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Arctic System Science (ARCSS)

Program Manager

Neil Swanberg
nswanber@nsf.gov 
(703) 292-8029

Associate Program Director
 
Vacant
(703)292-8029


Program Information

Arctic Research 
Opportunities (NSF 05-514)

 Principles for the
Conduct of Research in the Arctic

Related Programs
Study of the Northern Alaska Coastal System (NSF 04-545)

The ARCSS Program is an interdisciplinary program. The goal is to (1) understand the physical, geological, chemical, biological and sociocultural processes of the arctic system that interact with the total Earth system and thus contribute to or are influenced by global change, in order to (2) advance the scientific basis for predicting environmental change on a seasonal-to-centuries time scale, and for formulating policy options in response to the anticipated impacts of global change on humans and societal support systems. 

In order to achieve the goals of ARCSS an emphasis is placed on four scientific thrusts: 

  • Understand the global and regional impacts of the arctic climate system and its variability.
  • Determine the role of the Arctic in global biogeochemical cycling
  • Identify global change impacts on the structure and stability of arctic ecosystems.
  • Establish the links between environmental change and human activity.
ARCSS will direct most available support to large integrated research projects that are proposed and implemented in response to science plans developed by the scientific community through Science Steering Committees(SSCs) for each component of ARCSS.

  map of Greenland Left: In the Greenland Ice Sheet Project II (GISP2), An ice core was recovered from the Summit of the Greenland Ice Sheet where ice thickness is greater than 3000m. 

ARCSS has four linked ongoing components: Ocean/Atmosphere/Ice Interactions(OAII), Land/Atmosphere/Ice Interactions (LAII), Paleoenvironmental Studies, and Human Dimensions of the Arctic System (HARC).Paleoenvironmental proposalsare considered within the Earth System History initiative (Paleoenvironmental Arctic Sciences or PARCS) of the United States Global Change Research Program and are solicited under a different announcement with separate submission dates. ARCSS also supports the integration of research results across components and projects within ARCSS as well as with any other Arctic research program through a Synthesis, Integration and Modeling Studies (SIMS) effort. Current science plans approved by each SSC and examples of projects supported within each component and SIMS are accessible either on the ARCSS Program home page on the World Wide Web maintained by the ARCSS Data Coordination Center of the University of Colorado National Snow and Ice Data Center, http://arcss.colorado.edu or the home page of the Arctic Research Consortium of the US, http://www.arcus.org/. 


  Specific program opportunities are announced periodically for multidisciplinary investigations to be conducted in response to the science plans developed by the SSC within each of the ARCSS components. Successful proposals are funded by the Office of Polar Programs, the Divisions of Atmospheric Sciences and Ocean Sciences within the Directorate for Geosciences, and by the Division of Environmental Biology, Directorate for Biological Sciences, in some cases jointly with Department of Energy, Office of Naval Research, and National Aeronautics and Space Agency.
Canadian icebreaker in the Arctic Ocean 
Above:
An icebreaker was frozen into the drifting Arctic ice pack for one year in order to support the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) Project.

  The arctic system consists of physical, biological, and cultural factors that may respond to global change. Some models that predict the climatic response to global change show greater change in the Arctic than any other region. The predicted climatology, however, may not consider the large interannual variability in the Arctic so that the degree of response, relative to the annual climate cycle, may be no larger in the Arctic than for the rest of the earth. The presence of cultural institutions in a region subject to possibly large perturbations, however, makes it important that scientists better understand interactions of the global and Arctic systems. Therefore, the research supported in ARCSS goes beyond purely observational studies to those studies that predict and analyze the consequences of global change that are important for the wise stewardship of renewable resources and development of policy options for resource managers and residents. 

In order to focus on the Arctic system at a scale that incorporates the multiple environmental feedback mechanisms involved, large interdisciplinary projects will be supported that integrate major elements of the system. The integrative themes that will be emphasized and which cross-cut all three ARCSS components are:  

TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL DYNAMICS OF CHANGE IN THE ARCTIC SYSTEM

The interactions of environmental processes that affect temporal (past, present, and future) and spatial changes between the ecology, hydrosphere, geology, cryosphere, and atmosphere components of the Arctic system will be determined. The seasonal, annual, interannual, and decadal variability of those environmental interactions, especially those environmental processes that may be scaled up to the whole arctic system, will be emphasized. Each project supported under this theme will be required to demonstrate its applicability to mesoscale, regional, or global models that will enhance our ability to assess future and near-term arctic climate change. 

ENVIRONMENT, RESOURCE, AND HUMAN INTERACTIONS IN THE ARCTIC SYSTEM

Reasonable scenarios of change in climate and human activities suggest that there will be major future changes in arctic ecosystems and, hence, human society. The challenge is to predict the nature and rates of change in biogeochemical, physical, and social processes in response to these scenarios. Studies will be supported that address either the impact of global change on the sustainability of Arctic renewable resources or changes in development and land use practices in response to global change. Research on environmental issues that deal with resource variability or projections of resource availability will be supported. Those studies that provide the scientific background necessary for use by decision makers to cope with projected changes will be encouraged. 

RESPONSES AND IMPACTS OF THE ARCTIC SYSTEM IN GLOBAL CHANGE

components of the arctic ecosystem 

Left: ARCSS supports projects that examine the interactions of all components of the arctic system. 

Studies that assess the impact on the Arctic from global change occurring beyond the Arctic system are necessary to determine how, for example, low-latitude climate-induced changes affect the variability of freshwater runoff in the Arctic, the biologic productivity of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, or the atmospheric moisture/heat transport into the Arctic system. Likewise, studies that examine the role that the Arctic plays on affecting change beyond the Arctic will be encouraged. Models developed under this integrative theme will be important for identifying the most sensitive natural, physical, and human systems that allow early detection of global change in the arctic system.



 


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Last modified: October 2004; Office of Polar Programs