AGU Fall Meeting LogoAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting
14–18 December 2015
San Francisco, California

The AGU Fall Meeting is the largest Earth and space science meeting in the world. SEARCH will have a large presence at the meeting and we hope to see you there!

SEARCH Town Hall

When: Wednesday, 16 December 2015, 12:30-1:30pm
Where: San Francisco, CA: Moscone Center, Moscone West 2011
# of Participants: 58
SEARCH Town Hall Summary Notes and Participant List
SEARCH Town Hall Presentation (PDF - 5.69 MB)

This AGU Town Hall with SEARCH leadership provided a forum for exchanging information and ideas on the SEARCH program. In addition, the event introduced the research community to SEARCH’s new Executive Director, Brendan Kelly; provided updates on the SEARCH Action Teams and the program’s planned activities for the coming year; explored opportunities for researchers, agencies, and other stakeholders to participate in and engage with the SEARCH program; shared outcomes, updates and insights related to Arctic Observing from the recent Arctic Observing Open Science Meeting.; and provided a forum for discussing SEARCH’s emerging directions and priorities. Members of the Arctic science, education, and policy communities were invited to attend. Students and early career investigators were encouraged to participate.

For more information, please contact:
Brit Myers
Email: brit [at] arcus.org

SEARCH Poster

When: Monday, 16 December, 1:40-6:00pm
Where: Moscone South - Poster Hall
Poster Title: PA33A-2177: Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH): Scientific Understanding of Arctic Environmental Change to Help Society Understand and Respond to a Rapidly Changing Arctic
Poster Abstract: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/84227
This poster presentation will present SEARCH activities and plans for the upcoming year.

SEARCH Poster (PDF - 2.8 MB)

SEARCH Workshops

Permafrost Carbon Network Meeting

Permafrost Carbon Network Logo

The Permafrost Action Team will host the 5th Annual Meeting of the Permafrost Carbon Network on Sunday, December 13th in San Francisco, CA prior to the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union. At this meeting, newest updates on ongoing synthesis activities will be presented to the large network with active involvement of participants in break-out sessions in the afternoon. This meeting is open to all interested members of the Permafrost Carbon Network. More information is available here.

Greenland Ice Sheet Ocean Observing System (GrIOOS) Workshop

Location: Fort Mason Centre - San Francisco, CA
Dates: December 12-13, 2015
A two day workshop will be held 12-13 December 2015 in advance of the AGU 2015 Fall Meeting in San Francisco to discuss the design and implementation of a Greenland Ice Sheet Ocean Observing System (GrIOOS). The aim of GrIOOS is to provide long-term time series of critical in situ glaciological, oceanographic and atmospheric parameters at several key locations around Greenland.

Specific goals of the GrIOOS workshop are to discuss:

  • the motivation for specific measurements;
  • integration with existing related long-term measurements around Greenland;
  • identification of key sites;
  • identification of instrumentation.

A workshop report will be drafted after the workshop and circulated for community input.

Invitations to participate in the workshop were extended based on submitted expression of interest statements (due August 23, 2015). Over 45 attendees from 7 different countries were selected to represent the glaciological, oceanographic, climate, and instrumentation engineering research communities as well as the government agencies of Greenland, Denmark and the United States. Special care was also taken to ensure balanced gender representation and the inclusion of early-career researchers.

The workshop is sponsored in part by SEARCH, CliC (Climate & Cryosphere), and GRISO (Greenland Ice Sheet Ocean Science Network). It has also been co-organized alongside the Pre-AGU ISMIP6 Workshop so that the ISMIP6 ice sheet modelers can participate in shared plenary workshop sessions, provide input to the GrIOOS effort and promote further collaboration within the broader observing community.

GrIOOS Workshop Steering Committee:
Jakob Abermann (Asiaq, Greenland); Andreas Peter Ahlstrøm (GEUS, DK); Gordon Hamilton (U Maine, USA); Patrick Heimbach (UT Austin & MIT, USA); Ruth Mottram (DMI, DK); Sophie Nowicki (NASA Goddard, USA); Ted Scambos (NSIDC, USA); Fiamma Straneo (WHOI, USA); David Sutherland (U Oregon, USA); Martin Truffer (U Alaska, USA)

GrIOOS Workshop Agenda and Participant List (PDF - 332 KB)

For more information please contact: grioos2015 [at] gmail.com

Revealing the New Arctic: A Climate Change Communication Workshop with Andrew Revkin of the New York Times

When: Wednesday, 16 December 2015, 3:00-4:30pm
Where: San Francisco, CA: Marriott Marquis, Room - Nob Hill CD
As part of the AGU 2015 Fall Meeting, the "Sea Ice" Action Team has organized a climate change communication workshop to promote SEARCH's “knowledge to action” mission.

Renowned environmental journalist Andrew Revkin, who writes the New York Times' Dot Earth blog, will lead workshop participants in an exploration of the process and the importance of finding creative outlets for Arctic science and images from the far North. The Arctic has long captured the imagination of scientists, artists, and journalists alike. With profound Arctic environmental changes underway, the cross-pollination of such minds and talents reveals new approaches for communicating science and the Arctic’s critical importance to a changing climate.

Andy will lead a discussion with participants, by reflecting on short presentations by:

Please pre-register for the event or contact Matthew Druckenmiller (druckenmiller [at] nsidc.org) for further information.

Andy Revkin Science Communication Workshop Flyer (PDF - 2.8 MB)

Sea Ice Prediction Network Workshop on Data Needs for Sea Ice Prediction

When: Thursday, 17 December 2015, 12:30-1:30pm
Where: San Francisco Marriott Marquis Hotel, 2nd Floor - Foothill E
This workshop will focus on how SIPN and others who provide data observations can best serve the needs of the forecasting community. The goal of the workshop is to help identify data needs for model initialization and verification, which available data products are useful and why, what improvements to existing data products would make for better utilizations (e.g., change in formatting), what additional observations are needed, and how limited spatial scale data from ship observations, etc., are being used.

For more information, please visit: https://www.arcus.org/sipn/meetings/workshops/december-2015

SEARCH Sessions

Global Eyes on the New Arctic: Exploring the Trajectory Toward a New State and Responding to Rapid Change (Sessions I & II)

Once considered a frozen and desolate region, irrelevant to all except those who live and/or work there, the Arctic has recently become a literal and figurative "hot spot" of interest to the world. Rapid disintegration of sea- and land-ice is hampering indigenous ways of life and disrupting natural systems while also creating new opportunities for commerce and other human activities. These two sessions will illuminate our rapidly evolving understanding of the effects of system-wide Arctic change on physical, ecological, societal, and political domains well beyond traditional Arctic boundaries—and vice-versa.

Session I: Posters (Session ID#GC11G)
When: Monday, 14 December 2015, 8am-12:20pm
Where: Moscone South - Poster Hall
Session Description: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/8477
Session Conveners: Lauren M. Everett, Jennifer Francis, Peter Schlosser, and Waleed Abdalati
SEARCH Posters: GC11G-1103

Session II: Papers (Session ID#GC14C)
When: Monday, 14 December 2015, 4pm-6pm
Where: Moscone West - 3005
Link: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/10315
Session Conveners: Lauren M. Everett, Jennifer Francis, Peter Schlosser, and Waleed Abdalati

For further information, please contact: Jennifer Francis (francis [at] imcs.rutgers.edu)

Glacier Ice-Ocean Interactions: Observations, Mechanisms, and Synthesis (Sessions I, II, III, IV)

Ice mass loss from marine-terminating glaciers, either directly or via ice shelves, is a significant contributor to global sea level rise, yet a mechanistic understanding of glacier-ocean interactions is limited. These sessions focus on synthesis studies of contemporary variability in coupled glacier-ocean systems worldwide, from small tidewater glaciers to large ice shelves, and their interactions with the ocean and climate as well as on the processes that govern interactions at the ice-ocean interface or modulate the coupling between the cryosphere and oceans.

Session I: Papers (Session ID#C11D)
When: Monday, 14 December 2015, 8am-10am
Where: Moscone West - 3007
Session Description:https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/10912
Session Conveners: Ellyn M. Enderlin, David Sutherland, Patrick Heimbach, Eric Rignot, Bernd Kulessa

Session II: Papers (Session ID#C12A)
When: Monday, 14 December 2015, 10:20am-12:20pm
Where: Moscone West - 3007
Session Description: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/10913
Session Conveners: Ellyn M. Enderlin, David Sutherland, Patrick Heimbach, Eric Rignot, Bernd Kulessa

Session III: Papers (Session ID#C13E)
When: Monday, 14 December 2015, 1:40pm-3:40pm
Where: Moscone West - 3009
Session Description: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/10914
Session Conveners: Ellyn M. Enderlin, Patrick Heimbach, Eric Rignot, Bernd Kulessa, Twila Moon

Session IV: Posters (Session ID#C21A)
When: Tuesday, 15 December 2015, 8am-12:20pm
Where: Moscone South - Poster Hall
Session Description: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/8012
Session Conveners: Ellyn M. Enderlin, Patrick Heimbach, Eric Rignot, Bernd Kulessa, Twila Moon, Helen Fricker

For further information, please contact: Dave Sutherland (dsuth [at] uoregon.edu) or Patrick Heimbach (heimbach [at] mit.edu)

AGU-EGU Great Debate on Sustainable Development of the Arctic (Session ID#U21A)

When: Tuesday, 15 December, 8am-10am
Where: Moscone South - 102
Session Description: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/11145
Session Convener: Denis-Didier Rousseau
SEARCH Papers: U21A-03

Vulnerability of Permafrost Carbon to Climate Change (Sessions I, II, III, IV & V)

Permafrost zone soils contain between 1330-1580 Pg of carbon. Permafrost degradation can change ecosystem carbon storage by enhancing microbial activity and ecosystem respiration, but can also stimulate plant growth and increase carbon stored in vegetation and surface soil. While increased permafrost carbon emissions in a warming climate are more likely to be gradual and sustained we need a better understanding of the magnitude and timing of greenhouse gas emissions from these remote regions to fully estimate the potential feedback from permafrost carbon to climate change. The Vulnerability of Permafrost Carbon to Climate Change sessions will feature papers and presentations examining the factors causing losses and gains in ecosystem carbon storage relating to the magnitude, timing and form of carbon release from permafrost. Papers may address any aspect of this topic from microbial communities to the global scale, using a range of measurements or modeling to detect and forecast permafrost thaw and the influence on the carbon cycle and future climate.

Session I: Posters (Session ID#B41J)
When: Wednesday, 16 December 2015, 8am-12:20pm
Where: Moscone West - 2004
Session Description: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/10251
Session Conveners: Christina Schaedel, Edward Schuur, Cristian Estop-Aragones

Session II: Papers (Session ID#s: B41J)
When: Thursday, 17 December 2015, 8am-10am
Where: Moscone West - 2004
Session Description: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/8594
Session Conveners: Christina Schaedel, Edward Schuur, Cristian Estop-Aragones

Session III: Papers (Session ID#B42C)
When: Wednesday, 17 December 2015, 10:20am-12:20pm
Where: Moscone West - 2004
Session Description: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/10249
Session Conveners: Christina Schaedel, Edward Schuur, Cristian Estop-Aragones

Session IV: Papers (Session ID#B43M)
When: Wednesday, 17 December 2015, 1:40pm-3:40pm
Where: Moscone West - 2004
Session Description: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/10250
Session Conveners: Christina Schaedel, Edward Schuur, Cristian Estop-Aragones

Session V: Panel Discussion (Session ID#B44D)
When: Wednesday, 17 December 2015, 4pm-6pm
Where: Moscone West - 2004
Session Description: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/11189
Session Conveners: Christina Schaedel, Edward Schuur, Cristian Estop-Aragones

For further information, please contact: Christina Schaedel (Christina.Schaedel [at] nau.edu)

Exploring the Role of Arctic Science in Developing International Arctic Policy (Sessions I & II)

The Arctic—home to highly sensitive ecosystems and dynamic human communities —provides integral early evidence to changes in the Earth system. The Arctic also provides a unique natural laboratory, and a range of research can be undertaken only there, including identifying effects of climate change on unique ecosystems, biodiversity, communities, and the rest of the globe. Physical changes in the Arctic are also driving new and challenging policy, and the leadership of the Arctic Council is being handed over to this United States this year, providing opportunities for new policy. This session seeks to highlight and evaluate the science opportunities to better inform the policies needed in a rapidly changing Arctic.

Session I: Papers (Session ID#PA13D)
When: Wednesday, 16 December 2015, 8am-10am
Where: Moscone South - 103
Session Description: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/8893
Session Conveners: Alexandra Shultz, Helen V. Wiggins, Yekaterina Y. Kontar, Molly Tedesche

Session I: Posters (Session ID#PA33A)
When: Wednesday, 16 December 2015, 1:40pm-6pm
Where: Moscone South - Poster Hall
Session Description: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/10156
Session Conveners: Alexandra Shultz, Helen V. Wiggins, Yekaterina Y. Kontar, Molly Tedesche
SEARCH Posters: PA33A-2177 & PA13A-2179

For further information, please contact: Helen Wiggins (helen [at] arcus.org)

Advances in Understanding Sea Ice Variability and Change in the Coupled Earth System (Session 1)

Session I: Posters (Session ID#C51A)
When: Friday, 18 December 2015, 8am-12:20pm
Where: Moscone South - Poster Hall
Session Description: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Session/7849
Session Conveners: Amy Solomon, Andrew Roberts, Michael Steele, James Pope
SEARCH Poster: C51A-0677
Poster Description: The decline in extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice is an active area of scientific effort with significant implications for ecosystems and communities. Forecasting sea ice extent for seasonal timescales, which is of particular interest to many stakeholders, is challenging due to variable weather and ocean behavior over that timescale as well as the current limits to data and modeling capabilities. The Sea Ice Prediction Network (SIPN) is developing a collaborative network of scientists and stakeholders to advance research on sea ice prediction and to communicate sea ice knowledge and tools. The project objectives are to coordinate and evaluate predictions; integrate, assess, and guide observations; synthesize predictions and observations; and disseminate predictions and engage key stakeholders. These objectives are advanced with projects such as the Sea Ice Outlook (SIO), efforts of the SIPN Action Teams, and a series SIPN webinars on topics relevant to the sea ice research community.

SEARCH Side Meetings & Other Events

Information on any SEARCH side meetings or other events of interest will be posted here is it becomes available.

SEARCH Science Steering Committee & Action Team Leads Meeting

When: Monday, 14 December, 6:30-7:30pm
Where: San Francisco Marriott Marquis Hotel, 2nd Floor - Foothill E
This is a closed meeting of the SEARCH Science Steering Committee and Action Team leads. Meeting participation is by invitation only.
Meeting Participant List & Agenda

SEARCH Sea Ice Action Team Meeting

When:Wednesday, 16 December, 10:00am-12:00pm
Where: San Francisco Marriott Marquis Hotel, 2nd Floor - Foothill D
This is a closed meeting of the SEARCH Sea Ice Action Team. Meeting participation is by invitation only.

Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) Annual Meeting & Community Reception

When: Wednesday, 16 December 2015, 6:00-7:00pm (Annual Meeting) & 7:00-8:30pm (Reception)
Where: San Francisco Marriott Marquis Hotel, 2nd Floor - Foothill E
Annual meetings serve to gather ARCUS members, staff and the Board of Directors, Arctic researchers, agency personnel, and policy makers working to promote discovery, understanding and sound decision-making in the Arctic. Our members include organizations and individuals who are making valuable contributions to Arctic research. Join us for our 2015 Annual Meeting and Community Reception to learn more about ARCUS' ongoing efforts to better connect and support the Arctic research community and the many values and benefits associated with ARCUS membership.
More info: https://www.arcus.org/annual-meetings

Permafrost Carbon Network Social Mixer

When: Thursday, 17 December, 6:00-9:00pm
Where: Palio d'Asti Restaurant - 640 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94111
This social event is co-hosted by the Bolin Centre for Climate Change Research at Stockholm University and will be a great opportunity to network and socialize with peers after a full day of talks at AGU. Free appetizers will be served and the first 50 drinks (wine or beer) are free. We hope to see many of you at the event!

Contact Info

For more information on SEARCH activities at AGU, please contact Brit Myers at brit [at] arcus.org.