Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

DAta MIning and Outreach – Greenland long-term Arctic Instrumental Climate Data Sets  (DAMIO-IPY-DMI)

Outline
DAMIO-A Data Rescue: Long-term Arctic instrumental climate data sets are indeed of vital interest in understanding the different physical systems and mechanisms and the various observed impacts in the high Arctic. But this kind of information does not have a very high accessibility and data from Greenland is no exception.As the national meteorological institute for Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) has a long tradition for monitoring weather elements both in time in space and DMI holds many observations taken during the past app. 125 years.A collection and digitization of relevant older instrumental climate data with a good time resolution (besides the few already processed) are necessary in order to recover or “rescue” these data for further use.Keywords: Greenland, Data Rescue, Accessibility, Outreach, Historical Legacy, Data mining.DAMIO-B Data Presentation:At the same time it is also important to increase the interest for the climate and for utilization and accessing these instrumental data both on a national and international level by communicating relevant easily understandably and simple information about them to the public, examples may be “The Climate of Greenland” - a poster for the public schools, data set reports etc.Keywords: Greenland, Information, Education, Outreach, Communication.DAMIO-C Analysis: Another related IPY project called “Pan-Arctic Climate Variability Activity for the Past 50 to 150 years (PACLIVAP-50-150) has been submitted to IPY – JC (see that specific project description, also sent in copy to the Danish IPY committee). This project deals with data recovery and re-analysis of existing instrumental data sources supported by regional climate modelling in an international co-operation and DMI is a part of that. The present proposed data mining and outreach project can without problems be a stand-alone project, but on the other hand it also fits perfectly into the bigger international IPY project PACLIVAP-50-150.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Status: Long-term Arctic instrumental climate data gives a high quality representation of past climate variability in the Arctic and this is essential for determining the current state of the Arctic climate system. Change: The datasets will provide the basis for evaluating changes in the polar regions.Linkages: The data sets will also contribute to understand the polar regions in a bigger context. Human Dimension: The data sets will be a part of the necessary input for historic studies of the climate impact on the existence of human societies in the Arctic (“learning from the past”).

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
There is no direct international collaboration in this particular project, but indirectly the international collaboration could come through the IPY project PACLIVAP-50-150 project (see that project description)

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
No field work planned

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

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Mainly personal resources will be required to the project, key-in, data QC and homogeneity analysis, and publish results etc. Access to data and results for other groups and the general public are important.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The project will surely leave a more comprehensive set of long-term Arctic instrumental climate data series from Greenland than is the case today.

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

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
YES - Both in an international and in a national context many have expressed their interest in a more comprehensive set of long-term Arctic instrumental climate data series from Greenland

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

It is not a new idea or activity to collect and digitize older Greenland instrumental climate records, but nevertheless the instrumental climate information from Greenland still are very scarce. Data recovery is surely needed so for that reason the activity should gain more priority.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project will be coordinated by skilled personal in the national Met. Service in collaboration with different persons taking care of collecting, key-in, data QC, presentation etc.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
One of the main deliverables of the project will be to publish the data and other results in a very accessible way for both professional and more popular use.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
The data and results gained through the project should be available as quick as possible to support other activities.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
National funding

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
The proposed project is not very complex, but nevertheless many activities in the high Arctic could benefit from having access to a more comprehensive set of long-term Arctic instrumental climate data series from Greenland.

PROPOSER DETAILS

John Cappelen
Danish Meteorological Institute
Weather and Climate Information Division
Lyngbyvej 100
DK-2100
Denmark

Tel: +45 39157585
Mobile: +45 29270496
Fax: +45 39157598
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation