Expressions of Intent for IPY 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

CANADA #102: Freshwater Flux in the Canadian terrestrial and oceanic polar regions.  (Freshwater flux in Canadian Arctic)

Outline
“Freshwater Flux” refers to the transfer of water, both saline and fresh, into and out of the Arctic polar system. The sources and sinks of the polar arctic water and energy balance can be derived from observations and models of the atmosphere, the land-surface and the oceans themselves. These major components of the polar system include terrestrial snow and ice, land-surface hydrology, sea-ice, ocean currents and pack ice. All of these components are largely driven by, and also drive, a continuous feedback atmospheric-oceanic-land-surface system that formulates the circulation patterns that control the heat and mass fluxes into and out of the Arctic. Project components summarized here, are currently being studied, or propose to study the freshwater flux within the Canadian Arctic system as a Canadian contribution to the IPY. They include terrestrial, ocean and cyropsheric observational surveys, remote sensing research and regional/global numerical modelling systems designed to investigating the land-ocean-ice-atmosphere interactions of the Canadian Arctic. The project proponents will observe and model the variability in runoff of the Canadian arctic drainage system including Arctic Islands, and the major drainages such as the Mackenzie and Hudsan Bay river systems that influence the freshwater of the Canadain Acrtic. This runoff along with Arctic ice melt water is monitored and modelled as a freshwater flux passing through Davis and Hudson Straits into the north Atlantic. Measurements are required to validate algorithms and models used in deriving the freshwater volume, including remotely sensed derived products. The long–term variability of snow cover and runoff including the effect of human activity on them and their effect on the aquatic ecosystem, ocean circulation and pack ice cycle needs to be studied. Ocean-ice-atmospheric interaction processes will be observed and modeled to investigate how large water bodies such as Great Slave Lake and Hudson Bay affect not only the regional climate and runoff but also the atmospheric circulation patterns and runoff cycles over all northern Canada. Major mooring programs in the Beaufort Sea, Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Hudson Bay and Davis Strait are presently underway (jointly managed by DFO and US personnel). They are contributing to international programs such as ASOF, SEARCH and CLIC; but as of now most will not continue into the IPY period of 2007-2008. These projects measure and simulate by models the variability of the freshwater flux passing through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and out of Hudson Bay in both liquid and solid phases. They are thus an important component of the Cryospheric process and need to be continued. They observe the pack ice extent and flux by moorings and remotely sensed imagery and provide the present pack ice conditions that regional numerical models will use to calibration themselves before they can simulate future conditions using forcing conditions from large scale global ice-ocean models. Chemical tracers will be used to partition the liquid freshwater phase into ice melt and runoff components and study how this partition has been changing over the past three decades.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Advances backed by observations will be made in our current understanding of the interaction processes (fluxes) between terrestrial properties (snow cover, hydrology and runoff), ocean and pack ice and atmospheric properties that make up the complex processes of the polar Cryosphere (Theme 1). Applying this enhanced understanding to new and past observations will provide us the tools to determine the reason of observed changes in the polar Cryospere parameters and processes (Theme 2). Using regional models connected to global ocean-atmospheric models, the regional changes in land-ocean-ice-atmosphere interaction can be simulated for present and future climate change conditions on both regional and global spatial scales (Theme 3).

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
C. Lee, University of Washington, Seattle. craig@apl.washington.edu P. Rhines, University of Washington, Seattle K. Falkner, Oregon State University. kfalker@coas.oregonstate.edu H. Siegstad, Naturistitut, Greenland B. Dickson, CEFAS, ASOF-Chair. http://asof.npolar.no/ C. Duguay, U. Alska, Fairbanks R. Pickart, Woods Hole Inst. of Oceanography Otherf form ASOF, SEARCH (Study of Environmental Arctic Change), CLIC and NASA Cold land Working Group

