help them summa- NSF Office of Polar Programs, and ARCUS. • provide first-hand experience in the field rize the data and prepare presentations to The North American population of research that informs agency manage- classes and the general public about what Steller’s eiders has been listed as a threat- ment decisions; they had learned about eiders. ened species under the Endangered Species • promote sciences, particularly wildlife To complement the students’ experience, ARCUS is developing an Eider Jour- Act of 1973. The only known regularly sciences, as a career; and occupied nesting area of Steller’s eiders in ney education guide focused on Steller’s • provide quality resources and informa- eiders and the Izembek Lagoon eelgrass North America is near Barrow, the largest tion for educators and their students. rural community in northern Alaska. The ecosystem. It provides both information and activities that incorporate the concepts community of Barrow is currently expand- 2002 Activities ing into eider nesting areas, raising issues of of endangered and threatened species, Each year since 1999, a USFWS research stewardship, and ecological principles. The human intrusion into preferred habitat. team has surveyed the eider pairs breeding Each fall, the Steller’s eiders migrate guide can be used in conjunction with field in the Barrow area. In June 2002, four Bar- trips or as part of a regular classroom study. from Barrow southwest to the Alaska row high school students helped USFWS Peninsula. Izembek Lagoon, about 40 in the survey, covering approximately 180 Future Plans miles from the western end of the Alaska square kilometers in and around the vil- Pending funding, ARCUS and USFWS Peninsula, is an important site for molting lage of Barrow. Students were assigned to plan to continue the program in 2003. and wintering Steller’s eiders. The lagoon three- or four-person teams, responsible for In future years, the program may bring contains one of the largest eelgrass beds in searching a different area each day. Teams students from the Alaska Peninsula to par- the world, providing habitat for the small searched large areas on foot, recording ticipate in fieldwork in Barrow. An Eider invertebrates eaten by the eiders. In Izem- and mapping all occurrences of Steller’s or Journey web page is under construction. bek Lagoon, the concern is to protect the spectacled eiders, as well as predators such For more information, contact shallow and biologically productive waters as gulls, jaegers, and foxes. Students learned ARCUS Project Manager Janet Warbur- from oil spills and other pollution from to identify birds, orient and map using aer- ton (907/474-1600; fax 907/474-1604; vessels traveling through the Bering Sea. ial photos, and classify habitat. The annual [email protected]) or U.S. Fish and Wildlife To help North Slope communities pair surveys provide data about the dra- Service Biologist Philip Martin (907/ become more aware of the species’ status matic year-to-year changes in Steller’s eider 456-0325; fax 907/456-0208; philip_ [email protected]), both in Fairbanks, AK.

Left: Barrow High School students Lillian Maupin, Elijah Arey, and Andrew Bounyavong and science teacher Tim Buckley prepare the holding pot for the banding drive by putting eelgrass around the edges to hold the net down and prevent birds from being tangled or escaping.

Right: Barrow High School students Lillian Maupin, Elijah Arey, Andrew Bounyavong, Clyde Hugo, and Joanna Leavitt, and science teacher Tim Buckley work with Peter McRoy to process the eelgrass that they collected earlier in the day. Photos by Neesha Wendling. 30 31 Calendar

