CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: Antarctic Sea Ice Variability in the Southern Climate-Ocean System: A Workshop

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

Antarctic Sea Ice Variability in the Southern Climate-Ocean System: A Workshop

DEADLINE: Thursday, August 17

Dear Colleagues,

The Polar Research Board (PRB) and the Ocean Studies Board (OSB) are pleased to announce a new National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine workshop on ‘Antarctic Sea Ice Variability in the Southern Climate-Ocean System’. This workshop is sponsored by NASA, NSF, and ONR. It will assess current understanding of processes driving Antarctic sea ice changes--including controls on decadal-scale growth and recent surge in Antarctic sea ice extent, whether or not these changes remain within the expected range of natural climate variability, and why climate models continue to fail in simulating them. The full Statement of Task for the workshop is pasted below. A designated rapporteur will prepare a summary report that provides a record of workshop presentations and discussions; it will not include consensus findings or recommendations.

We are seeking nominations for membership on the ad hoc committee that the Academies will appoint to plan the workshop. The committee of approximately 5 members will organize the workshop and serve as session facilitations during the event. For the planning committee, we seek people with expertise pertaining to: ocean and sea ice observations (in situ and remote sensing); Antarctic climate and oceanography; ocean, climate or sea ice modeling; process studies of the coupled sea ice - ice sheet - ocean - atmosphere system; prediction and attribution of Antarctic sea ice changes. Self-nominations are welcome.

You can submit your nominations via a web-form at http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2260017/Call-for-Nominations-Antarctic-Sea-Ice-Variability-in-the-Southern-Climate-Ocean-System-A-Workshop (preferred), or send your nominations directly to Michael Hudson (mhudson at nas.edu). If submitting nominations directly, send us the person’s name, affiliation, contact information, area of expertise, and a brief statement on why the person’s expertise is relevant to the topic. The deadline for submissions is Thursday, August 17.

Having the appropriate membership is the key to the success of every Academies activity, so we appreciate your help in the committee nomination process. Thank you for your assistance.

Best,
Ali

Alison Macalady
Postdoctoral Fellow
Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine
Phone: (202) 334-2591
Email: amacalady at nas.edu

Statement of Task
An ad hoc Academies committee will plan a workshop to bring together Antarctic sea ice experts to review the current science for climate-ocean-ice interactions in the Southern Hemisphere, with an outlook back 50 years and an emphasis on the record extents observed in the last 3 years. Workshop attendees will be asked to examine the processes governing decadal-scale growth and recent surge in Antarctic sea ice extent, projections of future Antarctic sea ice changes, and identify how to improve our understanding of current and future Antarctic sea ice changes. Specific topics to be addressed at the workshop include:

1. Observations of changes in Antarctic sea ice and the broader Antarctic environment:

• What have we learned from the satellite data record?
• What have we learned from available in situ and proxy data records?
• How can we extend the satellite time series back in time (e.g., using pre-1979 satellite data, ship observations, and other proxies)?
• What do we need to improve satellite validation of Antarctic sea ice concentration, thickness, and snow cover?
• What new satellite observations would help improve our understanding?
• What new in situ and proxy observations would help improve our understanding?

2. Process-based studies of changes in Antarctic sea ice and the broader Antarctic environment:

• What have we learned from process-based studies?
• What have we learned about feedbacks in the ice-ocean-atmosphere system and how they may be contributing to the growing sea ice cover?
• What additional process-based studies could improve our understanding?

3. Models of changes in Antarctic sea ice and the broader Antarctic environment:

• What have we learned from sea ice and climate models?
• What are the best projections of future Antarctic sea ice?
• What types of data synthesis and field experiments are needed for improving sea ice and climate models?
• What types of focused model intercomparisons could help address model discrepancies?
• What is needed to improve the forcing fields in Antarctica to improve modeled simulations?