The Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center (BPCRC) is a polar, alpine, and climate research center at Ohio State University founded in 1960. [1]
The Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center (BPCRC) is a polar, alpine, and climate research center at Ohio State University founded in 1960. [1]
The Byrd Polar Research Center (BPRC) at Ohio State University was established in 1960 as the Institute for Polar Studies. BPRC is the oldest research center at Ohio State University. [2] The name was changed to the Byrd Polar Research Center in 1987 after the polar explorer and aviator Richard E. Byrd when Ohio State purchased the Byrd papers from the Byrd family in 1985. [3]
BPRC conducts interdisciplinary research at the nexus of Earth Sciences and Engineering. BPRC is known for its ice core paleoclimatology research collecting ice core records from Earth's highest and most remote ice fields and modeling polar climate variability. [4] [5] [6] Studies at BPRC include paleoclimatology, remote sensing, polar meteorology, glacier dynamics, satellite hydrology, paleoceanography, environmental geochemistry, and climate change. BPRC houses the Polar Rock Repository and the Goldthwait Polar Library.
This Environmental Geochemistry group collects and analyzes soil and water samples from many locations around the world to study biogeochemical cycles, anthropogenic influences on natural systems, and to use geochemistry as a tool to learn more about various hydrological, biological and physical processes.
This group has conducted studies of the Dry Valleys region of Antarctica since 1993 as part of the NSF’s Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program. [7] [8] Ongoing projects in Antarctica include drilling into the subglacial ecosystem of "Blood Falls" in the Dry Valleys and measuring glacial melt input into the Southern Ocean in West Antarctica. Additionally, the group has studied of the deposition of mercury on the landscape in the U.S. and in Antarctica, and led investigations of chemical and physical weathering of rocks of high-standing oceanic islands like Taiwan and New Zealand. [9] Members of this group also study the impact of human activities in urban areas on streams and lakes around Ohio.
The Paleoceanography group uses information gathered from sea floor sediments to discover how changes in circulation, temperature, sea ice and glacier mass have affected the global climate system throughout Earth’s history. [10] These data from the past are used to assess present and future climate changes. The main focus of this group's research is on the Arctic Ocean and its history during the past several million years.
Sea floor sediments contain mineral and biological particles that are used for investigating past climate changes. A common type of biological particles is foraminifers, single-celled, amoeba-like protists that have a shell and either live on the sea bottom or float in the upper water column. There are an estimated 4,000 species living today. Foraminifers are sensitive to changes in their environment such as temperature and salinity, which makes them useful indicators (proxies) of past climate changes.
This group uses satellite-based measurements to study rivers, lakes, wetlands, and floodplains. Led by Profs. Douglas Alsdorf and Michael Durand, group members primarily use passive and active microwave measurements such as radar to measure surface water and snowpack. This group is working to better quantify the amount of water stored in snowpacks in the United States using satellite measurements.
This group is helping define an upcoming satellite, Surface Water and Ocean Topography. Rivers are fundamentally two-dimensional in their structure and function. This is evident in the Amazon River, where the floodplain width is measured in kilometres. Sensitive to climatic changes, arctic lakes pose another hydrologic measurement challenge. SWOT measurements will enable new under- standing of these complex systems. SWOT will track freshwater resources, and measure ocean currents. SWOT is a joint effort between NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the French space agency, CNES.
The Glacier Environmental Change group researches patterns, processes, and impacts of environmental change, mostly in glaciated regions. [11] We integrate methods of glacial geology, climatology, hydrology, and biogeochemistry. [12] [13] Specializing in tropical mountain regions, we study sites along the entire American Cordillera, in Africa, and in Central Ohio.
Glaciers impact environments and societies on different scales, from valleys to mountain ranges, spanning far into Earth’s past. Understanding glacier environmental changes requires many techniques and perspectives. Precise measurements from sensors on satellites and airplanes quantify ongoing glacier volume changes; landforms and lake sediments reveal past glacier-climate changes; the hydrochemistry of surface waters reflects glacier melt contribution; and computer simulations help explain past and future dynamics.
The Polar Meteorology group has developed a model (Polar MM5) that is used to forecast weather conditions in the polar regions. [14] The model has been used to stimulate conditions on the North American continent during the last ice age. In addition to weather prediction, the Polar MM5 model has been used for several simulations that examine the current and past climates over ice sheets, including one that illustrates conditions on the North American continent during the last ice age.
The Polar Meteorology Group also used the MM5 model to create what is called the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (or AMPS). [15] [16] AMPS is a forecasting system used to make weather forecasts for Antarctica and the surrounding Southern Ocean in support of the United States Antarctic Program.
BPRC maintains a large, unique collection of geological samples and materials at the Polar Rock Repository. The PRR is a national facility that houses rock sample collections from Antarctica obtained by U.S. scientists over the past 40+ years. [17]
Dr. Anne Grunow is the curator of the Polar Rock Repository. It is the only facility of its kind in the United States. The facility has storage capacity of ~140,000 rock samples and more than 30,000 samples have been catalogued already. The sample collections are available for researchers, educators, and museums to use. An online database and educational materials are available to help educate the public about polar geology.
