March was a pretty busy month for APECS, and I want to thank all of you for working so hard to make our organization great. As the Arctic field season begins, I know a lot of you are getting ready to head out to collect some great data. Angelika Renner, a member of the Executive Committee is heading out for two marine cruises this month looking at sea ice in the Arctic Ocean… so I thought it would be a good time to tell you about the center where she is based here in Tromsø -
The Norwegian Polar Institute's Centre for Ice, Climate and Ecosystems (ICE) was opened in 2009. ICE will position itself as a national competence centre for ice and climate research and environmental monitoring of the polar regions.
The research focus of ICE is sea ice and snow, effects of climate change on ecosystems and alpine glaciers.
ICE will further develop the Norwegian Polar Institute's position as a stakeholder in climate related research, such as ice, sea ice, alpine glaciers and effects of climate change on ecosystems, including ice-associated species.
The exchange of energy and matter between sea, ice and atmosphere is a main focus, as is the thickness and spread of sea ice in Antarctica. The ocean circulation in the Arctic and its link to energy flows and ice spread is also a primary subject for ICE.
The goal is to contribute with knowledge to improve the precision of climate models in the future. Through field studies and process modelling, which will later be used in collaboration with the Norwegian Climate Centre to improve process descriptions in climate models, ICE provides a better understanding of the processes.
Effects on ecosystems are investigated by integrating studies of ecosystems with studies of the physical environment in icy waters. Species that are particularly dependent on sea ice – like the Polar Bear, some seal species and the Ivory Gull – are given special attention. The goal is to develop an understanding of ecosystem processes that can be linked to physical climate models, in order to provide better predictions on possible consequences of climate change in the biological systems.
In Antarctica, ICE is concentrating on ice shelves – how they are affected by climate change (especially ocean temperature and circulation), and how they affect glacial Antarctic ice. A long-term project on the Fimbul Ice Shelf and Jutulstraumen (glacier / ice stream) in Antarctica has been initiated through ICE.