April 7–11 International Ice Charting Working Group Fourth Meeting (IICWG-IV). Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), St. Petersburg, Russia. For more information on the IICWG-IV, see http://www.aari.nw.ru/projects/iicwg_iv/. Information on ARCUS the International Ice Charting Working Group is available at http://nsidc.org/noaa/iicwg. 3535 College Road, Suite 101 April 7–11 European Geophysical Society (EGS), American Geophysical Union (AGU), Fairbanks, Alaska 99709 USA and the European Union of Geoscience (EUG) Joint Assembly. Nice, France. For more Phone: 907/474-1600 information, see http://www.copernicus.org/egsagueug/ or contact EGS Office (+49/ Fax: 907/474-1604 5556-1440; fax +49/5556-4709; [email protected], egs.registration@copernic [email protected] us.org, [email protected], or [email protected]). http://www.arcus.org April 28–30 ARCUS 15th Annual Meeting and Arctic Forum. Washington, DC. For Executive Director more information, see http://www.arcus.org or contact ARCUS in Fairbanks, AK (907/ Wendy K. Warnick 474-1600; fax 907/474-1604). ARCUS is a nonprofit organization May 5–8 Second Annual Carbon Sequestration Conference. Washington, DC. For more consisting of institutions orga- information, see http://www.carbonsq.com. nized and operated for educational, professional, or scientific purposes. May 11–14 Cold Adaptations of Aquatic Microorganisms Workshop. Max Planck ARCUS was established by its member Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany. For more information, see http: institutions in 1988 with the primary //www.mpi-bremen.de (under “Seminars and Workshops”). mission of strengthening arctic research May 12–16 Seventh Conference on Polar Meteorology and Oceanography and Joint to meet national needs. ARCUS Symposium on High-Latitude Climate Variations. Hyannis, Massachusetts. For more activities are funded through a coopera- information, see the AMS website (http://www.ametsoc.org/AMS) (under “AMS tive agreement with NSF, by the Alaska Upcoming Meetings”). Federation of Natives, by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and by May 19–21 Earth Cryosphere as a Habitat and an Object for Nature Management. membership dues. Pushchino, Russia. For more information contact David Gilichinsky, Institute of Witness the Arctic is published Physico-Chemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences biannually by ARCUS. Any opinions, (+0967-732604; fax: +0967-790595; [email protected]). findings, conclusions, or recommend- For more events, check the Calendar on the ARCUS web site (http://www.arcus.org/misc/fr_calendar.html). ations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF. Publications Submit suggestions for the next issue of the newsletter by 15 June 2003. Bravo, Michael and Sverker Sörlin, eds. 2002. Narrating the Arctic: A Cultural History of Managing Editor: Sue Mitchell Nordic Scientific Practices. Science History Publications/USA, PO Box 493, Canton, MA Science Editor: Alison York 02021-0493; phone 781/828-8450, toll free 800/821-7823; fax 781/828-8915; http: Copy Editor: Diane Wallace //www.shpusa.com; [email protected]. ISBN 0-88135-385-X; $39.95 U.S. Contributors: M. Abels, S. Anderson, D. Bahry, Committee on Frontiers in Polar Biology, Polar Research Board, and National Research B. Barnes, S. Bishop, G. Brass, L. Clough, Council of the National Academies. 2003. Frontiers in Polar Biology in the Genomic Era. L. Cooper, R. Crain, R. Dichtl, J. Dionne, K. Dunton, C. Elfring, D. Ferguson, J. Ferris, Washington, DC: National Academies Press. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10623.html. S. Forrest, J. Grebmeier, T. Hall, C. Heinselman, ISBN 0-309-08727-9; 159 pp.; $34.75. L. Hinzman, H. Huntington, D. Kaufman, Grant, Shelagh D. Arctic Justice: On Trial for Murder, Pond Inlet, 1923. McGill-Queen’s J. Kelly, A. Kerttula, M. Kuizenga, M. Lange, University Press. ISBN 0773523375; 368 pages; $34.95 U.S. P. Martin, A. D. McGuire, T. McGovern, Jolles, Carol Zane, with Elinor Mikaghaq Oozeva. 2002. Faith, Food, and Family in a Yupik D. Meese, A. Metcalf, J. Moore, J. Morison, C. Myers, S. B. Mukasa, J. Overpeck, D. Perovich, Whaling Community. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295- D. Poszig, O. Rogne, P. Schweitzer, P. Shepson, 98189-X; 344 pp.; $50 U.S. G. Stossmeister, D. Stott, M. Sturm, N. Swanberg, Koivurova, Timo. 2002. Environmental Impact Assessment in the Arctic: A Study of Interna- M. Tannerfeldt, K. Tape, C. Vörösmarty, tional Legal Norms. Ashgate Publishing; http://www.ashgate.com. ISBN 0-7546-2283-5; D. Wall, J. Warburton, P. Wassmann, M. Webber, 450 pp.; $99.95 U.S. P. Webber, K. Webster, N. Wendling, R. Wharton, R. Wilson, A. York. Lee, Molly, and Gregory A. Reinhardt. 2003. Eskimo Architecture: Dwelling and Structure in the Early Historic Period. University of Alaska Press, P.O. Box 756240, Fairbanks, AK; wit.ness (wit nis) n. 1.a. One who has heard or seen something. b. One who furnishes evidence. ISBN 1-889963-22-4; $45 U.S. 2. Anything that serves as evidence; a sign. 3. An Lehtola, Veli-Pekka (Translated by Linna Weber Müller-Wille). 2002. The Sámi People: attestation to a fact, statement, or event. —v. tr. Traditions in Transition. With a preface by Ludger Müller-Wille. Kustannus-Puntsi Pub- 1. To be present at or have personal knowledge of. 2. To provide or serve as evidence of. 3. To lishers, Aanaar/Inari, Sápmi, Finland. http://www.puntsi.fi/sami.htm. ISBN 952-5343-11-1. testify to; bear witness. —intr. To furnish or serve Sejersen, Frank. 2002. Local Knowledge, Sustainability and Visionscapes in Greenland. ISBN: as evidence; testify. [Middle English witnes(se), Old English witnes, witness, knowledge, from wit, 87-87874-20-4/ISSN: 1601-9385. Department of Eskimology fax +45/3532-9661, http: knowledge, wit.] //www.hum.ku.dk/eskimo/english/; [email protected]. 30 31 A Note From the ARCUS President

