PAR T T WO IPY Science Program Coordinating Editors: Ian Allison and Jerónimo López-Martínez Reviewer: Vladimir Ryabinin Introduction Chapter 2.1 Polar Atmosphere Chapter 2.2 Arctic Ocean Chapter 2.3 Southern Ocean Chapter 2.4 Greenland Ice Sheet and Arctic Glaciers Chapter 2.5 Antarctic Ice Sheet Chapter 2.6 Subglacial Aquatic Environments Chapter 2.7 Permafrost Chapter 2.8 Earth Structure and Geodynamics at the Poles Chapter 2.9 Polar Terrestrial Ecology and Biodiversity Chapter 2.10 Polar Societies and Social Processes Chapter 2.11 Human Health P l a n n I n g a n d I m P l e m e n t I n g IPY 2007–2008 133 PART TWO: IPY SCIENCE PROGRAM Introduction Ian Allison and Jerónimo López-Martínez s an internationally coordinated research education, outreach and communication. effort, science was at the core of the IPY aimed to establish a scientific program that International Polar Year (IPY) 2007–2008. addressed the six research themes defined by the IPY In this section, the IPY scientific projects Planning Group in consultation with the international Aundertaken in major fields and disciplines are polar community and relevant organizations (Rapley summarized, and some of the preliminary results are et al., 2004; Chapter 5.1). These were: Status, Change, presented. The scientific results of IPY are still evolving Global Linkages, New Frontiers, Vantage Point and and, as was also the case for previous international Human Dimension of the polar regions. Science polar years, will continue to do so for years after projects and research teams were expected to be this report is published. The chapters included here interdisciplinary and to address relevant questions were primarily written from late 2009 to early 2010, and issues lying beyond individual disciplines. only a few months after the conclusion of the field Considerable effort was given to assembling an campaigns. In some cases, data and samples are not IPY science program that addressed these objectives yet analyzed and interpretation and publication of the and built on the enthusiastic contribution of a flood results is ongoing. In many cases, synthesis of results of proposals from the community and the great from different IPY projects will contribute additional diversity of scientific fields that these encompassed. outcomes. Hence, this section must be considered This process, undertaken in several steps, involved only as an early and preliminary summary of IPY assessing, distilling and combining the 490 initial scientific outcomes. “ideas” submitted to the ICSU Planning Group by mid The IPY science program was closely linked 2004 (Chapter 1.3), the more than 1100 ‘expressions with other key IPY components, particularly with of intent’ submitted to the Joint Committee by mid observational and data-management efforts. IPY 2005 and the 337 full proposals for science projects projects exploited both existing and newly established and data management submitted by February 2006 observing systems. In many cases, new observing (Chapter 1.5). The IPO and the JC members reviewed systems have been promoted and developed in and assessed the EoIs and full proposals against the connection with IPY scientific projects. Hence, some stated IPY objectives. They strived to avoid overlap, to of the chapters included here in Part 2 refer directly to increase interdisciplinarity, to fill identified gaps and observational efforts discussed in Part 3 and vice versa. to integrate smaller proposals within multidisciplinary, In this section, however, the focus is on the scientific internationally coordinated projects. The final problems addressed and on the preliminary results outcome of this process resulted in 170 IPY endorsed rather than on the observational systems. Throughout scientific research projects, plus one integrating data IPY planning and implementation, data management management project: these formed the core IPY was always considered an essential component of science (Chapter 1.5). This IPY science program was each project (Chapter 3.11). documented as it developed in two publications The IPY scientific projects also provided compiled by the Joint Committee (Allison et al., 2007, fundamental support for other IPY objectives. 2009). IPY 2007–2008 also included an additional 57 They were key to attracting and developing a new EO&C projects. Information available to the IPO at the generation of polar researchers and for engaging the conclusion of the IPY field period indicated that 170 interest of students, polar residents, and the general of the 228 total projects received some support and public. In addition, all endorsed IPY science projects were able to go ahead. were required to include an integral component of This section (Part 2) consists of 11 chapters, 134 IPY 2007–2008 organized by broad disciplinary field. Each chapter geological and geophysical observations; and field summarizes scientific activities in both polar regions, and numerical modeling studies of climate and glacial except for the ocean science chapters (2.2 and 2.3) history. Advances in the study of subglacial aquatic and the ice sheet chapters (2.4 and 2.5) which treat the environments during IPY are summarized in Chapter Arctic and Antarctic research during IPY separately. 