SCAR EXCOM 2013 WP05: Report of SSG Physical Sciences Popular

SCAR EXCOM 2013 WP05: Report of SSG Physical Sciences

Executive Summary

Title: SSG Physical Sciences

Authors: D. Bromwich, M. Candidi

Introduction/ Background:

The structure of SSG/PS is detailed in the SCAR web site.  Several groups will be reported upon to EXCOM individually and are therefore omitted here. These are the SRP’s (AAA and AntClim21), several Expert and Groups that have grown enough to deserve independent status (ISMASS and Oceans-SOOS), and those groups that are cross-SSG and have been assigned to the partner SSG; they will be dealt with in the partner SSG report (ECA, ATHENA, Acoustics, ICED, and Remote Sensing).

Important Issues or Factors:

None of relevance.

Recommendations/Actions and Justification: 

Ocean Acidification:

• identify assistance for the editing and publication of the final report.
• a communication team made up of SCAR and members of the AG should be set up by Easter  2014 to develop a communication strategy for the efficient dissemination of the key findings and the scientific report.
• the AG also requests a special session at the SCAR OSC in New Zealand in 2014.

SCOSTEP: M. Candidi has resigned from the position of SCAR representative in the SCOSTEP bureau; SSG/PS suggests that Dr. Annika Seppala be nominated to that position, for a term of four years, to ensure that Antarctic perspectives be included in the overall Solar Terrestrial Physics programs.

Expected Benefits/Outcomes: 

Ocean Acidification:

A final report on the group activity will be launched at the SCAR OSC in 2014

International Partnerships in Ice Core Sciences (IPICS):

A special joint journal issue of Climate of the Past/The Cryosphere based on the Giens meeting.

GRAPE (GNSS Research and Application for Polar Environment):

The  Annals of Geophysics GRAPE Special Issue, sponsored by SCAR, is in publication.

Partners:

all the groups operating within SSG/PS have wide connections to similar organisms within and outside SCAR; in particular we note:

Budget Implications:

IPICS and GRAPE request additional funding for their activities.