Documents

SCAR EXCOM 2005 01: Agenda

SCAR EXCOM 2005 02: Annotated Agenda

SCAR EXCOM 2005 04: Report on Progress by GCMD with AMD

Activities of the Global Change Master Directory with respect to the development of the Antarctic Master Directory in the years 2003 and 2004.

SCAR EXCOM 2005 05: Draft Agenda for the Joint Meeting with the COMNAP Executive Committee

SCAR EXCOM 2005 06: Report of the SCAR Standing Scientific Group on Geosciences (SSG-GS)

Prof. Alessandro Capra Chief Officer, GSSG June 2005

GSSG Office Bearers are : Chief Officer prof. Alessandro Capra, Deputy Chief Officer prof. Ross Powell and Secretary prof. Brian Storey .

The following present the GSSG Activities since XXVIII SCAR Open Science Conference, Bremen and XXVIII SCAR delegates meeting, Bremerhaven. This report provides a summary from each Expert Group (EG) , Action Group (AG) and Scientific Research Programme (SRP).

The proposed ”Treaty and CEP” Action Group has not developed, considering that it should overlap with ATCM activites. A Group of Specialist within GSSG has been composed in order that the GSSG has appropriate representation at ATCMs.

In addition to the activities reported, GSSG CO has been involved in a number of formalised activities such as the review of JCADM and SCAR Fellowship evaluation.

Particular attention has been reserved to finalize most activities to IPY07. Specific GSSG initiatives for IPY are presented in EG and AG sections and in appendix.

There will be a short presentation of the Internal Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences 2007, planned in Santa Barbara, California, USA, prepared form Robin Bell, Chair of the National Steering Committee .

SCAR EXCOM 2005 07: Report of the SCAR Standing Scientific Group on Life Sciences (SSG-LS)

Introduction

The Standing Scientific Group on Life Sciences (SSG–LS) was constituted at XXVII SCAR in 2002.

Since XXVIII SCAR the group comprises:

• Expert Groups (EGs):

  Expert Group on Birds (EGB)
  Expert Group on Seals (EGS)
  Expert Group on Human Biology and Medicine (EGHB&M)

• Scientific Programme Groups (SPGs):

  Evolutionary Biology of Antarctic Organisms (EVOLANTA) Antarctic Pack Ice Seals (APIS)

  Regional Sensitivity to Climate Change in Antarctic Terrestrial and Limnetic Ecosystems (RiSCC)

  Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic (EBA)

  Subglacial Antarctic Lake Enviroments (SALE, jointly sponsored with the Geosciences Standing Scientific Group)

• Action Groups (AGs):

  Action Group on Biological Monitoring
  Action Group on the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML)

Over the past year there has been substantial activity by the SSG–LS and its associated expert groups and programmes. These activities are briefly outlined in this paper.

SCAR EXCOM 2005 08: Report of the SCAR Standing Scientific Group on Physical Sciences (SSG-PS)

SCAR EXCOM 2005 09: Report by the Joint Committee on Antarctic Data Management (JCADM)

Introduction

Scientific data are very valuable. In the first place their intrinsic value for scientific research: without data no science. But there is also an economical value of data: it’s extremely expensive to collect the data. This is especially true for Antarctic data.
To maximize the value of data and to preserve data for future (re)use, data need to be carefully managed in a professional manner. Data management includes all activities to archive data, to make data accessible and to exchange data. To make archived data accessible the existence and availability of the data must be made known. This includes building (metadata) directories and catalogs, defining exchange formats and developing web techniques for data exchange over the Internet.

SCAR EXCOM 2005 10: Review of the Joint Committee on Antarctic Data Management (JCADM)

Summary

Between 31 March – 1 April, 2005, a six-person team (representing three SCAR SSGs and LTER) conducted a review of the SCAR/COMNAP Joint Committee on Antarctic Data Management (JCADM) for SCAR and COMNAP. Unfortunately, no COMNAP representatives were able to be present for the review meeting, but their comments on the draft report were sought through correspondence. In addition NSIDC were unable to attend, but noted that they take the work of the metadata archiving for Antarctica very seriously, and believe that it is an important international record of the scientific exploration of the continent. They further commented that they strongly believe that the activity needs to be strengthened and broadened, and links to actual data archives need to be expanded.

