Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

CANADA #178:The International University Course on High Arctic Landscape Dynamics in Svalbard, Peary Land and Ellesmere Island  (International Svalbard, Peary Land and Ellesmere Island course - In Spe)

Outline
The In Spe project provides unique, multi-disciplinary field-training experiences for internationally-recruited graduate students in the dynamics of high arctic terrestrial environments. The International University Course on High Arctic Landscape Dynamics in Svalbard, Peary Land and Ellesmere Island will investigate high arctic landscape variability along the steepest high arctic climatic gradient - from maritime Svalbard to continental Peary Land and Ellesmere Island – in the northernmost, unglaciated terrestrial environments on Earth. These are considered highly sensitive to climate change. Novel data sets will be collected to combine carbon balance with recent and past Holocene activity of periglacial and lacustrine landforms. This gives a unique snapshot of intergrated physical and biogeochemical variability of the High Arctic. The main goal is to integrate field-based teaching with key research questions addressing current and future sensitivity of polar landscapes to climate change. The University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS, from 2006 a key partner in the Svalbard Science Centre, is the only university facility with year-round activities in the High Arctic. Thus UNIS, will be the logistical and scientific base. On Svalbard, the Longyearbyen and Kapp Linne sites with ongoing landform monitoring will be In Spe working sites. Central Peary Land offers landscapes comparable to the Svalbard sites, but these remain uninvestigated by modern approaches. Ellesmere Island is significantly cold and dry, but conditions have never been directly compared with conditions in Peary Land and Svalbard. During IPY we plan two field expeditions from Svalbard to Peary Land and Ellesmere Island. In 2007, the researchers teaching the course will visit all course sites to install equipment and initiate data collection. In 2008, the summer-long course will take place. Students will come to Svalbard for safety training and preparation. The course will then work at the two Svalbard sites, before traveling to Peary Land, and, finally to Ellesmere Island, before returning to Svalbard for a final workshop period, analyzing and presenting collected data. The In Spe will: · Obtain snapshots of the carbon balance, active layer thickness, permafrost thermal state, lake sedimentation and geomorphological activity from the northernmost terrestrial part of Planet Earth · Produce datasets that are relevant for teaching arctic system science to a broad spectrum of students and institutions · Increase understanding of climate control on landscape dynamics in the High Arctic landscapes; · Generate data for cryospheric and biogeochemical modeling efforts; · Report results from 2008 and onwards at conferences and as journal articles.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
In Spe contributes as follows: theme 1: Collects snapshot data of snow cower and carbon storage and export, theme 2: Collects data on modern and Holocene lake and permafrost geomorphological processes, theme 3: Improved global climate understanding especially on global carbon cycle, theme 4: Peary Land area is largely uninvestigated using modern scientific field methods, thus the collection of data will leave a legacy of the In Spe field site, theme 6: The Longyearbyen Svalbard site holds a village of 2000 inhabitants. Here monitoring will improve the understanding of climate variability and its effect on landform processes affecting the infrastructure.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
The University Centre in Svalbard will coordinate the course in collaboration with University of Copenhagen, Denmark; University of Ottawa, Canada; University of Massachusetts, USA; University of Cardiff, UK; University of Tsukuba, Japan; and relevant working groups of the International Permafrost Association (IPA). Cooperate with EoIs: RISE, PolarPACE and IPA TSP. q2_1_Location : Svalbard (Longyearbyen (all year round) and Kapp Linne (summer) sites), Peary Land (probably Frederick E. Hyde Fjord, summer) and Ellesmere Island (probably Fosheim Peninsula and Eureka,summer).

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Svalbard (Longyearbyen (all year round) and Kapp Linne (summer) sites), Peary Land (probably Frederick E. Hyde Fjord, summer) and Ellesmere Island (probably Fosheim Peninsula and Eureka,summer).

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 06/07 – 08/08            
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Fixed wing transport aircraft from Svalbard to Peary Land/Greenland and from Peary Land to Ellesmere Island. Aircrafts for this exist on Svalbard. Others could use airplane connections setup between the mentioned localities. Helicopters will be used for local transport in Pearly Land and at Ellesmere Island.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The In Spe project will establish a baseline landscape dynamics monitoring programme during the IPY. This monitoring could be operated for future use. The snapshot data collected during IPY will provide a database for arctic terrestrial research that will be a legacy in itself.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Own national polar operator
National agency
Own support
Other sources of support

The project can help establishing a high-arctic summer air connection between Svalbard, N Greenland/Peary Land and N Canada/Ellesmere Island, which will in the future enable improved international cooperation in this climatically very diverse area.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Endorsement will be applied for at the Norwegian, American, British, Canadian, Danish, Greenlandic, and Japanese National IPY committees.

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?
New

In Spe is a new project, but it will give new input to existing international databases such as IPA GTN-P and the palaeoclimatology database of the World Datacenter-A. We also envision that the In Spe course will be a University of the Arctic course.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The In Spe researchers will form a Steering Committee, most likely with one of the participating UNIS researchers as the leader. The Steering Committee will be responsible for designing in detail the field measuring programme, the travel between sites, ensure that students get credits for the course at their different universities, enrollment of students from all over the arctic, research output and presentations. We hope to use the suggested Svalbard IPY research platform for our databases and for logistics, see separate IPY EoI SVALPLAT.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
The In Spe field course is developed from 3 years experience of US and Norwegian REU project cooperation in a Svalbard landscape course. This will be extended into unexplored, climatically different parts of High Arctic Greenland and Canada, thus merging experience on landscape dynamics across the three northernmost High Arctic land areas.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
Data will be organised into one database administered at UNIS, available to all participating students and scientists.The WMO/IPA GTN-P database at the Geological Survey of Canada (www.gtnp.org) is one of the international databases that In Spe data will be submitted to, but also to NSIDC- CAPS CD and GGD.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Principal funding would be from national funding agencies. Some UNIS course funding will be available.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
We expect participating students from our seven nations in the In Spe course, and from other countries. Today students from 25 nations study at UNIS. The US REU project have students from all the USA. We will have Ph.D. students to live and work with year-round data collection at Svalbard.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Hanne H. Christiansen
The University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS
P.O.Box 156
Longyearbyen
9171
Norway

Tel: 0047 79023320
Mobile: no
Fax: 0047 79023301
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation