INSTANT (INStabilities & Thresholds in ANTarctica)

The INStabilities & Thresholds in ANTarctica (INSTANT) Scientific Research Programme (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.

The aim of the SRP is to “quantify the Antarctic ice sheet contribution to past and future global sea-level change, from improved understanding of climate, ocean and solid Earth interactions and feedbacks with the ice, so that decision-makers can better anticipate and assess the risk in order to manage and adapt to sea-level rise and evaluate mitigation pathways”.

For details of the INSTANT research themes, please visit the INSTANT external website.

INSTANT logo ant full colors

About

Understanding how ice sheets have responded in the past to changes in the Earth System, and influenced it, and how they will do so in the future, so affecting sea-level rise, are questions of great international interest and urgency. Indeed, the Horizon Scan made clear that this is one of a small handful of international interdisciplinary scientific endeavours that SCAR should be facilitating.

The INStabilities & Thresholds in ANTarctica (INSTANT) Scientific Research Programme will provides a coordinating framework that will augment other important international research initiatives and consortia.

INSTANT aims to quantify the Antarctic ice sheet contribution to past to future sea-level change, from improved understanding of atmosphere, ocean and solid Earth interactions and feedbacks, so that decision-makers can better anticipate and assess the risk in order to manage and adapt to sea-level rise and evaluate mitigation pathways.

The programme is structured into three themes:

  1. Improved understanding of atmosphere-ocean forcing processes of marine-based ice sheet dynamics.
  2. Improved understanding of solid Earth feedbacks on ice sheet dynamics and regional sea-level variations.
  3. Improved projections of Antarctic contribution global sea-level change – consequences and impacts.

INSTANT structure Jan22 web

The outcomes will include improved projections, and their associated risk profiles that will be of broad interest to decision-makers, civil society, business, industry, agricultural, infrastructure, finance and insurance sectors.

A key focus for the programme is to ensure that it builds capacity in the SCAR community.

The programme will build on best practice from the previous generation of SRPs where there have been considerable successes in running summer schools, training courses, and online webinars.

INSTANT involves close working with APECS and will seek increasing engagement with the ECR community, INSTANT involves international partners in the core membership.

News and updates from the INStabilities & Thresholds in ANTarctica (INSTANT) community.

INSTANT Newsletters

Members

Contact

The joint Chief Officers of INSTANT are Tim Naish (New Zealand) and Florence Colleoni (Italy).

Steering Committee

Heiko Goelzer Norway ISMASS / ISMIP
Alessio Rovere Germany PALSEA
Ayako Abe-Ouchi Japan PMIP
Roderik Van de Wal Netherlands WCRP / CLIVAR
Helene Seroussi USA WCRP / CliC
Mathieu Morlighem USA ISMIP
Tom Bracegirdle UK AntClimNow
Mecha Santos Argentina Ant-ICON
David Vaughan UK NSF-NERC Thwaites
Lara Perez UK APECS
Carlota Escutia Spain PRAMSO
Daniela Liggett New Zealand SC-HASS
Liz Thomas UK co-leader Theme 1
Paolo Stocchi Netherlands co-leader Theme 2
Richard Levy New Zealand co-leader Theme 3
Frank Nitsche USA SCADM

Theme Leadership

INSTANT Leadership and Revised Structure (as of December 2021)

Become a Member of INSTANT and Follow INSTANT Activities

The mailing list and membership list are two different lists so be sure to subscribe to both. The membership list is updated at the end of each month.

For details of current membership, see the list of members as of 25 January 2024.

Resources

Publications, Data, and Links of interest to the INSTANT community.