Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Sources, composition, concentration and spatial and temporal distribution of aerosols entering the Arctic and Antarctic  (Circumpolar Aerosols)

Outline
The goals of this proposed activity are to: a) Characterize the spatial and temporal distributions and potential impacts of natural and anthropogenic aerosols entering the polar regions. b) Establish a uniform aerosol baseline from which future determinations of polar aerosol change can be made c) Quantify the impacts of mid-latitude aerosol sources, especially anthropogenic sources, on the composition and concentrations of polar aerosols d) Identify the common pathways by which aerosols reach the poles. The methods proposed to meet these goals are: a) Operate identical size- and time-resolved aerosol composition and concentration sampling equipment continuously at established long-term observatories arranged in rings around both the Arctic and Antarctic. b) Collect simultaneous aerosol measurements at all sites surrounding each pole during a one year period (summer to summer in each region). c) Chemically analyze all of the aerosol samples for mass concentration, optical properties, elemental composition and organic matter mass concentrations. d) Use the aerosol composition, size and temporal and spatial distribution data, coupled with trajectory modelling, to identify the sources and transport pathways and impacts of aerosols entering the Arctic and Antarctic. These goals and methods are designed to address the current lack of uniform, spatially-distributed aerosol measurements in the polar regions. This lack of information hinders the modelling and determination of aerosol impacts on global climate change, the Earth’s radiative balance and contaminant transport to sensitive Arctic and Antarctic ecosystems.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
This project will address IPY Themes 1-3 by increasing scientists’ understanding of the sources, characteristics and spatial and temporal distributions of aerosols entering the polar regions. This project would install identical aerosol instrumentation at existing polar observatories to a) characterize the spatial and temporal distribution of natural and anthropogenic aerosol sources impacting the polar regions (Theme 1), b) establish a uniform aerosol baseline from which future determinations of polar aerosol change can be made (Theme 2) and c) quantify the impacts of mid-latitude aerosol sources, especially anthropogenic sources, on the composition and concentrations of polar aerosols (Theme 3).

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
This project would involve international collaboration for the installation and maintenance of the aerosol instrumentation at polar observatories established and operated by a variety of countries (see section 2.1). The aerosol and meteorological data obtained at the observatories will be shared between the international partners.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Potential Arctic sites: Potential Antarctic sites: 1) Barrow, Alaska, USA 1) Zhongshan (China) 2) Eureka and Alert, Nunavut, Canada 2) Casey (Australia) 3) Ny-Alesund, Svalbard 3) McMurdo (USA) 4) Summit Station, Greenland 4) Palmer (USA) 5) Tiksi, Russia (Siberia) 5) Halley (UK) 6) Neumayer (Germany)

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 07/2007 – 06/2008            
Antarctic: 01/2007 – 12/2007            

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
This research will be conducted at pre-established Arctic and Antarctic observatories. The aerosol equipment proposed for this research is compact and low-maintenance. It can easily share space and technician time at the observatories without impacting other experiments.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
No. The large infrastructure, the long-term polar observatories, required for this project is already in place. In addition, the aerosol sampling equipment already exists.

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

The variety of sites proposed requires logistical support from many different agencies and countries. Each country has its own requirements for how the logistics are handled. For example, some of the sites are operated by governmental agencies (Barrow) while some are operated in conjunction with military organizations (Alert).

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
No. National and international endorsement will be sought.

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

This project is a new, autonomous effort that would leverage existing capabilities to provide circumpolar aerosol size and composition measurements and spatial and temporal distributions for determining the sources and impacts of aerosols entering the Arctic and Antarctic.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project will have a principal investigator who will be responsible for the success of the project. The principal investigator will lead a team of scientists who will report directly to her. The scientists will coordinate the logistics of deploying and operating the aerosol samplers with the appropriate representatives from each polar observatory, arrange the analysis of the aerosol samples, and ensure that high-quality, uniform, aerosol data is made available to the IPY community. The principal investigator will be responsible for overseeing the above activities and reporting the status of the experiment to each funding agency involved in the project.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Alaska Fairbanks will participate in this project as a part of their training to become scientists. It is expected that peer-reviewed articles and presentations resulting from this work will educate the scientific community about the results obtained from this project.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
The data obtained during this experiment will be transferred to an ICSU World Data Centre for use by other scientists.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
FundinFunding for this project will be sought from United States funding agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Additional support will be sought from international agencies in conjunction with international partners.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
nNoeNoNo.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Prof Catherine Cahill
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, AK
99775
USA

Tel: 907-474-6905
Mobile: no
Fax: 907-474-5640
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation