Italian engagement in Antarctica

Polar Record ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 27 (161) ◽  
pp. 121-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Manzoni ◽  
M. Zucchelli

AbstractFollowing Italy's accession to the Antarctic Treaty in 1981, the Italian Parliament made provision for a six-year programme of Antarctic research, to be administered by the Ministry for University and Scientific and Technical Research. The programme, Progetto Antartide, centres on a permanent scientific station at Gerlache Inlet, installed in 1986–87 for a staff of up to 60. Chartered ships, helicopters, snow vehicles and heavy transport aircraft provide logistic support for a substantial scientific and field programme, ranging widely from the base, the scope and extent of which is likely to increase.

Polar Record ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 241-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
José C. Xavier ◽  
Dragomir Mateev ◽  
Linda Capper ◽  
Annick Wilmotte ◽  
David W. H. Walton

AbstractThe development of formal discourse about education and outreach within the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCM), and the influence of major international activities in this field, are described. This study reflects on the ATCM Parties’ approach to implementing the ambition of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty Article 6.1.a, to promote the educational value of Antarctica and its environment, and examines the role of workshops and expert groups within the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programmes. These early initiatives, which emerged in the 1990s, were a prelude to the development and implementation of a large number of International Polar Year (IPY) education and outreach programmes. The establishment of an Antarctic Treaty System Intersessional Contact Group, and an online forum on education and outreach during the 2015 ATCM in Bulgaria, is a legacy of IPY and is the next step in fostering collaboration to engage people around the world in the importance and relevance of Antarctica to our daily lives.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S288) ◽  
pp. 275-295
Author(s):  
John W. V. Storey ◽  
Lyu Abe ◽  
Michael Andersen ◽  
Philip Anderson ◽  
Michael Burton ◽  
...  

AbstractSCAR, the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, is, like the IAU, a committee of ICSU, the International Council for Science. For over 30 years, SCAR has provided scientific advice to the Antarctic Treaty System and made numerous recommendations on a variety of matters. In 2010, Astronomy and Astrophysics from Antarctica was recognized as one of SCAR's five Scientific Research Programs. Broadly stated, the objectives of Astronomy & Astrophysics from Antarctica are to coordinate astronomical activities in Antarctica in a way that ensures the best possible outcomes from international investment in Antarctic astronomy, and maximizes the opportunities for productive interaction with other disciplines. There are four Working Groups, dealing with site testing, Arctic astronomy, science goals, and major new facilities. Membership of the Working Groups is open to any professional working in astronomy or a related field.


Polar Record ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Turner ◽  
Nicholas E. Barrand ◽  
Thomas J. Bracegirdle ◽  
Peter Convey ◽  
Dominic A. Hodgson ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWe present an update of the ‘key points’ from the Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE) report that was published by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) in 2009. We summarise subsequent advances in knowledge concerning how the climates of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean have changed in the past, how they might change in the future, and examine the associated impacts on the marine and terrestrial biota. We also incorporate relevant material presented by SCAR to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings, and make use of emerging results that will form part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report.


Polar Record ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 17 (109) ◽  
pp. 359-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Drewry

In 1967 the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) undertook the first longrange airborne radio echo soundings of the Antarctic ice sheet. The results of this season were encouraging and led to other programmes being organized in 1969–70, 1971–72, and 1974–75. The initial impetus for this work came from A. P. Crary of the US National Science Foundation (NSF), who suggested that the radio echo equipment that had been developed at SPRI under the direction of S. Evans and G. de Q. Robin, with financial assistance from the Royal Society's Paul Instrument Fund and later from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) should be operated over the Antarctic ice sheet, and he offered the logistic support of the US Antarctic Research Program (USARP). Since those early flights, a productive relationship has been developed between SPRI and that arm of NSF represented by USARP and US Navy Task Force 43 (now 199) and, up to the end of the 1971–72 season, it had resulted in 210000 km of radio echo profiling in the Antarctic. A further 135 000 km was accomplished during the 1974–75 season.