1980s photogrammetrist Henry Brecher conducted aerial photographic surveys of major Greenland glaciers.
1990s Dr. Ellen Mosley-Thompson obtained ice cores from multiple locations, including GITS. Dr. Ken Jezek conducted radar studies in Greenland's accumulation and ablation zone. In 1995, Ken Jezek was at Swiss Camp.
2005 Jason Box assisted Konrad Steffen in automatic weather station maintenance at Swiss Camp and sites that comprise the Greenland Climate Network. Jason Box returned to Greenland to: 1.) obtain an ice core from a position in southeast Greenland where the Polar MM5 model simulates a maximum in snow accumulation, 2.) install time lapse cameras pointed at two outlet glaciers, and 3.) conduct supra-glacial melt lake measurements.
2007 In June, 2007, Jason Box established time lapse cameras beside 5 major west Greenland outlet glaciers. In July–September, Jason Box prepared for and occupied a camp near the Arctic Circle for 7 weeks during which time he conducted surface energy budget (melt) and supra-glacial melt lake measurements.
2008 During a 3-week field campaign, Jason Box, Ian Howat, Slawek Tulaczyk, and Yushin Ahn conducted measurements on Store Glacier, west Greenland. Ian Howat installed GPS sensors on Store Glacier in west Greenland.
2009 Jason Box installed time lapse cameras at Petermann Glacier in anticipation of a large area loss that eventually did occur August, 2010.
2010 April–May, 2010, Jason Box co-led a 750 km Arctic Circle Traverse across the southern Greenland ice sheet to obtain 3 ice cores and snow radar data to study spatial and temporal patterns of snowfall rates. [18]
BPRC scientists have obtained ice cores from multiple locations on the Antarctic Ice Sheet.
The Transantarctic Mountains bisect the continental ice sheets, with different ice flow dynamics on either side. Radarsat (radar images collected by orbiting satellites) is being used to map the ice sheets. Ice sheet flow into the ocean is increasing and in western Antarctica, the ice stream is draining into the Ross Ice Shelf with marked acceleration.
In March 2000, the largest observed iceberg in history broke away from the Ross Ice Shelf.
The Qori Kalis Glacier in Peru, the main outlet of the Quelccaya Ice Cap, is in retreat. The terminus of the glacier has shown reduction since 1963, with dramatic increases since 1980.
Lonnie Thompson has led research expeditions to the glaciers atop Mount Kilimanjaro. At the present rate of Kilimanjaro glacier decline, it is predicted that the snow cover will be completely gone by 2020, and the glacier may no longer exist by 2023. [19]
A glacier is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as crevasses and seracs, as it slowly flows and deforms under stresses induced by its weight. As it moves, it abrades rock and debris from its substrate to create landforms such as cirques, moraines, or fjords. Although a glacier may flow into a body of water, it forms only on land and is distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of bodies of water.
The climate of Antarctica is the coldest on Earth. The continent is also extremely dry, averaging 166 mm (6.5 in) of precipitation per year. Snow rarely melts on most parts of the continent, and, after being compressed, becomes the glacier ice that makes up the ice sheet. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, because of the katabatic winds. Most of Antarctica has an ice-cap climate with extremely cold and dry weather.
An ice shelf is a large platform of glacial ice floating on the ocean, fed by one or multiple tributary glaciers. Ice shelves form along coastlines where the ice thickness is insufficient to displace the more dense surrounding ocean water. The boundary between the ice shelf (floating) and grounded ice is referred to as the grounding line; the boundary between the ice shelf and the open ocean is the ice front or calving front.
The Nimbus satellites were second-generation U.S. robotic spacecraft launched between 1964 and 1978 used for meteorological research and development. The spacecraft were designed to serve as stabilized, Earth-oriented platforms for the testing of advanced systems to sense and collect atmospheric science data. Seven Nimbus spacecraft have been launched into near-polar, Sun-synchronous orbits beginning with Nimbus 1 on August 28, 1964. On board the Nimbus satellites are various instrumentation for imaging, sounding, and other studies in different spectral regions. The Nimbus satellites were launched aboard Thor-Agena rockets and Delta rockets.
An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet or a high mountain glacier. Since the ice forms from the incremental buildup of annual layers of snow, lower layers are older than upper ones, and an ice core contains ice formed over a range of years. Cores are drilled with hand augers or powered drills; they can reach depths of over two miles (3.2 km), and contain ice up to 800,000 years old.
In glaciology, an ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi). The only current ice sheets are the Antarctic ice sheet and the Greenland ice sheet. Ice sheets are bigger than ice shelves or alpine glaciers. Masses of ice covering less than 50,000 km2 are termed an ice cap. An ice cap will typically feed a series of glaciers around its periphery.
The Amundsen Sea is an arm of the Southern Ocean off Marie Byrd Land in western Antarctica. It lies between Cape Flying Fish to the east and Cape Dart on Siple Island to the west. Cape Flying Fish marks the boundary between the Amundsen Sea and the Bellingshausen Sea. West of Cape Dart there is no named marginal sea of the Southern Ocean between the Amundsen and Ross Seas. The Norwegian expedition of 1928–1929 under Captain Nils Larsen named the body of water for the Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen while exploring this area in February 1929.
