International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

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IPY 20 07–20 08
Fig. 2.5-1. Schematic
illustration of
Antarctic cryosphere
activities in IPY
2007–2008 on the
LIMA Mosaic. Projects
that encompassed
the entire ice sheet
such as LEGOS are
not identified on this
map.
(Map: Robin Bell)
W60°
W90°
W120°
S60° 0° E30° S50°
W150° E180° E150°
atory effort (ICECAP) into the interior of the Aurora
and Wilkes basins in East Antarctica is also supporting
improved understanding of both the structure of the
East Antarctic continent while providing fundamental
boundary conditions to ice sheet models. While the
New Frontier programs are providing entirely new
views of the Antarctic continent, the Global Linkages
programs are revealing new aspects of the fundamental
links between the dynamics of the Antarctic cryosphere
and the global ocean and the northern hemisphere
ice sheets. In Antarctica, much of IPY 2007–2008
Global Linkages efforts came from ice cores. Ice cores
capture an accurate and invaluable record of ancient
atmospheric composition. Insights into the record of
greenhouse gases, such as methane and carbon dioxide,
can only be measured from ice cores providing
a cornerstone of climate change research. The IPY ice
coring effort included shallow cores along the coast, a
deep core in West Antarctica and site surveys searching
for the oldest ice on the planet.
The framework’s identification of documenting
the Status of the Antarctic cryosphere as a key theme
during IPY 2007–2008 carried with it the establishment
of benchmarks for measuring future change. During
E60°
E90°
E120°
IPY, important new measurements on the surface of the
ice sheet, the mass of the ice sheet and velocities of the
major outlet glaciers established these benchmarks. In
addition to these well-established characteristics, other
benchmarks are being or have been created, such
as mapping the hydrostatic line (the critical interface
where the ice sheet goes afloat and is in contact with the
ocean), constructing a true color Landsat Image Mosaic
of Antarctica (LIMA), and improving the estimate of
discharge of ice through mapping previously unknown
areas such as the Aurora and Wilkes basins as well as the
Gamburtsev Mountains.
The framework theme of Change targeted quantifying
and understanding past and present natural
environmental change in the Antarctic cryosphere in
order to improve projections of future change. Programs
targeted at understanding the past stability
of the Antarctic Ice Sheet recovered sediment cores
such as those from the ANDRILL program in the Ross
Sea achieved fruition during IPY 2007–2008. Satellite
monitoring and use of satellite technology in establishing
new geometric networks are providing heretofore
impossibly precise insights into ongoing change.
The interpretations of change observed from satel-