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International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

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Key developments during IPY<br />

In January 2008, SCAR and IASC created a joint Bipolar<br />

Action Group (BipAG) charged with advising<br />

SCAR and IASC management bodies on further possible<br />

linkages, and developing and managing the IPY<br />

Legacy (see below). SCAR and IASC began to co-sponsor<br />

the biennial High Latitude Climate meetings that<br />

take place every two years or so (the first jointly sponsored<br />

workshop was held in Seattle, U.S.A. October<br />

2007). SCAR and IASC also co-sponsored an ice-sheet<br />

modelling workshop in St Petersburg (July 2008) and,<br />

with funding from ICSU and NSF, subsequently cosponsored<br />

its follow up, an ice sheet modelling summer<br />

school (Portland, Oregon, August 2009).<br />

From July 2008, SCAR and IASC both co-sponsored<br />

with WCRP the Climate and Cryosphere programme<br />

(CliC) and in July 2008 they also co-signed a Letter of<br />

Agreement with the new <strong>International</strong> Association of<br />

Cryospheric Sciences (IACS). In March 2009, they cosigned<br />

a Letter of Agreement with the <strong>International</strong><br />

Permafrost Association (IPA). These agreements effectively<br />

bind together the five main polar bodies of ICSU<br />

(IASC Bulletin 07/08, IASC Bulletin 08/09).<br />

IASC continues to participate in the process towards<br />

Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) and<br />

SCAR is observing this process to develop something<br />

along the lines of a “Pan-Antarctic Observing System”.<br />

If SAON and “PAntOS” can be made to develop as in-<br />

tended and attract funds, together they will provide<br />

an observing system legacy for the IPY. Both organizations<br />

are encouraging the development of the ocean<br />

observing systems called for by IPY (an international<br />

Arctic Ocean Observing System (iAOOS) and a Southern<br />

Ocean Observing System (SOOS) – Chapters 3.2<br />

and 3.3. These will be either stand-alone systems or<br />

parts of SAON and “PAntOS”. The polar ocean observing<br />

systems will make complementary contributions<br />

in the post-IPY era and are considered essential operational<br />

requirements by <strong>WMO</strong>.<br />

SCAR and IASC worked closely together as members<br />

(ex officio) of the IPY Joint Committee (2005–2010). The<br />

two organizations jointly sponsored the Open Science<br />

Conference in St Petersburg, Russia (8-11 July 2008),<br />

which was adopted and co-sponsored by ICSU and<br />

<strong>WMO</strong> as the 1st IPY conference (see Figs. 5.5.2-4). The<br />

full program and the summary report of the meeting<br />

are available (Klepikov 2008; www.scar-iasc-ipy2008.<br />

org/; http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/<br />

welcome-to-the-scariasc-ipy-open-science-conference/).<br />

As a contribution to the develop ment of a data<br />

and information management policy for IPY, the Chief<br />

Officer of SCAR’s Data and Information Management<br />

Committee, Taco de Bruin, served as Co-Chair of the<br />

IPY Data Subcommittee. Independently, data management<br />

had been on the agenda of SCAR and COMNAP<br />

(Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs)<br />

Fig.5.5-2. Joint<br />

SCAR-IASC IPY ‘Open<br />

Science’ Conference,<br />

St. Petersburg, July<br />

2009. From left to<br />

right: Khotso Mokhele<br />

(ICSU Vice President),<br />

Eduard Sarukhanian<br />

(<strong>WMO</strong>), Kristján<br />

Kristjánsson (then<br />

IASC President), Chris<br />

Rapley (then SCAR<br />

President) and Artur<br />

Chilingarov (Russian<br />

Duma, Co-Chair of<br />

the Russian national<br />

IPY committee).<br />

(Photo: Alexander Klepikov)<br />

l e g a C I e s 599

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