IPA and the International Polar Year (IPY)

 

 

 

 

THE INTERNATIONAL POLAR YEAR: STATUS OF PLANNED PERMAFROST ACTIVITIES (from Frozen Ground 29)

Jerry Brown and Hanne H. Christiansen, The University Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway (ipa@unis.no)

 

The International Polar Year (2007-2009) provides a unique opportunity for scientists and engineers along with younger researchers from around the world to increase our knowledge of permafrost occurrence and dynamics, and thus contribute to the IPY legacy. This following is the second annual report to keep our readers informed of our IPY plans and progress (see Frozen Ground 28, pages 3-4). In brief, the IPY is intended to attract and develop a new generation of polar researchers, engineers and logistics experts, and to engage the awareness, interest and understanding of schoolchildren, the general public and decision-makers worldwide in the purpose and value of polar research and monitoring.

During 2005 the permafrost community submitted three focused programmes to the Joint Committee for IPY. The Joint Committee approved the three activities as coordination projects that include approximately 150 individuals from the 26 countries represented by International Permafrost Association (see IPA and IPY web pages for details). Additional individual projects are expected to be added early in 2006. The three permafrost programmes are:

The Permafrost Observatory Project (TSP), initially coordinated by Jerry Brown, plans to develop a spatially distributed set of observations on past and present status of permafrost temperatures and active layer thicknesses. Emphasis is on permafrost temperatures since there is currently no global database that defines the thermal state of permafrost (TSP) for a specific time period (snapshot). The TSP data set will serve as a baseline for the assessment of the rate of change of permafrost temperatures and permafrost distribution, to validate climate model scenarios, and to support process research in order to improve our understanding of permafrost dynamics. TSP measurements are a field component of the WMO/GCOS Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P) that also includes the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) network. Depth of thaw and soil temperatures will continue to be reported at existing CALM and other sites. Our IPY Legacy for the TSP project is to establish a permanent International Network of Permafrost Observatories (INPO). The following countries have identified project or plans to observe and report their results: Argentina, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States (www.gtnp.org).

The Antarctic and sub-Antarctic Permafrost, Periglacial and Soil Environments Project (ANTPAS), coordinated by Jan Boelhouwers, is aimed at integrating existing and new data on the distribution, thickness, age, history and physical and geochemical properties of permafrost, soils and the active-layer on the Antarctic continent and sub-Antarctic islands. A monitoring network, a regional subset of GTN-P and consisting of borehole temperatures, active-layer thickness, and periglacial and soil observations, will be established along selected environmental gradients. A draft soil manual and protocol for the Southern Hemisphere CALM (S-CALM) have been prepared. A series of soils, periglacial and permafrost maps will be prepared. Countries involved include Argentina, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States (http://erth.waikato.ac.nz/antpas).

The Arctic Circum-Polar Coastal Observatory Network (ACCO-Net), coordinated by Volker Rachold, proposes to develop a coordinated monitoring programme incorporating diverse regions and providing site-specific, fine-scale baseline and time-series data, and to facilitate local and circum-Arctic studies. To address these issues, it is proposed that an internationally coordinated circum-Arctic network of coastal and marginal seas observatories (~20 key sites including deltas and estuaries of major Siberian and North American rivers) be established based on ecoregion representation criteria. The sites will be loci for multi-disciplinary studies and will include sensitive areas with varying degrees of human impact. Initial countries involved include Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, and the United States (www.awi-potsdam.de/acd/acconet).

Our IPY permafrost “legacies” are to encourage the training of a new generation of researchers and to produce the “snapshot” of existing permafrost conditions as a baseline for future change assessment. Educational, outreach and data management activities are key elements for our IPY permafrost activities. Data sharing and accessibility is an important element of the IPY and the IPA plans to adhere to these policies. Mark Parsons, co-chair of the IPY Data Management Committee, will work closely with IPA to insure preservation and access of IPA data.