The global temperature record shows the fluctuations of the temperature of the atmosphere and the oceans through various spans of time. There are numerous estimates of temperatures since the end of the Pleistocene glaciation, particularly during the current Holocene epoch. Some temperature information is available through geologic evidence, going back millions of years. More recently, information from ice cores covers the period from 800,000 years before the present time until now. A study of the paleoclimate covers the time period from 12,000 years ago to the present. Tree rings and measurements from ice cores can give evidence about the global temperature from 1,000-2,000 years before the present until now. The most detailed information exists since 1850, when methodical thermometer-based records began. Modifications on the Stevenson-type screen were made for uniform instrument measurements around 1880.
Melt ponds are pools of open water that form on sea ice in the warmer months of spring and summer. The ponds are also found on glacial ice and ice shelves. Ponds of melted water can also develop under the ice, which may lead to the formation of thin underwater ice layers called false bottoms.
The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial and interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Ma and is ongoing. Although geologists describe this entire period up to the present as an "ice age", in popular culture this term usually refers to the most recent glacial period, or to the Pleistocene epoch in general. Since Earth still has polar ice sheets, geologists consider the Quaternary glaciation to be ongoing, though currently in an interglacial period.
Lonnie Thompson, is an American paleoclimatologist and university professor in the School of Earth Sciences at Ohio State University. He has achieved global recognition for his drilling and analysis of ice cores from ice caps and mountain glaciers in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. He and his wife, Ellen Mosley-Thompson, run the ice core paleoclimatology research group at the Byrd Polar Research Center.
The retreat of glaciers since 1850 is well documented and is one of the effects of climate change. The retreat of mountain glaciers, notably in western North America, Asia, the Alps and tropical and subtropical regions of South America, Africa and Indonesia, provide evidence for the rise in global temperatures since the late 19th century. The acceleration of the rate of retreat since 1995 of key outlet glaciers of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets may foreshadow a rise in sea level, which would affect coastal regions. Excluding peripheral glaciers of ice sheets, the total cumulated global glacial losses over the 26-year period from 1993 to 2018 were likely 5500 gigatons, or 210 gigatons per yr.
Eric J. Rignot is the Donald Bren, Distinguished and Chancellor Professor of Earth system science at the University of California, Irvine, and a Senior Research Scientist for the Radar Science and Engineering Section at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He studies the interaction of the polar ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica with global climate using a combination of satellite remote sensing, airborne remote sensing, understanding of physical processes controlling glacier flow and ice melt in the ocean, field methods, and climate modeling. He was elected at the National_Academy_of_Sciences in 2018.
Petermann Glacier is a large glacier located in North-West Greenland to the east of Nares Strait. It connects the Greenland ice sheet to the Arctic Ocean at 81°10' north latitude, near Hans Island.
The Antarctic Automatic Weather Station (AWS) Project is an Antarctic research program at the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison that is funded by the Office of Polar Programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF). The AWS project was started in 1980 by UW-Madison atmospheric sciences Professor Charles R. Stearns.
An ice cap climate is a polar climate where no mean monthly temperature exceeds 0 °C (32 °F). The climate generally covers areas at high altitudes and polar regions, such as Antarctica and some of the northernmost islands of Canada and Russia. Most of Greenland is under the influence of an ice cap climate, although the coasts are prone to more influence from the sea, providing more tundra climates. Some regions on the islands of Norway's Svalbard Archipelago facilitate an ice cap climate. Areas with ice cap climates are normally covered by a permanent layer of ice and have no vegetation. There is limited animal life in most ice cap climates, which are usually found near the oceanic margins. Although ice cap climates are inhospitable to human life and no civilian communities lie in such climates, there are some research stations scattered in Antarctica and interior Greenland.
Global or eustatic sea level has fluctuated significantly over Earth's history. The main factors affecting sea level are the amount and volume of available water and the shape and volume of the ocean basins. The primary influences on water volume are the temperature of the seawater, which affects density, and the amounts of water retained in other reservoirs like rivers, aquifers, lakes, glaciers, polar ice caps and sea ice. Over geological timescales, changes in the shape of the oceanic basins and in land/sea distribution affect sea level. In addition to eustatic changes, local changes in sea level are caused by tectonic uplift and subsidence.
Julie Michelle Palais is an American polar glaciologist who has made significant contributions to climate change research studying volcanic fallout in ice cores from both Greenland and Antarctica. For many years, starting in 1990, she played a pivotal role working at the National Science Foundation (NSF) as Program Director of the Antarctic Glaciology Program in the Division of Polar Programs, including many trips to both North and South Polar regions. Both the Palais Glacier and Palais Bluff in Antarctica were named in her honor and she has received many further recognitions for her distinguished career.
Guðfinna 'Tollý' Aðalgeirsdóttir is professor in Geophysics at the Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland.
Ruth Mottram is a British climate scientist who is a researcher at the Danish Meteorological Institute. Her research considers the development of climate models and the dynamics of glaciers and ice sheets in the climate system.
40°00′12″N83°02′19″W / 40.003300°N 83.038688°W
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