Polar Record ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. K. Headland

ABSTRACTThe earliest winter scientific station established in the Antarctic was in 1883 as part of the first International Polar Year (IPY) programme. Subsequently, to the IPY of 2007–2009, scientific stations have been deployed on 139 sites (103 on the Antarctic continent, 36 on the peri-Antarctic islands), by 24 countries for a cumulative total of 2666 winters to that of 2008. This paper summarises the winter dates, locations, and national status of all stations in the region. It thus includes all winter stations of the three IPYs and those of the International Geophysical Year (1957–1958). The positions of 120 of these winter stations are south of 60°S, the boundary of the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 (although many of them predate the Treaty).


Polar Record ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 28 (164) ◽  
pp. 51-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce W. Davis

AbstractThis paper illustrates the manner in which inceased political and community interest in Antarctica is shifting the focus of Australian Antarctic research towards environmental management, creating tensions amongst bureaucrats and scientists as to programme priorities and funding allocations, and argues the existence of three distinct eras, each with particular chacteristics and orientation, but all reflecting political and scientific perspectives about Antarctic at the relevant time: (a) idosyncratic individualism in the ‘heroic age’ of Antarctic exploration 1890–1945; (b) hydra-headed science programmes within the Antarctic Treaty system 1945–1959–1990; and (c) prospective maturity management of the Antarctic environment in the post-CRAMRA era, 1990 onwards.


Polar Record ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane W. Harris ◽  
Eric J. Woehler

The selection of sites that comprise the existing network of Antarctic protected areas has been largely ad hoc, driven by national interests rather than concerted efforts to ensure systematic and representative coverage of the Antarctic environment. Consequently there are gaps in coverage of all major ecosystems, in particular areas kept inviolate from human activity, inland lakes, and marine protected areas. Annex V of the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty provides a list of values to be protected within a network of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs), but provides no quantitative methods for site identification and prioritisation. The Antarctic Important Bird Area (IBA) Inventory is a joint initiative of BirdLife International and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Group of Experts on Birds (formerly the Bird Biology Subcommittee). The Antarctic IBA Inventory has identified 119 candidate IBAs, 97 of which are not currently protected as ASPAs. The IBA Inventory can improve the Antarctic Protected Area System (PAS) in that it provides a method by which to identify and prioritise sites for their potential inclusion in the Antarctic PAS.


2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (04) ◽  
pp. 1450037 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHAUN T. BROOKS

Within the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings, momentum has been building to define and manage the human footprint of research stations in Antarctica. This has been reflected by national operators and researchers offering varied approaches to measuring "footprint". By not having a standard method, comparative measurements have shown great disparity. By formulating a standard approach, this study delivered a method that enables comparison. To achieve this, recognition was needed of the vastly different environments in which Antarctic stations are situated. To aid this, defining what to measure, resources consumed, and location descriptors were developed to represent the actual impact of the footprint. The model was then tested on Australia's Davis Station. Inspection of aerial photography and mapping with geographical information systems was supported by field measurements. The model was found to be applicable, with on-the-ground measurements detecting additional footprint area not obvious from the desktop methods. While open to refinement, this study offers a standardised and comparable approach to measuring the footprint of Antarctic research stations.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-167
Author(s):  
Zia E. Madani

Recently Iran commenced its scientific research activities in the Antarctic, namely through dispatch of scientists in collaboration with other foreign state scientific institutions with research stations in Antarctica. In the meantime, the Iranian Antarctic research plan received approval of the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology and was then submitted to the relevant higher state organs for the allocation of budgets. However, there will be challenges on the trend towards Iranian active participation in the scientific research activities in the Antarctic, particularly from an international legal perspective. The author of this paper has been in charge of doing the preliminary legal studies of the plan in the Iranian National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Science. Accordingly, this paper is intended to tackle the said international legal challenges. These include, but are not limited to: accession to the Antarctic Treaty and the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS); devising and implementing the Iranian polar roadmap in compliance with international law; codification and drafting of necessary domestic laws or/and revision of existing ones; analysis of the international legal regime of the Antarctic, particularly environmental protection; and the linking between Antarctic science and Antarctic policy. Addressing these questions and many others would result in the perception that even prior to becoming a party to the Antarctic Treaty and the ATS, relevant decisions have been made, and measures taken to be compatible with the existing legal regime in the Antarctic.


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