Abstract:
The NSF OPP award # 0321053 supported a Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) purchase of equipment for Ohio State University's Glacial Assessment Program (GAP). The program has three major thrusts: 1) documenting ongoing and recent glacier change primarily using geophysical methods including remote sensing; 2) assessing the recent changes from a long-term perspective ... provided by high-resolution ice core-derived climate histories; and 3) projecting future glacier changes by improving modeling capability, and hence, predicting future climate forcing in terms of snowfall and ablation.
Acquisition of these instruments contributes to the Glacial Assessment Program's ability to investigate glacier changes in the past, present and future by enhancing OSU's technical capability to make critical observations and analyses. More specifically, the spectroradiometer allows crucial field observations of the spectral signature of periglacial landscapes, in order to serve as validation for trimline mapping using multispectral satellite imagery. The gravity meter is essential to make a more quantitative assessment of the mass balances of Greenland, Antarctica and smaller glaciers and ice caps that strongly control present and future sea level fluctuations. The mass spectrometer and ion chromatographs provide critical augmentation to OSU's capability to reconstruct past climate variability from ice cores recovered from glaciers and ice caps from the equator to the poles and thereby disentangle the various mechanisms forcing regional climates in the past.
Finally, computer clusters allow better prediction of future climate change via the development of higher resolution simulations of regional climate.
Description:
Research at the Center focuses on the role of cold regions in the global climate system, with major research themes focused on:
* climatic reconstruction of glacial and post-glacial times; * polar ice-sheets: dynamics, history and ice-atmosphere interactions; * high-latitude landform evolution, soils and hydrology; * geologic evolution of Antarctica; * and the history of polar exploration.
Scientists at the Byrd Center are reconstructing past climate by studying chemical records preserved in ice cores collected from glaciers in Greenland, China, Peru and Antarctica. Fossils provide important evidence for much older changes in climate and plant fossils collected in the Transantarctic Mountains indicate that parts of the southern continent were once forested. Environmental studies include programs in Alaska and Russia which are concerned with hydrologic and geochemical cycles in permafrost terrains and interactions with the biosphere. Modern processes such as the motion of the great ice sheets and the circulation of storm systems around Antarctica are being studied with sophisticated computer models and with satellite-borne sensors capable of imaging the surface through cloud cover and during the long polar night.
The Center has an archival program which is a collaborative effort of the Center and The Ohio State University Libraries/Archives.
University of Colorado
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
CIRES 449 UCB
City:
Boulder
Province or State:
CO
Postal Code:
80309
Country:
USA
Publications/References
Van der Veen, C.J., and B. Csatho, "Spectral characteristics of Greenland lichen.", Géographie Physique et Quaternaire, p. , vol. NA, (2006). Accepted
Csatho, B., C.J. van der Veen, and C. Tremper, "Trimline mapping from multispectral Landsat ETM+ imagery.", Géographie Physique et Quaternaire, p. , vol. NA, (2006). Accepted
Bromwich, D.H., L-S. Bai, and ... G.G. Bjarnason, "High resolution regional climate simulations over Iceland using Polar MM5.", Monthly Weather Review, p. 3527-3547, vol. 133, (2005). Published
Bromwich, D.H., E.R. Toracinta, R.J. Oglesby, J.L. Fastook, and T.J. Hughes, "LGM Summer Climate on the Southern Margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet: Wet or Dry?", Journal of Climate, p. 3317-3338, vol. 18, (2005). Published
Box, J.E., D.H. Bromwich, B.A. Veenhuis, L-S Bai, J.C. Stroeve, J.C. Rogers, K. Steffen, T. Haran, S-H Wang, " Greenland ice sheet surface mass balance variability (1988-2004) from calibrated Polar MM5 output.", Journal of Climate, p. 2783-2800, vol. 19, (2006). Published
Monaghan, A.J., D.H. Bromwich, and S-H. Wang, "Recent trends in Antarctic snow accumulation from Polar MM5 simulations.", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series A,, p. 1683-1708, vol. 364, (2006). Published
Monaghan, A.J., D.H. Bromwich, and 12 others, "Insignificant change in Antarctic snow accumulation since the International Geophysical Year.", Science, p. , vol. NA, (2006). Accepted
Thompson, L.G., T. Yao, M.E. Davis, E. Mosley-Thompson, P.-N. Lin, T. A. Mashiotta, V.N. Mikhalenko, and V.S. Zagorodnov, "Holocene climate variability in the Purogangri ice cap from the central Tibetan Plateau.", Annals of Glaciology. International Symposium on High-Elevation Glaciers and Climate Records., p. NA, vol. NA, (2006). Accepted
Thompson, L.G., E. Mosley-Thompson, M. Davis, P.-N. Lin, H. Brecher, B. Leon, T. Mashiotta, K. Mountain, and D. Les, "Abrupt tropical climate change: past and present.", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences., p. , vol. NA, (2006). Accepted
Thompson, L.G., E. Mosley-Thompson, M. E. Davis, T. A. Mashiotta, K. A. Henderson, P.-N. Lin, and Y. Tandong., "Ice core evidence for asynchronous glaciation on the Tibetan Plateau.", Quaternary International, p. , vol. NA, (2006). Accepted
Thompson, L.G., M. Davis, E. Mosley-Thompson, P.-N. Lin, K. Henderson and T. Mashiotta, "Tropical ice core records: evidence for asynchronous glaciation on Milankovitch timescales.", Journal of Quaternary Science, p. 723-733, vol. 20 (7-8, (2005). Published
Schenk, T., B. Csatho, C.J van der Veen, H. Brecher, Y. Ahn and T. Yoon, "Registering imagery to ICESat data for measuring elevation changes on Byrd Glacier, Antarctica.", Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.29/2005GL024328., p. L23S05, vol. 32, (2005). Published
Csatho, B., Y. Ahn, T. Yoon, C.J. van der Veen, S. B. Spikes, G. Hamilton, D. Morse, and S. Vogel, "ICESat measurements reveal complex patterns of thickness changes on Siple Coast ice streams, Antarctica.", Geophysical Research Letters, doi:1029/2005GL024289., p. L23S04, vol. 32, (2005). Published
Csatho, B., T. Schenk, W. Krabill, T. Wilson, W. Lyons, G. McKenzie, C. Hallams, S. Manizade and T. Paulsen, "Airborne laser scanning for high-resolution mapping of Antarctica", EOS, p. 237-238, vol. 86(25), (2005). Published
Books or Other One-time Publications Thompson L.G., and M.E. Davis, " Stable isotopes through the Holocene as recorded in low-latitude, high-altitude ice cores.", (2005). Chapter in a book, Published
Editor(s): P.K. Aggarwal, J. R. Gat and K. F.O. Froechlich Collection: Isotopes in the Water Cycle: Past, Present and Future of a Developing Science Bibliography: 321-339, Springer, Netherlands
