International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

in response to Arctic warming.
• The researchers at Cherskii also partnered with
The Polaris Project (www.thepolarisproject.org/),
providing undergraduate students with the chance
to do field work in the Siberian Arctic.
• Scientists at Cherskii are comparing disturbed and
undisturbed areas of permafrost to determine the
effects of thawing permafrost.
Barrow, United States (71.323 N, 156.609 W, 11 m ASL
(36 ft ASL))
• Barrow observatory has two new systems for aerosol
size and chemistry composition, as well as new
persistent organic pollutant (POPs) measurements.
The meteorology measurement and data system
has been completely upgraded.
• Barrow provided ground services and lodging for
the Polarcat campaign.
Tiksi, Russian Federation (71.580 N, 128.92 E)
Tiksi is located in a boundary region at the
confluence of Atlantic and Pacific influences,
resulting in exposure to a wide variety of air mass
types. Atmospheric conditions range from pristine
to polluted, providing a natural laboratory to assess
the radiative effects of aerosols and resulting cloud
properties and also the influences various pollution
source regions of Russia, Northern America, Europe
and Central Asia have on regional air quality.
Tiksi is located in the Lena River basin. The Lena
River is the only major Russian River for which most of
the drainage basin is underlain by permafrost, making
it hydrologically complex and particularly vulnerable
to climatic warming. Tremendous stores of carbon are
presently locked in the permafrost of this river basin,
and the regimes of precipitation and evaporation are
very important for regional changes in the surface
fluxes of CO 2 (increases to atmosphere with surface
drying) and CH 4 (increases to atmosphere with surface
wetness).
The Laptev Sea is an area of such large ice
production that it has been termed “the ice factory of
the Arctic Ocean.” As such, this region is the source of
much of the sea ice that transits the Arctic Ocean and
exits through the Fram Strait.
Given all of these critical features of the Tiksi region
that are relevant to understanding climate change,
the need to modernize and upgrade the facilities
at Tiski has been recognized by several Russian,
U.S. and European agencies. Collaborations have
been established among the following agencies
to implement the modernization of the Tiksi
Hydrometeorological Observatory: Roshydromet
Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), NOAA,
the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), the U.S.
National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Finnish
Meteorological Institute (FMI, Makshtas, 2007). During
and after IPY, numerous planning meetings among
these agencies have taken place, as well as agency
visits to Tiksi. Some of these meetings included:
• The Logistics Team Meeting held in St. Petersburg
in March 2009, resulting in a construction
plan for finishing the site and Clean Air Facility
improvements in August 2009).
• A Science Team Meeting held in Boulder in May
2009, resulting in the finalization of a science plan
with 14 identified joint science projects.
• The Operations Team met in September 2009 to
work out the details of continuing operations,
Fig. 3.4-8. New flux
tower at Eureka.
(Photo courtesy of Rob Albee)
o b s e r v I n g s Y s t e m s a n d d a t a m a n a g e m e n t 395