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WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
PANEL OF EXPERTS ON POLAR AND HIGH MOUNTAIN
OBSERVATIONS, RESEARCH AND SERVICES
Sixth session
Reykjavik, Iceland, 8-11 September 2015
EC-PHORS-6/Doc.4.2.6
Submitted by: Steve Colwell
Date: 28.7.2015
AGENDA ITEM: 4.2
REPORT OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE ON ANTARCTIC RESEARCH (SCAR)
SUMMARY
This document provides the Annual Report of SCAR originally provided to ATCM-XXXVIII and
slightly adapted by Steve Colwell.
ISSUES TO BE DISCUSSED:
1. Report of SCAR, especially sections relevant to EC-PHORS
DECISIONS/ACTIONS REQUIRED:
1. Collaboration with SCAR
2. Take into account this report in discussing agenda item 7 – Future Work Programme
REFERENCES:
none
EC-PHORS-6/Doc.4.2.6, p. 2
THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE ON ANTARCTIC RESEARCH (SCAR)
ANNUAL REPORT 2014/15
1. Background
The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is a non-governmental,
Interdisciplinary Scientific Body of the International Council for Science (ICSU), and Observer to
the Antarctic Treaty and the UNFCCC.
SCAR’s Mission is (i) to be the leading, independent, non-governmental facilitator, coordinator,
and advocate of excellence in Antarctic and Southern Ocean science and research and (ii) to
provide independent, sound, scientifically-based advice to the Antarctic Treaty System and
other policy makers including the use of science to identify emerging trends and bring these
issues to the attention of policy makers.
2. Introduction
SCAR’s scientific research adds value to national efforts by enabling national researchers to
collaborate on large-scale scientific programmes to accomplish objectives not easily obtainable
by any single country. SCAR’s Members currently include 39 nations and 9 ICSU scientific
Unions.
SCAR’s success depends on the quality and timeliness of its scientific outputs. Descriptions of
SCAR’s research programmes and scientific outputs are available at: www.scar.org.
SCAR produces an electronic quarterly Newsletter highlighting relevant science and other
SCAR related issues. Please email: [email protected] if you wish to be added to the mailing list. As
well as the web (www.scar.org), SCAR is also available on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and
Twitter.
3. SCAR Highlights (2014/15)
In this paper we highlight examples of SCAR. For further details see www.scar.org.
State of the Antarctic Ecosystem (AntEco) www.scar.org/srp/anteco
The Scientific Research Programme (SRP) AntEco focuses on patterns of biodiversity across
terrestrial, limnological, glacial and marine environments within the Antarctic, sub-Antarctic and
Southern Ocean regions, and will provide scientific knowledge on biodiversity that can be also
used for conservation and management. A primary product of this programme will be
recommendations concerning Antarctica’s management and conservation.
Antarctic Thresholds - Ecosystem Resilience and Adaptation (AnT-ERA)
www.scar.org/srp/ant-era
The AnT-ERA SRP examines the current biological processes in Antarctic ecosystems, to
define their thresholds and thereby determine resistance and resilience to change. Polar
ecosystem processes are key to informing wider ecological debate about the nature of stability
and change in ecosystems. The programme will attempt to determine the likelihood of
cataclysmic shifts or "tipping points" in Antarctic ecosystems.
Antarctic Climate Change in the 21st Century (AntClim21) www.scar.org/srp/antclim21
EC-PHORS-6/Doc.4.2.6, p. 3
The goals of the SRP AntClim21 are to deliver improved regional predictions of key elements of
the Antarctic atmosphere, ocean and cryosphere for the next 20 to 200 years and to understand
the responses of the physical and biological systems to natural and anthropogenic forcing
factors. Palaeo-reconstructions of selected time periods, recognised as past analogues for
future climate predictions, will be used to validate model performances for the Antarctic region.
Antarctic Biodiversity Informatics www.scar.org/ssg/life-sciences/abi
Biodiversity Informatics is the application of informatics techniques to biodiversity information for
improved management, presentation, discovery, exploration and analysis. This Expert Group
will coordinate biodiversity informatics activities across SCAR for research, management,
conservation and monitoring purposes and promote free and open access.
Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level www.scar.org/ssg/physical-sciences/ismass
The SCAR/IASC/CliC Expert Group on Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level aims to improve
estimation of the mass balance of ice sheets and their contribution to sea level, to facilitate
coordination of the different international efforts focused on this field of research, to propose
directions for future research in this area, to integrate the observations and modelling efforts, as
well as the distribution and archiving of the corresponding data, and to attract a new generation
of scientists into this field of research.
