Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

CANADA #92:Canada Ocean Monitoring Experiment  (COME)

Outline
Canada is surrounded by one ocean continuum, extending from the subarctic North Pacific through the Arctic Ocean and out into the subarctic North Atlantic via Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea. An integrated view of the high-latitudes and climate requires a new perspective that links the Arctic and its adjacent oceans (Pacific and Atlantic) in an interdisciplinary manner (e.g. climate, physical habitat, ecology). The Canada Ocean Monitoring Experiment (COME) involves the incremental addition (at modest cost) of federally-coordinated observational programs (physics, chemistry and biology) to existing Canadian icebreaker missions that, in effect, encircle the entire coastline of sub-arctic and arctic North America (Canada) twice yearly. Indeed, Canada’s surrounding oceans urgently require monitoring to allow effective governance and to fulfil commitments to international programs. COME will allow Canada to economically address priorities of international Arctic programmes. The map below illustrates a cruise track using two Canadian icebreakers: the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent based out of Halifax, and the CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier based out of Victoria. While the focus of COME is on the Arctic for IPY, the track also works the North Atlantic (e.g. crossing the Gulf Stream and Ocean Station-B) and North Pacific (e.g. crossing the subarctic front and Ocean Station-P). A long-term watch of ice and ocean conditions would continue at Arctic Ocean Climate Station-A. COME will address arctic climate (e.g. CliC, CLIVAR, ASOF) issues by monitoring salt and heat fluxes at the Labrador Triangle (LT), Baffin Triangle (BT) and at the four Canadian Arctic Archipelago exits Nares Strait (NS) Hells Gate/Cardigan Strait (HC), Barrow Strait (BA) and Bellot Strait (BE), and will address ecosystem issues (e.g. CAFF, ACIA) by monitoring biodiversity around the entire coast of Canada.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Status: The legacy of COME is to establish baseline conditions in Canada’s oceans with emphasis on inter-basin connectivity. Change: Future change can be assessed against this multidimensional benchmark and models projected change can be validated with these data. Global Linkages: The dataset will allow the evaluation of connections among the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans. New Frontiers: This would be the first-ever synoptic-scale program to capture conditions in the subarctic and arctic seas surrounding the North American continent. Human Dimension: Policy and communications specialists will be recruited to the planning table during the initial planning stages of this project.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
To be carried out by a DFO-led, international and interdisciplinary team; as in the case of AOS-94, this project lends itself to collaboration by a widely interdisciplinary science team with expertise in physics, chemistry, biology, genomics, and geology.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
COME will utilize the CCGS Sir Wifrid Laurier and CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent to fully circumnavigate the subarctic and arctic seas of surrounding North America as an incremental part of annual Arctic missions and collect information on circulation, water masses, benthic and pelagic communities and ice, as illustrated in the following schematic (Figure 1).

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 07/07 – 09/07            
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Two CCG icebreakers with science-capibility (e.g. accommodation and lab facilities) are required for this. International cooperation will be required viz ports and clearances.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
COME will provide legacies in the form of: The expanded understanding of present conditions and future scenarios will allow validation of models and permit better management of use of resources by humans (fisheries, transport, minerals, oil and gas. This will gain: 1. International leadership for Canada and influence for Canadian policy 2. Science upgrades to the Louis S. St-Lauren and Sir Wilfrid Laurier. 3. Training, mentoring and a large database and suite of archive samples for the next generation of polar scientist

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

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Yes- Vetted through DFO planning committees (N-CAARE) 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: THEME: Education, Outreach & Communication SUB-THEME: Arctic Ocean Fluxes & Flows

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

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project will be led by Canadian Scientists who will prepare a detailed science plan, recruit the international team, and design data management strategies.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Education, outreach and communication plans include: 1. Inviting science writers, northerners and students to join on a year-by-year and leg-by-leg basis so as to offer timely media coverage. 2. Prepare syntheses of important findings and distribute these to media 3. Establish and expedition website.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
COME presents an opportunity for DFO to take the lead in archiving and managing multi-disciplinary data sets; DFO has already in place a data-management capability which would be expanded to encompass this task.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
We assume that funding will come from National and International sources. Within Canada it is likely that new funding (Memorandum to Cabinet) will be required to mount any kind of new IPY effort and this project would be put forward as a Canadian-led international exercise fulfilling the themes endorsed by ICSU.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
International support will follow from the reports of ICARP II working groups.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Eddy Carmack
DFO
Institute of Ocean Sciences,
9860 West Saanich Road, Sidney BC,
V8L 4B2
Canada

Tel: 250-363-6585
Mobile: no
Fax: 250-3636746
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation