Martin Jeffries
ARC Arctic Sciences Division
OPP Office of Polar Programs
Start Date:
September 15, 2003
Expires:
August 31, 2010 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:
$943382
Investigator(s):
Roger Bales rbales@ucmerced.edu (Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:
University of California - Merced
5200 North Lake Road
Merced, CA 95343 209/228-4318
NSF Program(s):
ARCTIC RESRCH SUPPRT & LOGISTI
Field Application(s):
0311000 Polar Programs-Related
Program Reference Code(s):
OTHR, 1079, 0000
Program Element Code(s):
5205
ABSTRACT
Abstract
OPP #: 0336450
PI: Roger Bales
Title: Core Measurements at Summit, Greenland Environmental Observatory
Program: Arctic Research Support and Logistics
This 5-year project supports continuing and expanding the collection of long-term measurements of the Arctic atmosphere, snow and other Earth system components at the Summit Greenland Environmental Observatory (GEOSummit), located at an elevation of 3100 m on the Greenland ice sheet. A core suite of measurements has been collected at GEOSummit since 1993 and this project provides for the continued operation of GEOSummit as long-term site for year-round disciplinary and interdisciplinary measurements and research. The location provides a compliment to lower-elevation sites and a Northern Hemisphere analog to South Pole station. Measurements include baseline meteorology, radiation, tropospheric chemistry, snow properties and snow chemistry, some measurements in cooperation with NOAA-CMDL and measurements initiated by individual investigators. Measurements are aligned with the objectives of the World Meteorological Organization's Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) program. The atmospheric gas-phase and aerosol species being studied are all either sensitive indicators of anthropogenic impacts on regional and global atmospheric change, or are important chemically coupled species whose concentrations may be strongly influenced by changes in the Arctic, including changes in snow/ice surface temperatures, ice/snow cover, and atmospheric circulation. Related chemical measurements in the snow provide the needed link to investigate feedbacks between Arctic climate change, air-snow exchange, and atmospheric composition. Recent evidence indicates that important atmospheric chemical constituents undergo temperature-dependent exchange with ice/snow, and that some species are photochemically transformed and/or produced within the sunlit surface snowpack. Understanding arctic environmental change requires a quantitative understanding of the environmental controls (e.g., temperature, radiation, humidity, ozone concentration) on air-snow feedbacks, as well as the impact of these processes on the entire Arctic atmosphere. Because changes in Arctic atmospheric circulation are cyclic over 4-5 year or longer times, long-duration measurements are needed to understand circulation and to place observed changes in a long-term perspective. Data and results will be shared via the National Snow and Ice Data Center data archive
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
A. Orr, E. Hanna, J. Hunt, J. Cappelen, K. Steffen and A. Stephens. "Characteristics of stable flow over southern Greenland," Pure and Applied Geophysics (PAGEOPH), v.162, 2005, p. 1747.
Banta, J. R. and J. R. McConnell. "Annual accumulation over recent centuries at four sites in central Greenland," Journal of Geophysical Research, v.112, 2007.
Banta, J. R., J. R. McConnell, R. Edwards, and J. P. Engelbrecht. "Delineation of carbonate dust, aluminous dust, and sea salt deposition in a Greenland glaciochemical array using positive matrix factorization," Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., v.9, Q070, 2008.
Burkhart JF, Bales RC, McConnel, JR, Hutterli, MA. "Influence of North Atlantic Oscillation on anthropogenic transport recorded in northwest Greenland ice cores.," Journal of Geophysical Research, v.111, 2006.
Burkhart, J. F., M. Hutterli, R. C. Bales, and J. R. McConnell. "Seasonal accumulation timing and preservation of nitrate in firn at Summit, Greenland,," Journal of Geophysical Research, v.109, 2004, p. D19302.
Dibb, JE. "Vertical mixing above Summit, Greenland: Insights into seasonal and high frequency variability from the radionuclide tracers Be-7 and Pb-210," ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT, v.41, 2007, p. 5020-5030.
Dibb, JE; Whitlow, SI; Arsenault, M. "Seasonal variations in the soluble ion content of snow at Summit. Greenland: Constraints from three years of daily surface snow samples," ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT, v.41, 2007, p. 5007-5019.
K. Steffen, S.V. Nghiem, R. Huff, and G. Neumann. "The melt anomaly of 2002 on the Greenland Ice Sheet from active and passive microwave satellite observations," Geophys. Res. Lett., v.31, 2004, p. L2040210.
S.V. Nghiem,, K. Steffen, G. Neumann, and R. Huff. "Mapping of ice layer extent and snow accumulation in the percolation zone of the Greenland ice sheet," J. Geophys., Res., v.110, 2005, p. F02017.
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