The PAGE21 project has now been officially closed. The four years of research came to an end on October 31 2015, leaving only...
PAGE21 project was featured in a plenary session "Permafrost in the 21st century" at the 2015 Arctic Circle conference in Reykjavik,...
A Quarter of a Century of International Arctic Research Cooperation
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- Created on Monday, 19 January 2015 12:29
In the context of its 25th anniversary this year, the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) is pleased to present a comprehensive publication on its history from the planning process in the late 1980s until today.
Printed as a special issue of the IASC yearbook, the publication compiles and analyzes the history and development of IASC and its initiatives and achievements. A collection of historical documents, a film and a brochure presenting a timeline of the most important events in the development of IASC in the last quarter of a century complement the publication.
The book „IASC After 25 Years", edited by Odd Rogne, Volker Rachold, Louwrens Hacquebord and Robert Corell, as well as the supporting documents are now available on the IASC History Website.
Printed copies of the publication will be available at the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) 2015 in Toyama, Japan. www.assw2015.org.
New PAGE21 related publication on Nature Geoscience on "Net regional methane sink in High Arctic soils of northeast Greenland"
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- Created on Monday, 12 January 2015 08:56
Nature Geoscience just newly published a PAGE21 related paper called "Net regional methane sink in High Arctic soils of northeast Greenland" authored by Christian Juncher Jørgensen, Katrine Maria Lund Johansen, Andreas Westergaard-Nielsen and Bo Elberling from the University of Copenhagen.
This paper presents measurements of rates of methane consumption in different vegetation types within the Zackenberg Valley in northeast Greenland over a full growing season.
Based on these measurementthe authors conclude that the ice-free area of northeast Greenland acts as a net sink of atmospheric methane, and suggest that this sink will probably be enhanced under future warmer climatic conditions.
Jørgensen, C.J., Johansen K.M.L., Westergaard-Nielsen, A. & Elberling, B. (2014) High Arctic CH4 sink reverses the CH4 budget of Northeast Greenland. Nature Geoscience, (Published online 8 Dec 2014), doi: 10.1038/ngeo2305
Full article can be accessed HERE.
Arctic Change 2014 took place last week
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- Created on Wednesday, 17 December 2014 09:55
Arctic Change 2014 Conference took place last week, 8 – 12 of December in Ottawa, capital city of Canada.
Climate change and Arctic issues, including the health of Northerners, melting sea-ice, intercontinental shipping, resource exploration, and the expansion of national jurisdictions, are moving to the top of national and international agendas.
Circumpolar nations face an increased urgency to expand the observational basis needed to formulate strategies and policies that will minimize the negative impacts and maximize the positive outcomes of the on-going transformation of the Arctic.
Building on the success of its annual scientific meeting, the ArcticNet Network of Centres of Excellence and its national and international partners welcomed the international Arctic research community to Ottawa for the International Arctic Change 2014 Conference.
Coinciding with the pinnacle of Canada's Chairmanship of the Arctic Council, Arctic Change 2014 welcomed the participation of international researchers, students, policy and decision makers, representatives of government and non-government organisations, the private sector, northern stakeholders and media to address the global challenges and opportunities arising from climate change and modernisation in the circum-Arctic.
With over 1000 participants expected to attend, Arctic Change 2014 was one of the largest trans-sectoral international Arctic research conference ever held in Canada.
Click here for more information and to watch videos from the conference.
TEMPS Symposium to take place in Switzerland
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- Created on Tuesday, 16 December 2014 11:06
The Symposium on ´´The evolution of mountain permafrost´´ will take place in Sion, Switzerland 4th – 7th February 2015.
The Symposium acts partly as final symposium of the inter-disciplinary TEMPS-project (The evolution of mountain permafrost in Switzerland) funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
The main objective of TEMPS and the above symposium is an improved understanding of the vulnerability of mountain regions to permafrost changes and to assess the current and future impacts on populated mountain regions such as the European Alps.
The 2-day symposium will include invited lectures on mountain permafrost research, the presentation of the main project results, and a specific practitioner's day (German/French) to strengthen the relation between science and practice.
All permafrost-interested practitioners and scientists are cordially invited to join the symposium.
Click here for more information about the Symposium.
Final version white paper on Requirements for Monitoring of Permafrost in Polar Regions is now available
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- Created on Thursday, 27 November 2014 10:27
The final version of the white paper on Requirements for Monitoring of Permafrost in Polar Regions in response to the WMO Polar Space Task Group, is now available online.
The Polar Space Task Group (PSTG) has been established as the coordinating body of space agencies, in particular the Space Task Group (STG), for space-based observations of Polar Regions after the International Polar Year (IPY). The PSTG has been established under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) Executive Council Panel of Experts on Polar Observations Research and Services (EC-PORS).
The group's mandate is to provide coordination across space agencies to facilitate acquisition and distribution of fundamental satellite datasets, and to contribute to or support development of specific derived products for cryospheric and polar scientific research and applications.
Requirements for space-based monitoring of permafrost observables had been defined within the IGOS Cryosphere Theme Report at the start of the IPY in 2007 (IGOS, 2007). However, during the PSTG-3 meeting in Paris May 2013, the PSTG identified the need to review the requirements for permafrost monitoring and to update these requirements as necessary.
Recommendations and data requirements specified are requested to be verified within the community. Requirement surveys with focus on satellite data are available from the ESA DUE Permafrost User requirements survey (2009), the United States National Research Council (2014) and the ESA-CliC-IPA-GTN-P workshop in February 2014. These connect needs especially those listed in the IGOS Cryosphere Theme report (IGOS, 2007).
In the present white paper, both monitoring site-specific and sensor-specific recommendations are made for polar regions in response to the PSTG request.
A draft has been discussed at the Third European Conference on Permafrost (EUCOP) meeting in June 2014. Its modified version was presented at the 4th WMO-PSTG meeting in September 2014.
Click here to download the white paper.