Operational Meteorology in the Antarctic www.scar.org/ssg/physical-sciences/opmet
This Expert Group focuses on establishing links between groups working in the same area of
operational meteorology in Antarctica, in particular the WMO EC-PORS (Panel of Experts on
Polar Observations, Research and Services) group.
Remote Sensing www.scar.org/ssg/life-sciences/remotesensing
The SCAR Action Group on Remote Sensing has been established with the full name
"Development of a satellite-based, Antarctic-wide, remote sensing approach to monitor bird and
animal populations", with the aim to address the topic of "Animal monitoring via remote
sensing".
The Southern Ocean Observing System www.soos.aq
The SCAR/SCOR Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) has the mission to establish a
multidisciplinary observing system to deliver the sustained observations of the Southern Ocean.
A SOOS International Project Office, established in Australia and supported by the Institute for
Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania in Hobart and Antarctica New
Zealand, supports implementation of the SOOS. See accompanying paper.
The Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment www.scar.org/othergroups/acce
The climatic, physical and biological properties of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean are
closely coupled to other parts of the global environment by the oceans and the atmosphere. In
2009 SCAR published the landmark Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment Report and
since then has provided annual updates. See the separate IP on the ACCE.
Southern Ocean Acidification www.scar.org/ssg/physical-sciences/acidification
SCAR has undertaken a synthesis of the scientific understanding of Southern Ocean
acidification. This landmark report was launched at the ATCM XXXVIII - CEP XVIII in Sofia,
Bulgaria.
EC-PHORS-6/Doc.4.2.6, p. 4
The Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean
The Biogeographic Atlas presents a collection of 66 syntheses describing the distribution
patterns and processes of a significant representation of Southern Ocean organisms, illustrated
by more than 800 distribution maps and 200 pictures and graphs. The Atlas covered the
Southern Ocean at large, south of the Sub-Tropical Front, but is focused in particular on the
Antarctic region, south of the Antarctic Polar Front.
The Atlas is a legacy of the International Polar Year 2007-2009 and of the Census of Marine
Life (CoML, 2000-2010), contributed by the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) and the
SCAR Marine Biodiversity Information Network (SCAR-MarBIN and biodiversity.aq). The Atlas
is also a contribution to the SCAR scientific research programmes AntEco (State of the Antarctic
Ecosystem) and AnT-ERA (Antarctic Thresholds - Ecosystem Resilience and Adaptation).
The Atlas is available online via http://atlas.biodiversity.aq or to purchase at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0948277289
The SCAR Science Horizon Scan www.scar.org/horizonscanning/
Following the crowdsourcing of over 850 unique scientific questions and the nomination of
almost 500 leading scientist by the SCAR community, the 1st SCAR Antarctic and Southern
Ocean Science Horizon Scan assembled more than 70 of the world's leading Antarctic
scientists, policy makers and visionaries (including many early career scientists) in Queenstown,
NZ, in April 2014. Their remit was to identify the most important scientific questions, that will or
should be addressed by research in and from the southern polar regions over the next two
decades. The initial outcomes were published in the journals Nature
(http://www.nature.com/news/polar-research-six-priorities-for-antarctic-science-1.15658) and
Antarctic Science (http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954102014000674) .
Many of the national Antarctic programmes are now developing their own strategies on how
they will deliver their science programmes in the future. Delivery of such a "roadmap" is not
without its challenges. Therefore COMNAP is leading the second stage in the process within
the ARC Project in order to assist national Antarctic programmes to understand the challenges
and develop ways to address the challenges, and share any innovation or access to such
technology. The ARC project focuses on answering the question: "How will national Antarctic
programmes meet the challenges of delivery of their Antarctic science in the next 20 to 30
years?" See
https://www.comnap.aq/Projects/SitePages/ARC.aspxhttps://www.comnap.aq/Projects/SitePage
s/ARC.aspx
{See accompanying IP on the SCAR 2014 Horizon Scan}
Antarctic Conservation in the 21st Century www.scar.org/antarctic-treaty-system/scats
SCAR, in collaboration with several partners, is developing a strategy entitled ‘Antarctic
Conservation for the 21st Century’. The activity has encouraged participation from all
stakeholders in the region. The approach is structured to align with both the Protocol on
Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty and the Five Year Work Plan of the Committee
for Environmental Protection. It also has close links with the Antarctic Environments Portal. As
part of this process an interactive symposium was held during the SCAR Open Science
Conference in New Zealand in August 2014, and further discussions were held at a session of
the IUCN World Parks Congress in Sydney in November 2014. Further interactive sessions are
proposed for 2015, one of which will take place in Monaco in June 2015. The outcomes of these
discussions will be inform the conservation strategy, which is expected to be made available for
public comment by the end of 2015
EC-PHORS-6/Doc.4.2.6, p. 5
Antarctic Data Management www.scar.org/data-products
SCAR promotes free and unrestricted access to Antarctic data and information by promoting
open and accessible archiving practices, through its Standing Committees on Antarctic Data
Management (SCADM) and Antarctic Geographic Information (SCAGI). SCAR also has several
Products of use to the Antarctic Community.
