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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.

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

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 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.

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 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.

Update: The conference will be postponed because of coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. The new dates will be published later! Thank you for you patience.

(Im)migration in the north is not a new phenomenon, but indeed an unexplored area of research and development. The Arctic region is facing new problems and challenges along the side of the already existing ones of Arctic migration. Asylum flows, refugees are a growing group of inhabitants in the Arctic. Cultural differences, acceptance of foreign citizens in the local communities, integration into local communities and labour market are some of the issues, which need cross border cooperation in order to contribute to innovative solutions. Our network (UARCTIC) wants to address these issues and carry out pioneering work in the field of Arctic migration. This will be the first ever conference on (im)migration in the cap of the north that is a part of series of activities of UArctic Thematic network on Arctic Migration. All international Arctic and non-Arctic actors, researchers and policymakers are invited to attend the conferences.

Objectives: The Nordic integration model is an effective model across the world and the Nordic countries share and follow a comprehensive integration path which is based on welfare schemes. However, there are some disparities between policies and implementation of those policies in practice regarding immigrants or refugees. Socio-economic integration is a complex phenomenon. Subjective happiness of immigrants’ and the degrees of being satisfied differ from immigrant to immigrant — individual to individual— cities to cities. The project will investigate whether there are regional differences in happiness among immigrants in Nordic countries that will support or strengthen the Nordic synergies and identity. The project will identify the degrees of satisfaction of immigrants and whether the impact of effective integration is similar across the Nordic cities. How the happiness of immigrants is distributed among the Nordic cities, whether the quality of life is similar within the Nordic countries. How we can build integrated societies, what could be the model, tools and measure for an inclusive society and for being resilient.

Call for abstracts:

The call for abstracts is open until 29 February 2020 (noon, GMT +2, Finnish time). The topics include:

• Gender and migration in the arctic
• Immigrants and the labour markets in the North
• The role of mass media in the integration of immigrants
• Cooperating the stateless
• Growing arctic cities, shrinking arctic cities, melting arctic cities
• Local languages, education: Integration of adult and youth
• Outward migration from the arctic

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.