In January 2005, Hanne Christiansen and colleagues submitted an Expression of Interest for an international university course on permafrost for the IPY (EoI 24), just as others have included education in the many EoIs concerning permafrost. As a first step to develop this approach, we have started cataloguing International University Courses on Permafrost (IUCP). ICUP will be a series of international courses that are offered by universities located throughout the world, conducted by international teams of permafrost researchers and educators working at the field course sites, and matriculating an international group of students. Existing and new university courses on theoretical and/or field-based permafrost science and engineering will form the core activities of IUCP. To improve the use of IUCP, a searchable web-based IUCP database is under development at and coordinated by the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS). The website will be linked to the IPA websites and to others on IPY education and outreach. ICUP will work closely with the University of the Arctic to identify cooperation and funding possibilities for the IUCP students.

A Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN) is under development to facilitate and strengthen contacts and communications among young scientists in the permafrost community and to provide information on availability of fellowships, conference travel opportunities, job opportunities, and other activities of interest. PYRN seeks to promote and publicize permafrost research undertaken by young researchers, and to provide information to the public especially to primary and secondary schools. PYRN will also promote opportunities for field experiences for students at all levels of education (www.awi-potsdam.de/pyrn).

In addition to the currently approved coordination projects with their education, outreach and data activities, several major cross-cutting projects will contribute to our IPY initiatives.

The Carbon Pools in Permafrost Regions (CAPP) project, coordinated by Peter Kuhry, aims at quantifying soil organic matter quantity and quality along ecoclimatic and edaphic gradients in high-latitude and high-altitude regions that are characterized by the presence of isolated to continuous permafrost terrain. CAPP includes the Northern Circumpolar Soil Carbon Database (NCSCD) that provides an improved estimate of soil organic carbon stocks for the permafrost regions of North America and Eurasia (see Frozen Ground 28, pages 5-7). Special attention will be given to the widespread peatlands (organic soils). CAPP plans to contribute to new research activities along transects in the Northern Hemisphere that represent the range of ecoclimatic and permafrost regions, and complemented by two transects in the Subantarctic-Antarctic region with additional altitudinal transects in high-alpine mountains. An IPA-CAPP scoping workshop (March 2005) and an ESF-funded science planning workshop (November 2005) were held at the University of Stockholm. CAPP contributes to the Global Carbon Project (see Frozen Ground 28, page 52) (www.geowiss.uni-hamburg.de/i-boden/capp).

Mapping of mountain and high altitude permafrost: Although national maps exist for China , Kazakhstan , Mongolia and southern Russia , there are no consistent cartographic criteria or terminology on which to base a unified permafrost map of Central Asia for these topographically complex and diverse regions. The IPA Circum-Arctic Map of Permafrost and Ground-Ice Conditions simply applied the continental-based classification of permafrost continuity to the existing maps of Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and China. The International Symposium on Mountain and Arid Land Permafrost held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in September 2001, recommended the preparation of a new permafrost map of Central Asia. Conceptual approaches, definitions, legends, scales, and resolution still differ, however, and much work remains. Work is underway to develop a unified, international cartographic classification and derived map products to represent permafrost conditions in the high-elevation regions of Central Asia. During summer 2006 field expeditions are planned to the Tien Shans in Kazakhstan and China and to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Another mapping effort is underway for the Nordic region that will estimate the lower limits of permafrost.

During the Second International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP II) in Copenhagen, Denmark, in November, the IPA President participated in a forum and presented a proposal for long-term research entitled: “Response and Role of Permafrost in a Warming Planet”. The above-described IPY activities were identified as important contributors in understanding these changes. Following the ICARP several days were devoted to IPY briefings and planning. On November 14, approximately 60 participants from the three coordinated programmes and related activities and invited guests attended an IPY-IPA workshop to plan our future activities. Ed de Mulder, past president IUGS, presented the status on the International Year of Planet Earth (2008). Continued planning of our IPY activities will take place at meetings and conferences in Germany (March), Russia (May), Australia (July), United States (July), and China (August) (see Planning Calendar).

The IPA continues to coordinate its research and outreach activities with the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR), the WCRP Climate and Cryosphere (CliC), the Global Carbon Project, the Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ), the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), and the IUGG Commission on Cryospheric Sciences. The IPA Secretariat, based in UNIS, is supported by a grant from the Research Council of Norway, and is coordinating many of the IPY-IPA activities through a planning grant from the IUGS.