Snow in Antarctica (SnowAnt) Action Group www.scar.org/ssg/physical-sciences/snowant
The SnowAnt Action Group was established in 2014. Its key goals are to:

Investigate: Improve the knowledge on depositional and metamorphic processes in
Antarctic snow and its feedbacks to the climate system; develop a snow classification for
Antarctica.

Protect: What is disturbed today will be in the ice core for the next ~1 My – preserve
pristine snow areas; currently disturbed areas have to be mapped and coordinated with
national logistic operators.

Implement: SnowREADER (database) to document disturbed areas, historic snow
profiles, accumulation data from AWS, stake farms, surface radar profiles, shallow firn –
snow cores.
Educate and Coordinate: Quantitative snow stratigraphy methods developed by the IACS
working group MicroSnow should be implemented by snow schools; recognize the importance
of snow for SCAR.
4. SCAR Fellowships and Prizes
In order to expand capacity in all its Members, SCAR runs several Fellowship and Prize
Schemes (www.scar.awards):
SCAR/COMNAP Fellowships are focussed on early career scientists and engineers in
Antarctic scientific research, to build new connections and further strengthen international
capacity and cooperation in Antarctic research. The fellowships are being launched in
tandem with the CCAMLR Scholarships.
Martha T Muse Prize for Science and Policy in Antarctica, sponsored by the Tinker
Foundation, is a US$ 100,000 unrestricted award presented to an individual in the fields of
Antarctic science or policy. See: www.museprize.org.
SCAR Visiting Professor Scheme provides mid to late career scientists the opportunity to
undertake short-term visits to a facility in or operated by SCAR Member countries, to provide
training and mentoring.
A new Communications Award has been instigated for the most innovative presentation of
Antarctic research results in any discipline at the SCAR Open Science Conference.
5. Other News
During the SCAR Delegates’ Meeting held in New Zealand this September 2014, two new
countries joined SCAR: the Czech Republic and the Islamic Republic of Iran, bringing the total
number of countries in the SCAR family to 39. Two new Vice Presidents were also elected –
Azizan Abu Samah (Malaysia) and Terry Wilson (USA).
During the SCAR Open Science Conference in Auckland, NZ, two SCAR medals were awarded.
The first, the SCAR Medal for Excellence in Antarctic Research went to Steven Chown for his
extensive contributions to Antarctic Science and policy and to SCAR; and the second, the
EC-PHORS-6/Doc.4.2.6, p. 6
SCAR Medal for International Scientific Coordination, was awarded jointly to Mahlon “Chuck”
Kennicutt and Rasik Ravindra for their collaborative and coordination roles in the science
community and the leadership and vision they have both shown to the community. Tim Naish
has been awarded the 2014 Muse Prize, for his outstanding research in understanding
Antarctica’s response to past and present climate change and the role of Antarctica’s ice sheets
in global sea-level change through time.
In December 2014 Renuka Badhe left the SCAR Office to become the new Executive Secretary
of the European Polar Board. After an extensive search she was replaced by Eoghan Griffin.
6. Future SCAR Meetings
There are several major SCAR Meetings coming up (www.scar.org/events/), including:
XII International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences (ISAES) 2015. 13-17th July 2015,
Goa, India. http://www.isaes2015goa.in
XXXIV SCAR Meetings and Open Science Conference. 19-31 August 2016, KL, Malaysia.
The SCAR Open Science Conference will be held on 25-29 August. See:
http://scar2016.com
XXXV SCAR and IASC meeting and joint Open Science Conference. Date TBD but in
Davos, Switzerland