Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Co-ordination of Observation and Monitoring of the Arctic for Assessment and Research  (COMAAR)

Outline
COMAAR will bring together networks, projects and observatories that monitor and observe the living conditions and environment of the Arctic in order to provide high level co-ordination of activities. Interactions among the actors will be facilitated and improved and access to the wide range of relevant monitoring and observation networks, facilities and databases will be greatly enhanced by various media such as an over-arching web site, workshops, data bases and metadatabases. This co-ordination and integration of monitoring and observation will advance the capacity for research and assessment of changes, such as climate change, in the Arctic. COMAAR will therefore, provide a platform for a) capacity building for assessing the current state of the environment and living conditions in the Arctic, b) for detecting change, and c) for attributing change among multiple concurrent drivers. By providing a forum for co-ordination of networks and actors, COMAAR will achieve added value across a wide range of measurement and observation and will reduce duplication of effort. Concurrently, COMAAR will provide a focal point for identifying gaps in current observation and monitoring and provide a mechanism to develop more interdisciplinary and comprehensive data collection. COMAAR aims to link observation and measurement with end users and stakeholders at a range of levels from local communities to global observation and monitoring programmes as well as local, national, regional and global assessments. Its geographical scope will include the circumarctic area (including the sub-arctic marine and terrestrial areas of the eight members of the Arctic Council). Its disciplinary scope will include human health and welfare, demography, culture, land and natural resource use and their sustainability, climate of the atmosphere, land and ocean, atmospheric chemistry and physics, metereological observations, biogeochemical cycling, contaminants, emergency risks, oceanographic features such as sea ice dynamics, salinity, currents, hydrology including cryospheric processes (e.g. glaciers and permafrost), terrestrial features such as erosion, slope processes active layer, snow cover, biodiversity from genetics of different populations of particular species to large scale landscapes and marine environments. Within these disciplines, a variety of methods are used, e.g. survey, measurements at fixed terrestrial observatories, measurements from moving platforms (ships and ice-flows), indigenous observations, periodic campaigns, and satellite and other remote sensing. A Steering Committee including representatives of major observation and monitoring stations and networks, assessment programmes and Arctic residents, including indigenous peoples, will oversee the work of a Secretariat that will collate information on relevant activities, and facilitate outreach. All Arctic Council working groups will be actively involved. The Secretariat will develop a metadata base of ongoing observation and monitoring activities and will make information available to the scientific and other communities. The Steering Committee and Secretariat will be both pro-active in capacity building for observation and monitoring of the Arctic’s environment and human dimension, and responsive to the needs of the assessment and research communities.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
We anticipate a significant increase in the availability of, and improvement in the access to reliable data from long term observation and monitoring at fixed sites. Also increased exchange of such data within the research and assessment communities and improved exchange of information between those communities and Arctic residents, including indigenous peoples. Substantially improved overall access to data, better quality data and improved data management protocols. As COMAAR will combine both natural and social monitoring activities across the circumarctic region as well as addressing different time scales within several scientific disciplines, COMAAR will address all of the six IPY themes.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
The COMAAR will link national monitoring and observation activities of Arctic Council member states and permanent participants with those of wider global processes, the international Arctic science community, traditional knowledge and indigenous approaches, into a coordinated network and interface that network through improved (open) access to data with relevant research and assessment programs.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Circumarctic. No own expedition plans, but baseline data from relevant IPY campaigns would be collated.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: past – present      present – future      
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
No additional logistic support/facilities needed for this initiative per se. All field activities will make use of existing and new observatories and other monitoring facilities as well as a wide range of ongoing and future projects and programmes.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
Yes. Reinforcement and strengthening of existing sites and establishment of new sites for permanent year-round, long term monitoring and observation in situ. A co-ordinated forum to stimulate development and deployment of new sensors, sampling and measurement technology, and observatories for new generations of observation and monitoring. A major objective of COMAAR is to substantially improve in situ permanent long term observation and monitoring around the Arctic.

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

Field sites under different management authorities will be encouraged to work together.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Yes. The Arctic Council Meeting of Foreign Ministers on November 24, 2004, decided that the Council will develop proposals to the IPY Joint Committee. Prior to that, Senior Arctic Officials endorsed the development of proposals based on the work of the Council and welcomed in that context the offer from Sweden to host an organizing session on “monitoring”. National Committees will also be asked to review in member states.

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?
Expansion

The COMAAR will build on existing and planned long term activities inside and outside the Arctic Council, and is expected to lead to the development and encouragement of new, innovative and permanently improved long term monitoring and observation activities throughout the Arctic at a “higher level” by 2007-2009 and beyond.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The COMAAR will be organized under the auspices of the Arctic Council member states (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and United States) with the participation of the permanent participants representing Arctic indigenous peoples. An international COMAAR Steering Committee will be established to coordinate activities and ensure appropriate links to the AC member states, the international Arctic science community, and to global monitoring processes such as those defined by the Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (TEMS) of GTOS , the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) and the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). The Steering Committee will operate an executive Secretariat.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Various channels will be used to disseminate information, including the established structures of the Arctic Council. A presentation will be made at the ASSW in China during April 2005. An initial scoping workshop will be held in Abisko, subarctic Sweden in the spring of 2005, where the observation and monitoring community and representatives of Arctic residents will be consulted.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
COMAAR will work with networks and actors to determine best practice to solve data management issues in the longer term. An initial target will be to establish a forum for exchange of information between indigenous observation and conventional science. In the short term, the Secretariat will collaborate with CEON (Circumarctic Environmental Observatories Network) to establish a widely accessible metadatabase, and with AON (Arctic Observation Network) to optimise the design of monitoring and observation networks. AMAP, the AC working group on monitoring and assessment, is expected to take an active role.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Currently, funding is provided by member states of the Arctic Council for monitoring and observations in the Arctic through various channels. We anticipate approaching these and other agencies e.g. EU, Nordic Council of Ministers, for expanded funding for COMAAR-initiated activities.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
The COMAAR initiative specifically addresses a priority area identified by the Arctic Council, the Arctic Climate Impacts Assessment Policy Document, and numerous national and international research organisations. The aim of this project is to address the need and opportunities for high level coordination of circumarctic monitoring, by providing a mechanism for co-ordinated Arctic monitoring and observation that is comprehensive, yet manageable, inclusive, feasible and flexible. COMAAR will consult widely to review the state-of –the -art and to prepare a detailed proposal for the June submission. ACRONYMS: AMAP = Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (Arctic Council Working Group) CAFF = Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna ( -“- ) PAME = Protection of Arctic Mrine Environment ( -“- ) EPPR = Emergency, Prevention, Preparedness and Response ( -“- ) SDWG = Sustainable Development Working Group (of the AC) IASC = International Arctic Science Committee

PROPOSER DETAILS

Prof Terry Callaghan
Abisko Scientific Research Station


SE 981-07
Sweden

Tel: +46 (0) 980 40071
Mobile: Alternative phone number +44 (0) 1457763003
Fax: +46 (0) 980 40171
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