Airborne Geophysical Survey of the Amundsen Sea Embayment, Antarctica (AGASEA)

该奖项支持对南极洲西部的阿蒙森海湾(ASE)进行全面的航空地球物理调查。德克萨斯大学将与英国南极调查局联手，使用美国和英国的飞机和仪器来完成这项调查。对新的航空地球物理数据的分析将产生冰盖表面、体积和底部界面特征的地图。这些地图将支持美国和国际研究人员社区的努力，以评估和预测东盟冰盖的现状和未来行为。自从西南极冰盖被认为是海平面上升5米的潜在来源以来，它一直是欧洲和美国科学界密集的跨学科研究的主题，可能是在短时间尺度上。就冰的排放而言，ASE是西南极最大的排水系统。然而，人们对它的研究相对较少，主要是因为它离物流中心很远。ASE是唯一一个在卫星观测期间表现出显著海拔变化的主要排水系统。目前对ASE冰层厚度和冰下边界条件的了解不足以理解其演化或对气候变化的敏感性。我们的调查结果需要实现美国科学界在ASE科学计划中概述的基本研究目标。调查和分析将通过国际合作完成，将涉及研究生、本科生和高中学徒。由于ASE可能影响海平面，因此ASE的未来行为具有首要的社会重要性。鉴于最近有关南极洲西部变化的报道引起了公众和科学的极大兴趣，我们预计，通过我们的调查，在阿蒙森海湾进行的基础研究将产生广泛的影响。

This award supports a comprehensive aerogeophysical survey of the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) in West Antarctica. The University of Texas will join forces with the British Antarctic Survey to use both US and UK aircraft and instrumentation to achieve this survey. Analyses of the new aerogeophysicaldata will result in the generation of maps of ice sheet surface, volume and bottom-interface characteristics. These maps will support the efforts of a community of US and international researchers to assess the present and predict the future behavior of the ice sheet in the ASE.The West Antarctic ice sheet has been the subject of intensive interdisciplinary study by both the European and U.S. scientific communities since it was recognized to be a potential source for up to 5 meters of sealevel rise, possibly on short timescales. In terms of ice discharge, the ASE is the largest drainage system in West Antarctica. Yet it has been comparatively unstudied, primarily due to its remoteness from logisticalcenters. The ASE is the only major drainage to exhibit significant elevation change over the period of available satellite observations. Present knowledge of the ice thickness and subglacial boundary conditions in the ASE are insufficient to understand its evolution or its sensitivity to climatic change.The results from our surveys are required to achieve the fundamental research objectives outlined by the US scientific community in an ASE Science Plan. The surveys and analyses will be achieved through international collaboration and will involve graduate students, undergraduates and high school apprentices.Through its potential for influencing sea level, the future behavior of the ASE is of primary societal importance. Given the substantial public and scientific interest that recent reports of change in West Antarctica have generated, we expect fundamental research in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, enabled by our surveys, will have widespread impact.