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ARCSS Program | Co-oP Concept Paper Submissions By Author

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Lilian Na'ia Alessa  Complexity and Synthesis in Arctic Hydrology
Thomas Douglas  Arctic TRACE: Tracking Routes of Atmospheric Components in the Environment
Ivan Eyefor Watts  (Example Submission) The Arctic Energy Budget
Kenneth Hinkel  Thaw Lakes and Basins in the Arctic Landscape
Andrea Lloyd  Surface Dynamics and Human Environments of the Arctic System
Patricia Matrai  Ocean-Atmosphere-Sea Ice- Snowpack (OASIS) Interactions
Gifford Miller  Volcanoes in the Arctic System

Ivan Eyefor Watts

Ivan Eyefor Watts
College of the Cryosphere
Ivan.Eyefor.Watts@arctic_climates.edu

Q1. What is the tentative name of the proposed Community of Practice (Co-oP)?

Response: (Example Submission) The Arctic Energy Budget

Q2. List up to three keywords that describe the primary focus of this Community of Practice concept.

Response: Energy Budget, Synthesis, Arctic Change

Q3. Identify the lead contact person(s), as well as other key Co-oP participants.

Response: Lead Contact: Ivan Eyefor Watts

Other Key CoP Members: Delores Umbridge, Peter Pettigrew, Kinsey Millhone, Richard Jury

Q4. What are the focusing science questions and goals of the Co-oP? (<300 words)

Response: 1) What are the interactions between net energy transports from lower latitudes, the extreme seasonality of radiative forcing and heat exchanges between the atmosphere, land surface and ocean that shape the observed mean state of the Arctic climate system and its variability on seasonal, inter-annual and decadal scales?

2) How are recent changes in the Arctic system, including reductions in sea ice cover, rising surface air temperatures, shrubbification and permafrost warming reflected in and driven by variability in large-scale and regional energy budgets?

3) What are the strengths and directions of system feedbacks involving the energy budget, and what do these portend for the future state of the Arctic system?

Q5. How do the Co-oP science question(s) and goals fit within arctic system-scale science and the overall ARCSS Program goals? (<300 words)

Response: 1) To synthesize information from the wealth of Arctic data already available in a tractable energy budget framework to better assess linkages between key Arctic system components.
2) To provide a common framework within which existing data streams and information from new efforts can be ingested to better monitor variability and change in the Arctic system.
3) To enable more effective partnerships between modeling and observational communities, leading to better understanding of climate system feedbacks.

Fitting in with ARCSS: The emerging new ARCSS structure emphasizes viewing the Arctic as an integrated system. Arguably the most integrating component of the Arctic system is its climate system. The mean state, variability and change in the climate system exerts strong controls on biological processes and human activities. The energy budget offers a tractable, yet physically robust framework to understand the relative importance of different component processes and interactions that shape the present and likely future state of the Arctic. Past ARCSS efforts, programs within NASA, NOAA and the wider international community, have assembled a wealth of diverse data sets relevant to understanding how the Arctic functions. This includes information from atmosphere reanalyses, data-driven coupled ice-ocean models, coupled global climate models, satellite remote sensing, long-term surface observing networks and intensive field programs. Our evolving Community of Practice (CoP) recognizes that synthesizing information from these diverse sources in an energy budget framework will represent a tractable, physically-based approach to help us better assess interactions between the atmosphere, land surface, ocean and lower-latitude forcings that shape the Arctic climate system. By ingesting data from past and future ARCSS field efforts and by fostering synergy between models and observations, this framework will foster more effective collaboration between different elements of the ARCSS community.

Q6. What other groups and disciplines do you expect the Co-oP to interact with?

Response: The permafrost, terrestrial ecology and coupled ice-ocean modeling communities.

Q7. What is the appproximate number of currently active Co-oP participants?

Response: Less than 30, more than 10

Q8. What is the approximate size and scope of anticipated future Co-oP participation?

Response: Less than 30, more than 10

Q9. What other researchers or groups (based on expertise, focus, methodology, etc) would you like to connect with in order to further develop the Co-oP goals and science questions?

Response: Global modeling community, possibly the HARC community.

Q10. What type of support from the ARCSS Science Management Office would best facilitate your Co-oP development?

Response: Web Conferences
Electronic email list

Q11. What additional (other) Science Management Office support would facilitate your Co-oP development?

Response: None that we can think of at this time