Past Events

Lisa Saperstein, USFWS - Landfire and the Interagency Fuel Treatment Decision Support System Updates for Alaska

Eric Miller, BLM-AFS - Evaluating the Drought Code Using in Situ Drying Timelags of Feathermoss Duff in Interior Alaska

Drying timelag is a concept that derives from the logarithmic drying rate equation that is useful in classifying components of a fuel bed based on speed of moisture loss. It is used in the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System to calculate current moisture content from a previous value based on weather and environmental conditions. The Drought Code of the system is underlain by a simple water balance model that is increased daily by rainfall and decreased by actual evaporation and features a drying timelag >50 d. An abstruse algorithm has impeded a common understanding of the water balance model, specifically that it is purely hydrological and does not require the presence of a soil at all. Thus the only way to determine the nature of a soil with a timelag equivalent to the DC is through empirical measurement. A dataset of volumetric moisture content measurements at four depths in a black spruce-feathermoss forest in Interior Alaska is used to estimate drying timelag. The seasonally averaged timelag of the 20 cm duff profile was 28 d while the DMC and DC averaged 16 and 58 d, respectively. Using this measured timelag, potential and actual evaporation at the forest floor were estimated at 1.09 and 0.60 mm/day. In turn, these values indicate that a soil profile of 37 cm depth with a water-holding capacity of 68 mm would have a timelag equivalent to the DC. Such a soil would be 44% mineral soil by depth and 96% by weight. The seasonal pattern of timelag suggests that the permafrost table shortens the timelag early in the season when the full water-holding capacity is partially frozen and not available, although the pattern is also correlated with potential evaporation. Timelag is shown to increase in a mostly linear manner with soil depth. A curve is used to revise our understanding of the correspondence of soil horizons with the moisture codes of the FWI. An understanding of how timelag varies according to the physical and hydrological properties of boreal soils allows a better interpretation of the DC in Alaska as well as the causes of its eccentricities.

The ARCUS Arctic Research Seminar Series invites leading Arctic researchers and community leaders to share the latest findings in Arctic research and what they mean for decision-making. These webinar events are free and open to the public, and will be of particular interest to the international Arctic research community, federal agency officials, congressional staff, non-governmental organizations, Arctic educators, and the public.

Registration is required for each event.

Abstract:

Arctic lands and seas have experienced dramatic environmental and climatic changes in recent decades, and the pace of change is expected to accelerate in the future. Beginning in the early 1980s, a constellation of Earth-observing satellites has provided a unique vantage point for observing the remote and dynamic Arctic tundra biome—the treeless environment encircling most of the Arctic Ocean. The satellite record shows that the productivity of tundra vegetation has increased since the late 20th century, a phenomenon commonly referred to as “the greening of the Arctic.” Trends in tundra productivity, however, have not been uniform in direction or magnitude across the circumpolar region and there has been substantial variability from year to year. This variability arises from a web of complex interactions that link the vegetation, atmosphere, sea-ice, seasonal snow cover, ground (soils, permafrost, and topography), and animals of the Arctic system. In this talk I will begin with an overview of the tundra biome and address the questions: what are the drivers of Arctic vegetation change? What types of change would be apparent to an observer on the ground? And, what are the consequences of these changes for Arctic residents and the rest of the globe? Frost will explore these questions through the lens of the satellite record, field studies, and the rich knowledge-base of Arctic residents to understand the drivers and impacts of ecological change in the Arctic tundra biome.

If you are interested in being part of the conversation on Arctic research planning or are curious about what the Arctic Research Plan is and how it is being developed, please join us for an IARPC Webinar. In this webinar, IARPC will share information on the development of the next 5-year Arctic Research Plan, ways to be involved, and what kinds of input are being sought. There will also be time for questions and discussion. All are welcome to listen and ask questions.

The Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and the Polar Research Center in cooperation with The Committee on Polar Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Polar Consortium jointly organise the 38th International Polar Symposium "Environmental Changes in Polar Regions: New Problems - New Solutions" to be held on 15-17 October 2020 in Toruń, Poland.

The IPS is a recurrent bi-annual scientific conference on widely understood polar topics. The conference has been very popular within the research communities in Poland and abroad for years. Now it gives again a great opportunity to exchange experiences, to discuss and to integrate experts from various fields who conduct their research in the Arctic, the Antarctic and elsewhere in the world.

The IPS in 2020 is exceptional, since accompanied with a plenary meeting under an umbrella of the European Polar Board. We expect researcher from numerous countries, who will be participating in special topic sessions.

Last but not least, the 45th anniversary of the NCU Polar Station on Spitsbergen will be celebrated during the IPS.

Important dates:

• 1 December 2019: Registration open
• 15 May 2020: Registration close
• 31 May 2020: Abstract submission deadline
• 31 May 2020: Fee payment deadline
• 15 June 2020: Abstract acceptation

FRISP is an annual meeting to share research related to ice shelves, and their interactions with the ice sheet, ocean, and atmosphere. It is an Expert Group of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), and has organised regular meetings in Europe since 1984. FRISP is an appropriate meeting to present work in progress and discuss emerging research ideas, and is well-suited to early career researchers as well as senior scientists.

FRISP 2020 will begin on the evening of 21 June 2020 with an icebreaker and dinner, and will conclude with lunch on 24 June 2020.

This year, FRISP will be held at Hotel Döllnsee-Schorfheide which is 60km north of Berlin in Germany. The hotel is located in the midst of biosphere reserve Schorfheide, right next to lake Döllnsee.

Deadlines:
Conference registration and abstract submission extended until: 31 May 2020.

Abstract submission:

We welcome scientific contributions to the conference and encourage all attendees to present at FRISP (either a poster or an oral presentation), but it is not required. Abstract submission itself will be done through the separate email and does not have to be completed at the same time as registration.

Your abstract should meet the following requirements: in English language, 250 words maximum, abstracts may not include tables and graphs.

The EO for Polar Science Workshop will take place 28-30 October 2020 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

This workshop aims at assessing the latest advancement in the use of EO technology for Polar science, exploring the main challenges and opportunities for the coming decade and consulting with the community to contribute to define a common scientific agenda for the future.

The meeting is open to EO scientists, polar researchers and students, modellers, Earth system and climate scientists, industry, operational agencies, policy makers, representatives of local communities and other stakeholders interested in sharing their knowledge and experience and contributing to drive the European polar scientific agenda. Any Additional Information or Notes: Polar regions have experienced the most rapid rates of warming in recent years and its expected impacts will exceed those forecasted for many other regions in the planet resulting in local, regional and globally significant consequences affecting natural ecosystems and human activities.

Improving our observation capacity and enhancing the basic understanding of the different drivers and processes governing those changes and translate that knowledge into actionable solutions for society is a major challenge for the future.

Earth observation from space and Earth system science will represent an essential element in this process. However, addressing the major challenge in Polar research will require a significant collaborative effort and an integrated approach to science where the synergistic use of EO satellite data, in-situ and citizen observations, advanced modelling capabilities, interdisciplinary research and new technologies will be essential elements.

Abstract submission closure: 1 June 2020

Learn about our most current and exciting research through fast and informal virtual talks presented by Byrd Center PIs, Postdocs, and Grad students.

Everyone is welcome to attend via Zoom! Please follow the link above to register.

• Monday, May 18, 2020 - 11:00am to 12:30pm (EDT)
• Monday, June 1, 2020 - 11:00am to 12:30pm (EDT)
• Monday, June 15, 2020 - 11:00am to 12:30pm (EDT)

Monday, May 18:

Michalea King, Spaceborne perspectives of rapidly changing Greenland outlet glaciers.
Michael Durand, Measuring the Water Cycle.
Audrey Sawyer, Modeling groundwater flow and heat transport near water track features in Arctic hill slopes.
Emilio Mateo, Current research by the Glacier Environmental Change Group.
Kira Harris, Virtual Reality
Melisa Diaz, Soil geochemistry of the Shackleton Glacier region, Antarctica.

