Research Programmes

Scientific Research Programmes (SRPs)

SCAR focuses its science efforts on high priority topical areas through its Scientific Research Programmes (SRPs).  Three new programmes were approved by the Executive in 2020 and began officially in January 2021.

Further SRPs may be developed and proposed by Programme Planning Groups (PPGs) over the coming months and years, fostered by one or more of the permanent, disciplinary Science Groups (SGs). A PPG develops a proposal for an SRP based on wide consultation with the community.

 

AntClimNow Project MosaicsNear-term Variability and Prediction of the Antarctic Climate System (AntClimnow)

AntClimnow will investigate the prediction of near-term conditions in the Antarctic climate system on timescales of years to multiple decades. They will take an integrated approach, looking beyond climate projections of the physical system to consider the Antarctic environment as a whole.

 

Ant ICON Project Dry Valleys TeraudsIntegrated Science to Inform Antarctic and Southern Ocean Conservation (Ant-ICON)

The Ant-ICON SRP will answer fundamental science questions (as identified by the SCAR Horizon Scan), relating to the conservation and management of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean and focus on research to drive and inform international decision-making and policy change.

INSTANT project AvdP iceberg calvingINStabilities and Thresholds in ANTarctica (INSTANT)

The INSTANT SRP will address a first-order question about Antarctica’s contribution to sea level. It encompasses geoscience, physical sciences and biological sciences, of the way in which interactions between the ocean, atmosphere and cryosphere have influenced ice-sheets in the past, and what expectations will be in the future with a special focus on quantifying the contributions to global sea level change. They aim to quantify the Antarctic ice sheet’s contribution to past and future global sea-level change.

Information on the previous generation of SRPs can be found on the former SRPs page.

The film “Peace and Science” gives an insight into the important work of SCAR, and specifically its three Scientific Research Programmes, and the vital scientific questions they address. Produced and directed by John Weller.

Programme Planning Groups (PPGs)

Programme Planning Groups (PPGs) are the means by which Scientific Research Programmes (SRPs) are developed and proposed, through wide consultation with the community. SRPs address major-priority, scientific issues of global or fundamental importance, at the cutting edge of the science, requiring substantial fieldwork and/or observations in the Antarctic. For information on the procedure to establish a new Scientific Research Programme, please see the SRP Guidelines document.

The latest suite of SRPs has been approved is beginning work, and more PPGs will be developed over coming months and years.  Details will be posted here as programmes are developed.

AGATA Project GRAPE GNSS stationAntarctic Geospace and ATmosphere reseArch (AGATA)

AGATA will be a coordinated, worldwide effort to monitor, investigate and better understand the physics of the polar atmosphere and the impact of the Sun-Earth interactions on the polar regions. Taking advantage of existing and planned instrumentation in Antarctica, but also in the Arctic and satellite-based observations, and it will aim for coordinated research efforts and data exchange.