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
The proposed field work covers the Canadian northern terrestrial sites from the Mackenzie River Basin (GEWEX-MAGS), the Hudson Bay drainage and Arctic ocean drainages including the Arctic Islands for which no data currently is being collected. As such the will be a tremendous and important contribution to IPY. Oceanic regions using CCG icebreaker ship support include the Beaufort Sea shelf, Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Hudson Bay, Foxe Basin, Baffin Bay and Davis Strait.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: Terrestrial: Year-round      Oceanic: Aug/Sept each year      Oceanic: Overwintering Aug/07-Aug/08
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Terrestrial: Community based and PCSP facilities for year-round sampling. This includes helicopter and fixed-wing support to remote locations and enhanced of existing monitoring networks. Oceanic: Ships of opportunity from the CCG ice breaker fleet have been successfully used and are required to continue the present and enhanced scientific work. Oceanic: If an icebreaker is over-wintering in the Beaufort Sea and or Archipelago pack ice field logistic support and co-ordination with ArcticNet will be required.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The “legacy” left behind from this project will not be in the form of a structure but a realization throughout the polar nations that Canada contributed to the IPY in a substantial way showing off its Canadian developed instrumentation, technology and logistic capability. Understanding and modelling of high latitude systems is an area where Canada is seen as having the scientific capacity to lead. There already is expectations from the global scientific community that Canada will lead in Arctic research. The other “legacy” to be left behind within Canada is the training of new young scientist during this renewed Arctic effort under IPY which will be ready to continue Arctic research as expected from a Polar nation such as Canada.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?

Support of the Water Survey of Canada and the Meteorological Services monitoring branch will need to be secured and are not included in this proposal.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Both the Environment Canada and Dept. Fisheries and Oceans projects have been endorsed in principle by their ADMs and are proceeding into a MC for new funding to enhance and extent present Arctic projects into and past the IPY. This pre-proposal has been reviewed and is being submitted by the Canadian Steering Committee (CSC). Ongoing discussions will integrate this pre-proposal into a larger network of related national and international initiatives. The CSC has initially sorted this pre-proposal into: Freshwater Flux in Canadian Terrestrial and Oceanic Polar Regions

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
yes
Both new Project components and extending and enhancement components of an existing or planned activities. The project consists both of new project components as well as extending and enhancing existing project components. Most observation and analysis technologies are well proven through existing project components so all project objectives for the IPY are realistic, well reviewed and highly regarded internationally. New technologies will be tested before the IPY period and all projects will be well established for the IPY. Reporting on the findings will occur after the IPY timeframe and will continue there after as results are published in peer-reviewed journals.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project will be managed through joint EC and DFO committee meetings to establish strong ties with oceanic and terrestrial components and through the various scientific forums such as ICSE.IAHS, IAMUS (all ICSU councils) and programs such as international CLIC (Climate-Cryosphere) and the Global Hydrometerology Program (GHP-GEWEX) annual meetings. Existing projects have gone through extensive peer reviews both for national and international funding. Since funds and logistic support are also coming from other sources several additional annual meetings are occurring where project components are presented and reviewed. (i.e. Panel of Energy Research and Development and ArcticNet). Results and data will also be available on each department websites and presented at international conferences.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Project research components are closely tied to university training and thesis work through co-op programs. Most of the research project leaders are co-supervising students through ad-joint professorships that enables them to train new generation of Arctic scientists. Outreach and communication is a strong part of MAGS and ArcticNet and is a requirement for arctic research through the Panel of Energy Research and Development program (PERD) and the Climate Change Action Fund (CCAF). There is a long and successful histry of outreach in many of the proposed project teams.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document)?
Both Environment Canada and Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans have data base managers and systems which oversee the large environmental data sets. There are strict quality controls in place and established links for international data exchanges once data has been processed and gone through quality control checks. Data are also exchange between co-investigators during collaboration before data can be found on the archives.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Excluding the logistic ship support and government salaries, the cost of the existing project components are well over $3million per year and it is anticipated that through the Government MC for the IPY enhance this will double. Less resources are required for the lead-up years before the IPY but then large amount of funding is required to cover field surveys for the two IPY years and for the processing, analysis of the data and the reporting on results (fifth year).

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
None

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr  Simon Prinsenberg
Bedford Institute of Oceanography,
1 Challenger Dr, P.O. Box 1006,
Dartmouth, N.S
B2Y 4A2
Canada

Tel: (902) 426 5928
Mobile:
Fax: (902) 427 6927
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation

Other Information