Arctic Observing and Science for Sustainability

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides support to U.S. researchers participating in a project competitively selected by a 14-country initiative on global change research through the Belmont Forum. The Belmont Forum is a high level group of the world?s major and emerging funders of global environmental change research and international science councils. It aims to accelerate delivery of the international environmental research most urgently needed to remove critical barriers to sustainability by aligning and mobilizing international resources. Each partner country provides funding for their researchers within a consortium to alleviate the need for funds to cross international borders. This approach facilitates effective leveraging of national resources to support excellent research on topics of global relevance best tackled through a multinational approach, recognizing that global challenges need global solutions. Working together in this Collaborative Research Action, the partner agencies have provided support for research projects that utilize existing Arctic observing systems, datasets and models to evaluate key sustainability challenges and opportunities in the Arctic region, to innovate new sustainability science theory and approaches to these challenges and opportunities, and support decision-making towards a sustainable Arctic environment. This award provides support for the U.S. researchers to cooperate in consortia that consist of partners from at least three of the participating countries and that bring together natural scientists, social scientists and end users (e.g., policy makers, regulators, NGOs, communities and industry). The Arctic Fog Variability collaborative research effort will study the spatiotemporal variability of fog in light of recent sea ice variability and in the context of increasing interest in alternative commercial shipping routes that would transit the Arctic. This partnership between Chinese, US, Canadian, and Italian investigators will utilize available in situ and satellite environmental information and navigational and economic data as well as conduct shore-based and ship-based sampling of fog variables during the peak of fog occurrence in mid-summer. A series of modeling experiments will be conducted to determine future radiative and meteorological conditions that would induce fog and determine the potential routes of vessels through the Arctic given certain Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios. Finally, the envelope of economic impact will be determined based on a suite of variables using real-life case studies for container vessels traveling between Europe and Asia. This project unites observationalists, modelers, and end-users, including shipping companies, towards a better understanding of changing operational conditions for more informed activity in Arctic waters.