Monday, June 1:

Emilie Beaudon, Paleo-synoptic Changes as Recorded in the Mineral Dust in the Guliya Ice Cap, Northwestern Tibetan Plateau.
Allison Chartrand, Mass balance of ice shelf basal channels.
Devin Smith, Geochemistry and hydrology of Irish rivers.
Chris Gardner, Iron behavior and bioavailability in sub-aerial runoff into the Ross Sea.
Joey Durkin, Re-evaluating the elastic response of the Antarctic continent to present-day ice mass change.
Saurabh Vijay, The influence of Greenland's supraglacial lakes during melt season.

Monday, June 15:

Aaron Wilson, A collection of Ohio-related weather and climate projects.
Kyungmin (Kay) Sung, Analyzing long term and seasonal drought trends.
Paolo Gabrielli, Climatic Processes Revealed by the Geochemistry of Atmospheric Particles Entrapped in Glaciers.
Deon Knights, Terrestrially derived nutrients transported to the Arctic Ocean have important implications for Arctic Ocean chemistry.
Santiago de la Pena Rodriguez, Seasonal surface ponding over the Greenland Ice sheet.
Zhiping Zhong, Viruses and microbes in glacier ice and Arctic brine.

The NASA Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) will convene their 6th Science Team meeting virtually. This is a great opportunity to connect with this major research effort, which has been working in Alaska and western Canada for 6 years and includes a focus on wildland fire disturbance. Relevant presentations will include:

• Understanding the Interactions between Wildfire Disturbance, Landscape Hydrology and Post-Fire Recovery in Boreal-Taiga Ecosystems (Laura Bourgeau-Chavez)
• Assessing impact of climate-driven increase in wildfire emissions on air quality and health of urban and indigenous populations in Alaska (Tatiana Loboda)
• NASA-USFS Partnership to Advance Operational Forest Carbon Monitoring in Interior Alaska (Bruce Cook)

Virtual Poster Session: May 23-31
Virtual Presentations and Breakouts: June 1-4

Due to the impact of COVID-19, we will be postponing the A Changing Arctic conference. Please check our conference website for updates.

The FRAM Centre, Nature Climate Change, and Nature Reviews Earth and Environment are pleased to present A Changing Arctic.

Robust evidence now exists for anthropogenically-forced shifts in the Earth's environment. Observations in the Arctic reveal dramatic reductions in the extent and thickness of the sea ice, rising atmospheric temperatures, widespread permafrost degradation and ocean acidification. These changes bring with them implications for biology, ecosystem services and society in general.

Full understanding of current and projected Arctic environmental change is becoming an imperative in order to minimize and manage corresponding impacts. This conference aims to provide a forum for the three main themes of:

• Land - incorporating ecological impacts, permafrost, ice sheets and landscape evolution.
• Ocean (coastal and open) - incorporating physical changes, ocean acidification, and ecological impacts.
• The Future — covering social aspects and including transformation, exploration, and management.

Submit your abstract no later than Monday, February 24, 2020 at 18:00 (6:00 p.m.) EST.
Please note, the early registration period ends February 1, 2020.

Over the past few years, SIN Russia and the NERC Arctic Office have been working with the UK Arctic science community to help foster and deepen UK-Russia Arctic science collaborations, with multiple workshops delivered, projects supported and the UK-Russia Arctic Bursaries Programme launched.

The session will be an important opportunity to hear directly from UK-based researchers who are establishing successful links with their Russian counterparts; to learn about recent practical collaborations and developing new opportunities for joint work; and to engage in discussion between researchers and policy/decision-makers about the future of strengthening UK-Russia Arctic connections.

The session is aimed at policy and decision makers from Parliament, Government Departments, research institutions, universities, Research Councils and beyond. All are welcome.

Please follow the link above for more information and to register your interest in participating.

Please register in advance for the seminars. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the seminar.

The seminar will also be available afterwards on the Friends of the International Glaciological Society Facebook page so that you can watch it there if technology fails or you can't make it.