The Review Team was joined by Taco de Bruin (NIOZ), Chief Officer JCADM, and NADC manager for Netherlands for parts of the review meeting. He also provided a presentation giving an overview of JCADM and its activities, reviewing the JCADM ToRs and commenting on the Review ToRs.

This report documents the review and presents the findings and recommendations of the JCADM Review Team. The Terms of Reference of the Review are given below, and the agenda for the review meeting together with the JCADM Terms of Reference are to be found in Annexes 1 and 2 respectively.

The Review Team concluded the review with a generally positive evaluation of JCADM. The Review Team feels that JCADM performs a necessary function and should be continued. The Review Team judged that JCADM meets its Terms of Reference. The achievements of JCADM to date are noted in Section 4. The Review Team made a number of recommendations that should help to improve the performance of JCADM and its value to the scientific community and COMNAP (section 5).

SCAR EXCOM 2005 11a: Antarctic Climate Evolution (ACE) Meeting, Vienna, April 2005

ACE meeting, 25 April 2005
Le Meridien, Vienna, Austria
Minutes (taken by Carlota Escutia and Jane Francis)

SCAR EXCOM 2005 11b: Implementation Plan for Antarctic Climate Evolution (ACE)

Executive Summary

• An 11-person steering committee is proposed to include a range of expertise sufficient to lead the programme.
• Six sub-committees are being established to implement the science programme. Membership of these committees allows ACE to widen involvement in the programme in terms of expertise, gender and nationality.
• ACE steering committee officers have a 3-year term of office (co-Chairs will stand down in 2008). The sub-committee structure of ACE allows future involvement in the steering committee from a wide-range of scientists.
• A website has been constructed to inform the public, media, schools and colleges, and scientists about the progress of the project (www.ace.scar.org).
• ACE has already established a strong record of publishing scientific findings in peer-reviewed journals (e.g. papers in Nature and Geology, plus special issues of Global and Planetary Change, vol. 45, 2005, and Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, vol. 198, in press). An edited book on ACE is being planned for publication in 2007.
• A timetable of activity has been defined, and dates/locations of forthcoming meetings have been coordinated with major international symposia.
• Plans for outreach, education and data management are in line with SCAR advice.

SCAR EXCOM 2005 12: Implementation Plan for Antarctica and the Global Climate System (AGCS)

Introduction

Antarctica and the Global Climate System (AGCS) is one of the five Scientific Research Programmes (SRPs) of SCAR. These are the flagship scientific activities of the organisation and it is anticipated that they will make major advances in their areas of Antarctic science. It is intended that they will have a duration of 5-10 years and be subject to periodic review.

The Science Plan for AGCS described the scientific goals of the programme – this is available online at http://www.scar.org/researchgroups/. AGCS is concerned with the nature of the atmospheric and oceanic linkages between the climate of the Antarctic and the rest of the Earth system, and the mechanisms involved therein. It will make use of data extracted from ice cores, satellite observations, the output of global and regional coupled atmosphere-ocean climate models and in-situ meteorological, atmospheric and oceanic data.

The research will be organised into four major, closely linked themes dealing with (1) Decadal time scale variability in the Antarctic climate system, (2) Global and regional climate signals in ice cores, (3) Natural and anthropogenic forcing on the Antarctic climate system and (4) The export of Antarctic climate signals.

In this present document we provide details of how we intend to achieve the targets outlined in the Science Plan. The actual scientific activities of AGCS will be carried out by the various SCAR National Programmes, and the implementation plan has been prepared based on their input. Inevitably, because of funding issues, it is difficult to be specific about activities more than two or three years in the future, so the goals are more details in the early years of the project. The actual input from the various nations amounts to over 90 pages of text, and this provides a very comprehensive description of what will be undertaken. In this main part of the document a broad outline is presented in summary form split into the four themes of the programme. The final section provides more general material that spans the programme.