n my note in the previous edition of take a long-term view, whereas agencies tions and the changes they are undergoing. IWitness the Arctic, I described some of usually need to respond in the short term. Agency personnel have a great deal of prac- the challenges faced by Alaska Native vil- System scientists are used to uncertainty, tical experience with the environment itself lages and government agencies in trying whereas agencies and their constituents and with the people who live in and use it. to control erosion, and how arctic system may be less willing to act when the need to Both sides stand to gain from creating real research might contribute to that effort. do so is unclear. partnerships built on their complementary In this column, I would like to explore a Second, there is often a perceived cul- and mutually useful perspectives. related question: do arctic system scien- tural divide between “basic” research done tists and agency personnel have overlap- in academia and the “applied” work done ping interests, and if so, how can they in government agencies. I suspect this dif- collaborate? ference is largely superficial: both sides have Arctic system science addresses all similar interests but little real appreciation aspects of the northern environment, for what the other group actually does. particularly the interactions among the Third, there are few incentives for Inside different natural and human components overcoming these two barriers. Both scien- NSF News 4 that determine how the system functions tists and agency personnel rarely have the Arctic Upper Atmosphere 5 and how its influence is felt. From wildlife time or funding to make connections and ARCSS Program 6 management to construction permits, vari- explore collaborative opportunities. Where Arctic Logistics 14 ous government agencies regulate, monitor, interactions do occur, they are all too often Arctic Natural Sciences Program 15 and otherwise work on many of the same at the tail end of a project, amounting to Arctic Social Sciences Program 18 connections that system scientists study. In little more than sharing of information SEARCH 21 some respects, the agency-scientist connec- instead of real collaboration. Capitol Updates 22 tion seems obvious, and some partnerships And yet, I think we are all missing U.S. Arctic Research Commission 23 have been established. Overall, however, something in not putting more effort in Polar Research Board 23 the links are weak or nonexistent. this direction. System science has made Arctic Policy 24 International News 25 A variety of factors are at work. First, great strides in understanding the interac- Education News 28 there are mismatches in time frame and tions that comprise the arctic system and in Calendar and Publications 31 expectations. System scientists typically exploring the implications of those interac-

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