Svalbard is probably the region in the Arctic with the most in situ measurements; still, there are massive gaps. Such data gaps can be filled using frequent satellite-based acquisitions, new product generation using remote sensing, and integration of in situ data with satellite-based information.

This conference will provide a broad platform to various regional and Svalbard-wide studies that are being conducted using EO/RS/GI.

The aim of the conference is to:

• Promote the PhD students, postdocs, researchers, senior scientists and academicians to contribute actively in the SIOS’s special issue on EO/RS/GI.
• Review the state-of-the-art EO/RS/GI applications in Svalbard.
• Provide social experience to the Svalbard scientific community during the difficult time.

The conference is being organised and coordinated by the SIOS-KC, the Remote Sensing Working Group (RSWG), and the guest editors of SIOS’s special issue on EO/RS/GI.

The top five papers presented by Early Career Researchers will be invited to contribute as full papers to the SIOS’s special issue in the Remote Sensing Journal free of charge.

Deadline to submit abstracts: 24 May 2020.

Registration is free but mandatory. You would need to register in advance for this conference.

Please save the date for a virtual Workshop on Earth System Prediction Research and Development. The goal of the proposed workshop will be to engage scientists and stakeholders actively working on Earth system predictability to brainstorm and discuss options for accelerating progress in this area. Specifically, the workshop will explore opportunities for key R&D activities that would be most valuable, including transformative “big ideas” with regard to understanding Earth system predictability, considering observations, process research, modeling, technology and infrastructure.

Details on the themes to be addressed will be available soon.

Please note: Ground Truth Briefings are conducted exclusively by phone. There will be no physical meeting at the Wilson Center.

As the Arctic Ocean becomes more accessible due to climate change, governments and Arctic stakeholders are scrambling to keep up with increasing human activities in the region. Nations concerned have taken several steps to manage these activities, but current international arrangements will likely prove to be insufficient as the Arctic Ocean continues to change in profound ways.

Ambassador David Balton and Dr. Andrei Zagorski have recently co-authored a ground-breaking article analyzing the situation, "Implementing Marine Management in the Arctic." These two authors—one from the United States and one from Russia—have drawn on their long diplomatic and academic involvement with the Arctic to provide a candid assessment of the challenges confronting the Arctic Ocean and the limitations of the current international regime. Balton and Zagorski also offer a number of concrete suggestions for strengthening this regime, in both near-term and long-term.

The Wilson Center's Polar Institute and the Russian International Affairs Council, with the support of WWF, are pleased to invite you to a discussion with Ambassador Balton and Dr. Zagorski to consider these matters.

Public Teleconference
Toll Number: 1-517-308-9273
Toll-Free Number: 888-994-8797
Passcode: 6238346

Due to the high volume of people using conference call systems at this time, please be patient as you try to connect to this call. If you hear a notice that the numbers do not work, please wait a few moments and simply try again. If you connect and are placed on hold while waiting for an operator, please do so. They are working to connect callers as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience, and we look forward to continuing to engage with you!

Update 31 March 2020:

The summer school has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We plan to run it in summer 2021 instead.

The Sixth International Summer School in Glaciology will be organized by the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF).

The course will provide a comprehensive overview of the physics of glaciers and current research frontiers in glaciology with focus on quantitative glaciology and remote sensing. The course is open to 28 graduate students from around the world targeting primarily early stage PhD students who perform glacier-related research. It will be taught by faculty of UAF’s glaciology group and several invited guest instructors from outside Alaska.

Application deadline: 25 January 2020.

Update: Due to the current pandemic situation the date for the 5th OGGM workshop will be moved to February 22nd to 26th 2021, still in Neuharlingersiel, Germany.

The OGGM workshop is an annual, informal meeting for developers, users, and future users of the Open Global Glacier Model (OGGM) model. The workshop is open to any interested scientist (within the limits of our capacities!).

Who can participate?

Anyone interested in the model, or in glaciological modeling in general! In particular, we would like to encourage potential users and developers to join us, to get to know each other, and to gather first-hand information about the model internals. Note that in case of high interest we might have to limit the number of participants.

If you wish to participate to the workshop or if you have questions regarding the organization please send us an e-mail at info [at] oggm.org. Registration closes on March 31st, 2020.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, we have canceled the physical event scheduled for June 15-19. ICESat-2 Cryospheric Science Hackweek will be offered online in 2020, from June 8-18.

Participants will learn about technologies used to access and process ICESat-2 data with a focus on the cryosphere. Mornings will consist of interactive lectures, and afternoon sessions will involve facilitated exploration of datasets and hands-on software development.

Join us for five days of tutorials, data exploration, software development and community networking focused on open source tools to analyze and visualize ICESat-2 data for cryospheric applications. We will build on tools developed at our 2019 hack week, but attendance to that event is not a prerequisite for our 2020 hack week.

We welcome applications from participants at any career stage and level of technical ability. All tutorials and projects will use the Python programming language, and we will provide links to educational resources in advance of the event for those new to Python.

Application deadline: April 10, 2020.

Update: Based on current national/local guidance for the COVID-19 virus and the uncertainty of travel restrictions this summer for both Canada and the United States, the ESC Steering Committee has decided to postpone the 77thESC Meeting scheduled for 9 – 11 June 2020, York University, Toronto, Canada. The new virtual meeting will take place 9 June 2021.

The Eastern Snow Conference (ESC) is a joint Canadian/U.S. organization founded in the 1940s originally with members from eastern North America. Today, our members come from the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany, as well as North America. Our current membership includes scientists, engineers, snow surveyors, technicians, professors, students and professionals involved in operations and maintenance.

Call for papers:

The scientific program is open to sessions on theoretical, experimental, remote sensing, modeling, and operational studies of snow, ice, and winter hydrology. We anticipate including sessions on a wide variety of snow and ice themes, including in situ observations of snow, radar measurement of snow, and high latitude snow processes. The ESC has only plenary (oral and poster viewing) sessions, allowing time to view and discuss the research of each participant. You are invited to submit an abstract for an oral or a poster presentation (please indicate type). An abstract of 250-300 words should be submitted by 31 March 2020 to the program chair.

All papers, extended abstracts, or abstracts will be published in the 77th Proceedings of the Eastern Snow Conference. Please consult the ESC web site for details on submission. Conference information on registration and accommodations will be forthcoming and will be posted on the ESC website.

Sami language competence is a sought-after skill in the regional labour markets. Sami-related occupations can be found in traditional occupations such as reindeer husbandry and Sami handicrafts, but also in tourism and in creative industries. But are there enough Sami teachers? And how do Sami education institutions meet the labour market opportunities? A new Nordregio report investigates these questions and the results are discussed in a webinar together with Sami youth representatives Juhán Niila Stålka, board member of the youth association Saminuorra, and Arla Magga, the Sami Parliament in Finland, author of a report on cross-border education and the coordinator of an ongoing project on remote Sami language education.

Linnea Löfving from Nordregio together with Lise Smed Olsen from Oxford Research will present the results of the study which was commissioned by The Nordic Thematic Group on Sustainable Rural Development 2017-2020. The report will be available at the group's website as well as sent to all webinar participants middle of June.

A link to the event will be sent to all participants a day before, but registration is needed.

A virtual mini-symposium on The Mathematics of Arctic Data, originally scheduled to take place at the SIAM Conference on Mathematics of Data Science will now be held via Zoom.

A rapidly warming climate is leading to widespread melting of ice across the Arctic. At the same time, the volume and complexity of data on ice melting grow rapidly since many new tools (such as remote sensing, high-performance computing, etc.) for ice observation and modeling are now available. Recently, many data-driven physical models of the ice melting have been developing with converging of different mathematical techniques such as data assimilation, geometrical and topological data analysis, neural networks data analysis, etc. Simultaneously, the complex structure of Arctic data leads to discovering unexplored phenomena where new mathematics requires. In this mini-symposium, we present the speakers from mathematics as well from geoscience to discuss how mathematics helps in Arctic data analysis and modeling and how the complex Arctic data may be urging new mathematics.

The full information about this event, zoom link, and materials can be found on the web-page.