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Standing Scientific Group on Physical Sciences (SSG-PS)

XXX SCAR SSG Meeting, 5-7 July 2008, St Petersburg, Russia

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Ice Sheet Model Workshop, July 2008

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Scientific Research Programmes within SSG-PS:

Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE) Review

SCAR's AGCS team was asked to take the lead in the preparation of a report on Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE), to consider the past and possible future changes in the physical environment of the Antarctic and the impact on the biota. Many individuals have contributed to the report and we now have a draft available that we would like to have discussed as widely as possible. SCAR welcomes comment and feedback on the full draft text of the report, which is about 500 pages in length and is available as a single 15 MB PDF file:

Download the report on ACCE.

We seek comments and suggestions on the text, which should be fed back to John Turner (jtu@bas.ac.uk) by September 1st. We plan to revise the report later in the year in light of the comments received, and have it published early in the new year.

The report is still in draft form. Many of the references are incomplete and some small items are still outstanding. What we require at this stage is comment on the main scientific conclusions. It is important that we get specific comments and suggestions for change, rather than general comments. We greatly look forward to getting input from interested parties, who we are sure will be able to help us to make this a landmark volume useful for years to come.

Scientific Programme Planning Group

Data and Information Services

The SCAR REference Antarctic Data for Environmental Research (READER) initiative aims to create high quality data sets of key variables for investigation of climate variability and change. There are currently three components:

Partnerships and Co-Sponsorships

CliC - Climate and Cryosphere Programme

SCAR co-sponsors CliC with the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). For further information, see the Memoranda of Understanding between SCAR and the WCRP.

CLIVAR/CliC/SCAR Southern Ocean Implementation Panel

SCAR co-sponsors the CLIVAR/CliC Southern Ocean Implementation panel with the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). For further information, see the Memorandum of Understanding between SCAR and the WCRP.

iAnZone - International Antarctic Zone Programme

SCAR has agreed that the International Antarctic Zone programme (iAnZone) will be affiliated to the SCAR/SCOR Oceanography Expert Group.

ICED - Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Southern Ocean Programme

SCAR partners SCOR and other organisations in sponsorship of ICED. For more information on the Integrated Analyses of Circumpolar Climate Interactions and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Southern Ocean (ICED), see the SCAR ICED page.

IGOS-P - Integrated Global Observing Strategy Partnership

SCAR and the WCRP are co-sponsors of the Cryosphere Theme, a plan for a Cryosphere observing system. The observing system was developed for the IGOS Partners, and was published in hard copy in late 2007. It can be found on the Internet at http://www.eohandbook.com/igosp/cryosphere.htm.

IPAB - International Programme of Antarctic Buoys

SCAR co-sponsors IPAB with the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). For further information, see the Memorandum of Understanding between SCAR and the WCRP.

IPICS - International Partnerships in Ice Core Sciences

At their XXIX meeting in Hobart, July 2006, SCAR Delegates decided that SCAR should formally become a co-sponsor of the International Partnerships in Ice Core Sciences (IPICS).

SCOR - Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research, Oceanography Expert Group

In addition to the SCAR/SCOR partnership sponsoring ICED (see above), a joint SCAR/SCOR Oceanograpy Expert Group was set up to focus on physical oceanography, while recognising the inter-dependence of physical, chemical and biological processes in the Southern Ocean.

SCOSTEP - Scientific Committee on Solar Terrestrial Physics

SSG-PS member and officer, Maurizio Candidi, is the SCAR representative on the Bureau of the Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics (SCOSTEP), and provides a key link between SCOSTEP and SCAR programmes, such as ICESTAR (see under Scientific Research Programmes above).

WCRP - World Climate Research Program

The WCRP and SCAR share common goals in seeking to observe, understand, and predict climate variability and change in the Antarctic region, including the Southern Ocean. Through the SCAR-WCRP Memoranda of Understanding, the WCRP and SCAR aim to share corresponding efforts and resources and avoid duplication. This will be achieved through SCAR co-sponsoring the following activities of the WCRP:

(i) the CLIVAR/CliC/SCAR Southern Ocean Implementation Panel,

(ii) the Climate and Cryosphere Project (CliC), (jointly with IASC and WCRP),

(iii) the International Programme for Antarctic Buoys (IPAB)

as well as through the WCRP co-sponsoring the new SCAR programme on Antarctica in the Global Climate System (AGCS).

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