This document is based on information received from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the UK, Ukraine and the USA. We encourage the other SCAR nations to submit material on how they will contribute to AGCS.

SCAR EXCOM 2005 13: Implementation Plan for Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic (EBA)

Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic: the Response of Life to Change (EBA)

Implementation plan

The structure of this programme will be based around a series of five major unifying key questions that are addressed across the realms of terrestrial, limnetic and marine environments. These will form the Work Packages of the programme which will operate along the lines of a matrix of the key questions vs selected environments.

The EBA programme will bring together a wide range of disciplines to tackle a series of well focused questions. These disciplines include plate tectonics, climatology, glaciology, geophysics, oceanography, paleontology, molecular biology, taxonomy, biogeography, autecology, cellular and organismal-level ecophysiology, and community ecology.

The programme will run a series of workshops. There will be three types: a) thematical, fostering cross-disciplinary interaction, including joint workshops with the other SCAR programmes, particularly ACE and AGCS; b) interaction with non-polar experts in evolutionary biology; c) integrative, for the Antarctic community. The workshop timetable will be defined at the EBA workshop during the SCAR Biology Symposium in Curitiba in 2005.

Additional to the workshops will be national and international field programmes. Such programs will be wide ranging, including subantarctic islands, inland to the most remote nunataks as well as northward to the Magallanes, and stretching across the Southern Ocean down to the deep ocean as well as the shelves. This wide range will need significant support from COMNAP and national programs.

Scope

• To understand the evolution and diversity of life in the Antarctic.
• To determine how these have influenced the properties and dynamics of present Antarctic ecosystems and the Southern Ocean system.
• To make predictions on how organisms and communities are responding and will respond to current and future environmental change.

SCAR EXCOM 2005 14: Implementation Plan for Interhemispheric Conjugacy Effects in Solar-Terrestrial and Aeronomy Research (ICESTAR)

SCAR EXCOM 2005 15a: Report of First Subglacial Antarctic Lake Environments (SALE) Meeting, Vienna, April 2005

First SCAR SALE Meeting, 22-23 April, 2005 – Vienna, Austria

SCAR EXCOM 2005 15b: Implementation Plan of Subglacial Antarctic Lake Environments (SALE)

Introduction

The final revision of the Subglacial Antarctic Lake Environments (SALE) proposal was approved as a SCAR Scientific Research Program at the XXVIII SCAR Delegates Meeting in Bremerhaven, Germany, October, 2004.

The first meeting of SALE was convened from 22 -23 April 2005 and a web site has been established (http://salepo.tamu.edu/scar_sale). Subject to SCAR Executive Committee approval of the membership roster, J Priscu and M Kennicutt II have agreed to continue as Convener and Secretary of SALE, respectively. The Secretary has also been assigned the duties of SALE Treasurer and maintainer of the SALE web site.

A recommended membership list has been provided to the SCAR Executive for consideration. The proposed SALE membership has been expanded from the SALEGOS members to include F Pattyn (Belgium) and C Mayer (Germany). Consideration of membership, balance, and national representation will be a standing agenda item for each SALE program meeting.

The SALE-Unified International Team for Exploration and Discovery (SALE- UNITED) Expression of Interest (EoI) has been identified as a potential “core program” by the ICSU/WMO joint Committee for the IPY 2007-2008. SALE- UNITED will work closely with SCAR SALE and assist in the coordination of SALE activities during the IPY 2007-2008.

SCAR EXCOM 2005 16: Scientific Research Programmes (SRP) Performance Review

SCAR EXCOM 2005 17: Revised “Guidelines for Hosting a SCAR Meeting”

The original “Guidelines” were prepared by the SCAR Secretariat in June 1994 long before the re-organization of SCAR. These new “Guidelines” take account of the new structure for the biennial SCAR Meeting as a two-part meeting, and of the development of the Internet.

SCAR EXCOM 2005 18a: Arrangements for XXIX SCAR – Planning Progress

Progress with Planning SCAR/COMNAP 2006 Report to SCAR Executive Meeting Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2005

SCAR EXCOM 2005 18b: Arrangements for XXIX SCAR – Draft Timetable