Isotopic evidence of increasing water abundance and lake hydrological change in Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada

Lake-rich northern permafrost landscapes are sensitive to changing climate conditions, but ability to track real-time and potentially multiple hydrological responses (e.g. lake expansion, drawdown, drainage) is challenging due to absence of long-term, sustainable monitoring programs in these remote locations. Old Crow Flats (OCF), Yukon, is a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance where concerns about low water levels and their consequences for wildlife habitat and traditional ways of life prompted multidisciplinary studies during the International Polar Year (2007–2008) and led to the establishment of an aquatic ecosystem monitoring program. Here, we report water isotope data from 14 representative thermokarst lakes in OCF, the foundation of the monitoring program, and time-series of derived metrics including the isotope composition of input waters and evaporation-to-inflow ratios for a 13 year period (2007–2019). Although the lakes spanned multiple hydrological categories (i.e. rainfall-, snowmelt- and evaporation-dominated) based on initial surveys, well-defined trends from application of generalized additive models and meteorological records reveal that lakes have become increasingly influenced by rainfall, and potentially waters from thawing permafrost. These sources of input have led to more positive lake water balances. Given the documented role of rainfall in causing thermokarst lake drainage events in OCF and elsewhere, we anticipate increased vulnerability of lateral water export from OCF. This study demonstrates the value of long-term isotope-based monitoring programs for identifying hydrological consequences of climate change in lake-rich permafrost landscapes.

Early history of sudden commencement investigation and some newly discovered historical facts

The history of the research on the SC (sudden commencement) of magnetic storms before World War II is studied in this paper. Since geomagnetic research activities before World War II are still not yet fully known, this paper aims to reveal some historical facts related to SC investigation at that time. The first conclusion of this paper is the possible first discoverer of the simultaneity of SC at distant locations. We show that a Portuguese scientist had already pointed it out 16 years earlier than believed. The second conclusion is the role and activities of Aikitu Tanakadate as the reporter of the SC investigation committee of STME (Section of Terrestrial Magnetism and Electricity) and IATME (International Association of Terrestrial Magnetism and Electricity) in the IGGU (International Geodetic and Geophysical Union) or IUGG (International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics). Very little was known about his activities as the reporter of this committee. Our investigation at the Tanakadate Aikitu Memorial Science Museum disclosed how he acted and what he thought of SC, based on his frequent letters to and from other scientists. The third conclusion concerns SC research carried out by Japanese scientists during the period of the Second International Polar Year (1932–1933). Not only Tanakadate but also many other Japanese scientists participated in SC research during this international project. This formed a traditional basis of SC investigation in Japan, prompting a number of Japanese scientists to study SC after World War II.

Fungi attacking historic wood of Fort Conger and the Peary Huts in the High Arctic

Historic wooden structures in Polar Regions are being adversely affected by decay fungi and a warming climate will likely accelerate degradation. Fort Conger and the Peary Huts at Lady Franklin Bay in northern Ellesmere Island are important international heritage sites associated with early exploration in the High Arctic. Fort Conger, built by Adolphus Greely and expedition members during the First International Polar Year in 1881, was dismantled and used by Robert Peary and his expedition crew in the early 1900’s to build several smaller shelters. These historic structures remain at the site but are deteriorating. This investigation examines the fungi associated with wood decay in the historic woods. Soft rot was observed in all 125 wood samples obtained from the site. The major taxa found associated with the decayed wood were Coniochaeta (18%), Phoma (13%) Cadophora (12%), Graphium (9%), and Penicillium (9%) as well as many other Ascomycota that are known to cause soft rot in wood. Micromorphological observations using scanning electron microscopy of historic wooden timbers that were in ground contact revealed advanced stages of type I soft rot. No wood destroying Basidiomycota were found. Identification of the fungi associated with decay in these historic woods is a first step to better understand the unusual decomposition processes underway in this extreme environment and will aid future research to help control decay and preserve this important cultural heritage.

Portuguese Polar Program Annual Report 2020

The Portuguese Polar Program - PROPOLAR is funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia ( based at Instituto de Geografia e Ordenamento do Território ( of the University of Lisbon ( The coordination of PROPOLAR is led by the Centro de Estudos Geográficos from Instituto de Geografia e Ordenamento do Território University of Lisbon (CEG/IGOT ULISBOA), under a Coordinating Committee that includes members from 4 other research centres, namely the Centro de Ciências do Mar University of Algarve (CCMAR UALG), the Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente University of Coimbra (MARE UC), the Centro de Química Estrutural from Instituto Superior Técnico University of Lisboa (CQE/IST ULISBOA), and the Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental University of Oporto (CIIMAR U PORTO) Gonçalo Vieira (CEG/IGOT ULISBOA) is the Head of the program The remarkable effort and commitment of the Portuguese Polar scientists, within the framework of the International Polar Year ( 2007 08 were key to promote awareness of the importance of Polar science and research for Portugal A strategic plan encompassing three main objectives was then set out to i creating a Portuguese Polar Program focused on polar research and innovation and supporting the young generation of Polar scientists,scientists,( signing the Antarctic Treaty, and ( implementing a national Polar education and outreach program With the support of the FCT, PROPOLAR started in 2007 Portugal ratified the Antarctic Treaty in 2010 and the Madrid Protocol in 2014 and has established liaisons with major international Polar scientific and management organisations and networks PROPOLAR in close connection with the FCT, has ensured consolidation and sustainability of the development of Portuguese Polar science

On the relationship of energetic particle precipitation and mesopause temperature

