International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

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IPY 20 07–20 08
contributed to our ability to better estimate the
amount of carbon stored in permafrost soils,
incorporating the upper three meters of the ground
and deeper in some cases. Substantial numbers of new
soil pedons from Russia were added to the database.
This led to the publication of a revised estimate of the
amount of carbon stored in the northern circumpolar
permafrost region, amounting to approximately
50% of the estimated global below-ground organic
carbon pool (Tarnocai et al., 2009). The increasing
awareness that carbon pools in permafrost regions
are much larger than previously estimated and the
potential importance for the global carbon balance
has prompted additional scientific questions.
A long-term framework aimed at maintaining both
the new operational networks stemming from IPY, as
well as the management and capacity-building efforts
needed to sustain the level of observation are required.
Our overriding goal has been the establishment of the
International Networks of Permafrost Observatories
including active layer, periglacial, coastal and carbon
key study sites, and the development of a sustainable
data management system and associated archives.
The role of remote sensing in permafrost research has
only been touched upon during the IPY and its specific
role in detecting key processes relevant to permafrost
dynamics as well as its input to modeling will be a
future key permafrost technological development in
both the Arctic and the Antarctic.
IPY made it clear that international research projects
need strong coordinated management, data and
information platforms. These needs and approaches
were well-recognized by the IPA as early as 1988, when
it held its first data session in Trondheim, Norway.
This was followed by several workshops that led to
the implementation of the Global Geocryological
Database; a metadata based information service.
Successful future integration with other international
programs and compliance with data standards will
maximize permafrost cross-disciplinary usability. Data
management is often overlooked, but a fundamental
component of modern research and often the most
challenging for developing financial support. Yet,
data management ensures the long-term viability and
usability of the results of a large research effort such
as IPY and for the IPA, this is of course especially so for
permafrost observations and research.
An IPY permafrost initiative included also to
continue the IPA support and patronage of the
development of the Permafrost Young Researchers
Network, PYRN (Bonnaventure et al., 2009). PYRN was
started in 2005 to establish a network among students
and young permafrost researchers in order to promote
future generations of permafrost researchers. During
IPY, PYRN grew to a web-connected organization
of more than 720 students and researchers in 43
different countries. PYRN activities included training in
permafrost methodology, development of the PYRN-
TSP Nordic boreholes, participation in conferences,
development of a database on dissertations and
a list of 160 senior researchers in 16 countries to
serve as mentors. Another outreach activity focused
on education and was the compilation by the IPA
Secretariat of a web-based map and associated
searchable catalogue of International University
Courses on Permafrost (IUCP) containing 136 courses
in 17 countries during IPY. Both PYRN and IUCP are still
active after IPY and thus are important IPA IPY legacies.
The four IPY permafrost cluster projects all were
integrated into international research or observing
programs. The TSP is part of the Global Terrestrial
Network for Permafrost (GTN-P), which is a network of
both the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) and
the Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS). Links
to the Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) project of the
WCRP, SCAR and IASC, and more broadly to the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Global
Carbon Project of the ESSP facilitated organizing and
supporting the CAPP project. The long-term IPA connections
with the Scientific Committee for Antarctic
Research (SCAR) further facilitated the development
of ANTPAS. The ACCONet activities, including new information
on carbon fluxes from the erosion of permafrost
coasts are a direct contribution to the Land-
Ocean Interaction in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) project,
and its assessment of global coastal biogeochemical
fluxes. It is also envisioned that the networks created
and/or strengthened during IPY will form an integrated
component of the upcoming observing networks
of the Arctic (Sustaining Arctic Observing Networkds
- SAON) and the Antarctic (Pan-Antarctic Observing
System - PanTOS), thereby contributing to the overarching
Global Earth Observation System of Systems
(GEOSS). The international permafrost community