2.6. During IPY 2007–2008, subglacial lakes and water Chapter 2.1 covers research related to the polar movement beneath the ice was recognized as a atmosphere. It includes reference to 16 projects common feature of ice sheets, with potential influence that are grouped under two main topics: i) physics on ice sheet movement and possibly on past and of the troposphere and stratosphere, and climate future climate change. change, and ii) tropospheric chemistry, air pollution Chapter 2.7 covers regional, bipolar and multidis- and climate impacts. Chapter 2.2 on the Arctic Ocean ciplinary permafrost research. Activities during IPY focuses on the present and future state of northern focused on assessment of the thermal state of per- seas and their role in climate. It describes some of the mafrost and the thickness of the active layer; on the main advances that were made in research of Arctic quantification of carbon pools in permafrost and and subarctic seas during IPY, and shows how the their potential future remobilization; on quantifica- integrated Arctic Ocean Observing System (iAOOS) tion of erosion and release of sediment along perma- served as a coordinating framework for northern frost coasts; and on periglacial process and landform oceanographic projects during IPY. This chapter quantification. reports on important achievements during IPY that Chapter 2.8 deals with IPY projects studying build on existing knowledge of: i) the changing inputs Earth structure and geodynamics in polar regions. It to the Arctic Ocean from subarctic seas; ii) the changing includes research into the geodynamic, tectonic and oceanography of the Arctic Ocean itself; and iii) the sedimentary processes that drive the topographic changing outputs from the Arctic to subarctic seas. IPY formation and the location of the ocean basins and research in the Southern Ocean is covered in Chapter corridors between emergent land masses. These 2.3. It summarizes preliminary results on the role of corridors, which determine ocean current paths, the Southern Ocean in the Earth system resulting from have changed over time, with consequences to multidisciplinary IPY projects in the Southern Ocean global climate. New geodynamic observations in carried out by scientists from more than 25 countries. several regions during and just prior to IPY, using Activities here are grouped into sections on: i) ocean seismic, magnetic, gravity and ice-penetrating radar circulation and climate; ii) biogeochemistry; iii) marine techniques, together with satellite imagery and biology, ecology and biodiversity; and iv) Antarctic geological observations, contributed to this research. sea ice. Much of the research covered in this chapter Research into geodynamic processes at the base of is coordinated with similar activities in the Arctic polar ice sheets are also covered in this chapter. This (Chapter 2.2) providing a bipolar perspective. chapter shows how the network of polar Earth and New measurements during IPY led to important geodynamics observatories has been significantly advances in knowledge of the Antarctic and Arctic improved during IPY. ice sheets, and these are described in Chapter 2.4 and The research carried out during IPY on terrestrial Chapter 2.5 respectively. IPY projects investigated ecology is covered in Chapter 2.9. Parts of the Arctic ice shelves and the interaction between the ice and the Antarctic Peninsula are warming twice as sheets and the ocean; the subglacial domain; surface fast as elsewhere on Earth and many impacts already and subglacial measurements, including satellite, affect biodiversity and ecosystem processes, some s ci e n C e P r o g r a m 135 of which have global consequences. Therefore, IPY humanities (history, literature, arts). Chapter 2.11 2007–2008 took place in a very opportune time to is about human health and medical research in document changes in polar terrestrial ecosystems and the northern polar regions and it also includes a their impacts on the atmospheric, hydrological and substantial social component. It provides an overview nutrient cycles as well as on the human communities of the history, which informed health research that occupy and use those ecosystems. Altogether, 30 activities during IPY 2007–2008, and highlight the IPY international