Energetic Particle Precipitation (EPP) has the potential to change the neutral atmospheric temperature at the mesopause region. Recent results, however, are inconsistent leaving the mechanism and the actual effect still unresolved. Here we have searched for electron precipitation events and investigated a possible correlation between D region electron density enhancements and simultaneous neutral temperature changes. The rotational temperature of the exited hydroxyl (OH) molecules is retrieved from the spectrum of the OH airglow. The electron density is monitored by the EISCAT Svalbard radar from the International Polar Year (IPY) in 2007–2008, when the EISCAT Svalbard radar was run continuously, until February 2019. Particle precipitation events are characterized by rapid increases in electron density by a factor of 4 at an altitude range of 80–95 km, which overlaps with the nominal altitude of the OH airglow layer. The OH airglow measurements and the electron density measurements are co-located. Most of our 8 electron precipitation events are associated with a temperature decrease of 10–50 K. Only one event was related to temperature change less than 10 K. We interpret the results in terms of the change in the chemical composition in the mesosphere. Due to EPP ionisation the population of excited OH at the top of the airglow layer decreases. As a consequence, the airglow peak height changes and the temperatures are probed at lower altitudes, providing inconsistent temperature responses. This is in agreement with conclusions of earlier studies, but is, for the first time, constructed from electron precipitation measurements as opposed proxies. The EPP related temperature change recovers very fast, typically within 30 minutes. We therefore further conclude that this type of particle precipitation events would only have a significant impact on the longer-term heat balance in the mesosphere if the lifetime of the precipitation was much longer than that of a typical EPP event found in this study.

The World Digital Magnetic Anomaly Map: version 2.1

<p>The World Digital Magnetic Anomaly Map (WDMAM) is an initiative of the IAGA (International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy) supported by the CGMW (Commission for the Geological Map of the World) of UNESCO. The second version was released in 2015 (Dyment et al., 2015; Lesur et al., 2016), and mandate was given to the authors to update this version 2.0 using the same methodology as often as newly available data would make it necessary. Five better datasets justify the preparation and release of version 2.1: (1) the complete digital aeromagnetic map of Brasil made available to CGMW by Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis; (2) an improved version of the aeromagnetic map of Russia prepared at VSEGEI; (3) the second version of the Antarctic Digital Magnetic Anomaly maP (ADMAP; Golynsky et al., 2018) which construction results from a remarkable international effort during and after the Second International Polar Year; (4) a new map of the Caribbean plate and Gulf of Mexico resulting from the compilation and re-processing of existing marine and aeromagnetic data in the area (Garcia, 2018); and (5) a new compilation of marine magnetic data worldwide. The new map shows significant improvements over the previous versions and will be shortly available at wdmam.org.</p>

Developments in Polar Data Management 2006 – 2019 and Beyond: standardization and community-building in support of enhanced interoperability

<p>A consortium of polar data coordinating bodies has recently hosted a number of useful workshops and events to foster collaboration between individuals, institutions, projects and organizations. These events have built on polar data coordination efforts including progress made during the International Polar Year, focused workshops in 2016, 17, and 18, and three Polar Data Forum meetings (2013,15,19).  </p><p> </p><p>These and other activities have identified a need for continued community development and detailed technical collaboration in order to advance Polar Data Management. Technical activity has centred on achieving federated search through the exchange of standardised, well formatted discovery metadata. This is an important first step towards an interconnected polar data system and important gaps and mitigation have been identified at the levels of standardisation, exchange protocols, and eventually semantic annotation of datasets.</p><p> </p><p>These activities have been and will continue to be organized by a group of coordination bodies including the IASC-SAON Arctic Data Committee, the Southern Ocean Observing System, Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management, GEO Cold Regions Initiative, Polar View, Arctic Portal, ELOKA, Canadian Consortium on Arctic Data Interoperability, U.S. Inter-agency Arctic Research Policy Committee Arctic Data Sub-Team, and the WMO Global Cryosphere Watch.</p><p> </p><p>As a contribution to these international efforts, in January 2020, the European Union Horizon 2020 project CAPARDUS was established as a coordination and support action with the objective to establish a comprehensive framework for development, understanding and implementation of Arctic standards with focus on environmental topics and related data. The framework will integrate standards used by communities active in the Arctic and polar regions including research and services, Indigenous and local communities, commercial operators and governance bodies. Development of standards is important for many technologies and services (e.g. federated search) that can bring broad social and economic benefits within and beyond the Arctic region.</p><p> </p><p>In this presentation we first provide a synthesis of more than a decade and a half of activity and development in polar data management and interoperable data sharing.  Results from this analysis reveal two primary areas of successful developments: i) social and organizational including data policy, building working relationships, and funding cyberinfrastructure ; ii) technical developments in federated search, semantic interoperability, and use of web services.  Patterns, advancements and development gaps are identified and discussed.  Secondly, we present an overview of the first quarter of activity under the CAPARDUS project, including a preliminary model aimed and enhancing appropriate levels of standardization in the polar data community.</p>

The Norwegian Scientific Data Network, a distributed electronic research infrastructure

<p>The Norwegian Scientific Data Network (NorDataNet) is a national e-infrastructure building on the legacy of the International Polar Year. Initially it is focusing on geoscience and establishing interoperability interfaces between existing national data repositories in the areas of discovery metadata and data as well as on harmonised data documentation following the FAIR guiding principles. The technical foundation of NorDataNet is built on data documentation standards, standardised interoperability interfaces and semantic resources. This is now in place and preliminary functionalities are available. These includes the ability to discover and access datasets across the data repositories integrated, as well as visualisation and transformation of datasets served using the requested documentation standards and interfaces. Bottlenecks and achievements while working towards FAIR compliant data and data centres interoperability will be presented.</p>