Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

CANADA #57:Polar View: The Polar Information Centre  (Polar View)

Outline
The proposed activity will develop an international network of regional centres to provide both near-real-time monitoring and on-demand geospatial information for the Earth’s polar regions. The centres will rely primarily, but not exclusively, on Earth Observation (EO) data. The proposed network builds on two initiatives previously supported by the European Space Agency (ESA), including the Canadian-led Northern View group and the Norwegian-led ICEMON consortium. Both projects, which will merge to form Polar View, are funded under the ESA/European Commission Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program with support from national agencies. Satellite monitoring is a powerful tool for polar monitoring. It is the only operational method to provide information over large and often inaccessible areas in a cost-effective manner. EO-derived information can support monitoring and analysis related to sustainable development (e.g. transportation, resource exploration, site remediation, bio-productivity monitoring), the environment (e.g. climate change, pollution, animal populations and habitats), and public safety (e.g. activity monitoring, disaster management, search and rescue). Regional centres, or nodes will be established in North America (hosted in Canada by C?CORE), the Euro-Russian Arctic (hosted in Norway by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute), Fennoscandia (hosted in Finland by the Finnish Institute of Marine Research) and the Antarctic (hosted in the United Kingdom by the British Antarctic Survey). These nodes will be virtual centres with a manager and a small number of dedicated people for administration, promotion, and response to information requests. The majority of the activities will be executed by companies, institutes and government agencies distributed throughout the region. The centres will also be highly networked for execution of circumpolar monitoring efforts and the development of international activities. It is intended that this network will ultimately become a “one-stop shop” for those who require information about the world’s polar regions that can be practically extracted from Earth observation techniques. The complexity of services provided will range from responding to one-off requests for information to ongoing, routine monitoring and analysis. Emphasis will be on the latter. The primary target clients include the public sector and the scientific community. The Polar View project will provide access to EO based data to support numerous IPY projects. These data will support both logistics (e.g. sea ice distribution information for shipping) and science (e.g. ocean chlorophyll distribution for research cruises).

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Theme 1: The activity will quantify numerous polar environmental parameters including: vegetation classification and habitat fragmentatation; infrastructure and impact of industrial development on biodiversity; seasonality, extent and thickness of sea ice; effects of changing permafrost distribution; glacier motion, calving, mass-balance and discharge estimation. Theme 2: Satellite image archives provide a short but significant historical record with which to quantify changing conditions using the above metrics among others. Theme 6: Traditional ways of life in the north dictate living off the land. Services proposed include the provision of daily sea ice edge and ice bridge information to northern inhabitants.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
This project builds on two initiatives involving over 50 institutes, companies, and government agencies in Canada, USA, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, United Kingdom and France. It includes all of the northern hemisphere national ice centres working under the International Ice Charting Working Group umbrella and is linked to EC Framework programs. It is currently planning expansion to incorporate Antarctic national science organisations, COMNAP (Council Of Managers Of National Antarctic Programs) and IAATO (International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators).

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
The geographic scope of the activity is the majority of the Arctic and Antarctic. Fieldwork will consist of visits to remote northern areas for consultation. Antarctic fieldwork will be conducted opportunistically and will be incremental to existing expeditions.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: TBC            
Antarctic: TBC            

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Facilities are the current and future satellites and receiving stations. Canada’s Department of National Defence plans to build an additional ground station in the Arctic. Other facilities are workstations and software to process imagery and disseminate information. These exist. Facilities of the national ice services will be amongst those used.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The legacy will be a structured, integrated and international polar information service network.

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

Logistics are not an issue for this project.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
The project has not been submitted specifically to IPY representatives. It has however been endorsed by national agencies such as the Canadian and European Space Agencies. It has been presented at the Arctic Council SAO meeting, and it includes participants such as UNEP / GRID-Arendal.

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?
Exp

The Polar View initiative is the result of merging two concluding activities that had a combined budget of approximately €3 M over 20 months. The Polar View proposal has received a funding commitment from the Canadian Space Agency and is being proposed to the European Space Agency for a total budget of €9 M from 2005 to 2008.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The overall Polar View network will be managed by C-CORE in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. C-CORE is the manager of the preceding Northern View program. The network will comprise nodes and node managers as listed in 1.3. This will be a free-standing activity but the desire is to exploit the mutual benefit of linking it with the IPY program.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Polar View will have a dedicated budget for promotion, education and outreach. Students: hiring students to work on monitoring activities, sponsorship of graduate students. Outreach & communication: production and distribution of brochures, presentations at key symposia, meetings with policy and decision makers, generation of a website, provision of reports.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
Polar View input data is primarily satellite imagery that has existing terms and conditions for access and use. Output data will be in internationally accepted standards and provided directly to the various clients as well as international databases. The Polar View project will liaise with the IPY Data policy and management sub-committee in order to adopt common standards if appropriate.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
As dPolar View will be requesting €9 M from the European Space Agency under the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security program. The probability of approval is considered high. Additionally, financial support will be sought from various recipients of the Polar View information services.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
None

PROPOSER DETAILS

Mr Andrew Fleming
High Cross
Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 0ET
UK

Tel: +44 1223 221451
Mobile: no
Fax: +44 1223 362616
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation