SEARCH at AGU 2012 Fall Meeting

Study of Environmental Arctic Change
Study of Environmental Arctic Change

A SEARCH AGU Town Hall was held at the AGU fall meeting to provide a forum for open exchange on SEARCH activities and future priorities. Specific topics included the new SEARCH five-year goals and the Arctic Observing Network (AON). Approximately 80 members of the arctic science community attended the Town Hall, and input received during the discussion was used by the SEARCH Science Steering Committee to adjust SEARCH goals and planning. More information about the Town Hall and other SEARCH events at AGU is available here.

SEARCH Implementation Planning

Over the last few months, the SEARCH SSC and ARCUS (SEARCH project office) have focused on developing a proposal to NSF and other SEARCH Interagency Program Management Committee agencies in support of a new organizational structure and suite of activities to implement the SEARCH 5-year goals, which are:

  1. Improve Understanding, Advance Prediction, and Explore Consequences of Changing Arctic Sea Ice

  2. Document and Understand How Degradation of Near-Surface Permafrost Will Affect Arctic and Global Systems

  3. Improve Predictions of Future Land-ice Loss and Impacts on Sea Level

  4. Analyze Societal and Policy Implications of Arctic Environmental Change

In addition to the four science goals, proposed SEARCH activities will advance AON and cross-cutting synthesis activities. One focal area of SEARCH activities will be "Arctic Futures 2050"—scenarios that describe plausible future states of the arctic system or its components based on recent trajectories and projected changes.

SEARCH is currently contributing to the planning of the Arctic Observing Summit (AOS) (also see the AOS article in this issue); Craig Lee, Chair of the SEARCH Observing Change Panel is serving as co-chair of the AOS organizing committee.

NASA Research Solicitations Provide Opportunities for SEARCH Science

SEARCH recently distributed a "Dear Colleague" letter encouraging members of the arctic research community to respond to three relevant NASA Research Announcements that align with SEARCH goals: (1) Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Science (NASA Solicitation
NNH12ZDA001N-IDS), (2) Sea Level Rise (NNH13ZDA001N-SLR), and (3) Cryospheric Science (NNH13ZDA001N-CRYO).

The full letter can be found here.

For more information on SEARCH activities, please contact Helen Wiggins, ARCUS (SEARCH Project Office) at helen [at] arcus.org, or Hajo Eicken (SEARCH SSC Chair) at: hajo.eicken [at] gi.alaska.edu.