Collaborative research on the state of the Arctic sea ice cover: An integrated seasonal ice zone observing network (SIZONET)

这个跨学科项目实施了一个综合计划，在北方环境、地缘政治和社会经济变化的背景下观察季节性冰。除了海冰状态变量的采样外，观测系统的设计还以海冰系统服务（SISS）的概念为指导。通过评估SISS的性质和范围，可以建立一个综合观测网络，以一种为最广泛的受影响利益提供最大利益的方式预测北极变化的关键趋势。该观测计划的第一次迭代将有助于解决以下主要科学问题：1)整个北极地区局地尺度上的面积变化与夏季最小冰面积的大尺度变化之间的相关性有多大？(2)相对于增强的冰雪相互作用和冰变形的缓冲效应，SIZ如何响应季节冰中被放大的冰反照率反馈？3)沿海海冰对陆地环境的影响变化有多强烈？4)亚北极的鄂霍次克海对即将到来的北极环境和社会经济变化有什么启示？虽然这个项目的重点是北极西部，在过去的几十年里，这里的海冰减少幅度最大，但一个由六个国家组成的国际团队已经最大限度地发挥了协同作用，并允许这些问题在环北极环境中得到解决，沿着纬度梯度跨越整个季节性冰带的范围，一直到常年冰。北极西部地区的观测包括对冰运动、关键质量平衡变量和关键冰雪特性（如反照率）的岸基和漂冰测量，以及机载电磁冰厚测量。从卫星微波遥感观测中提取泛北极季节冰演变和冰型分布数据。所有数据将被纳入一个档案和传播系统，该系统与阿拉斯加海洋观测系统相连，由阿拉斯加地理信息网管理。K-12和大学水平的教育以及公众宣传是该项目的组成部分，其中国际实地课程、学生和公众的网络参与、当地社区的公开讲座以及其他展示模式在该项目中发挥了重要作用。各级利益相关者将通过SISS方法参与进来，科学家将与社区观察员合作，校准和验证该方法。

This interdisciplinary project implements an integrated program of observing seasonal ice in the context of environmental, geo-political and socio-economic change in the North. In addition to sampling of sea-ice state variables, the observation-system design is guided by the concept of sea-ice system services (SISS). By assessing the nature and extent of SISS, an integrated observation network can be built that will lead to prediction of key trends in a changing Arctic in a way that provides maximum benefit for the broadest range of affected interests. The first iteration of this observation program will help to address these major scientific questions: 1) To what extent are changes in the SIZ at the local level throughout the Arctic correlated with large-scale change in summer minimum ice extent?, 2) How does the SIZ respond to amplified ice-albedo feedback in seasonal ice as opposed to the buffering effects of enhanced snow-ice interaction and ice deformation?, 3) How strongly does coastal sea ice impact change in terrestrial environments?, 4) What does the sub-Arctic Okhotsk Sea teach about impending Arctic environmental and socio-economic change? While the focus of this project is on the Western Arctic, which has seen some of the most dramatic sea-ice reductions in past decades, an international team has been assembled from six nations that maximizes synergies andallows these questions to be addressed in a circum-Arctic context along a latitudinal gradient spanning the entire extent of the seasonal ice zone, well into the perennial ice. Observations in the western Arctic sector include shore-based and drift-ice measurements of ice motion, key mass-balance variables and critical snow and ice properties such as albedo, as well as airborne electromagnetic ice thickness measurements. Pan-Arctic data of seasonal ice evolution and ice-type distribution will be extracted from satellite microwave remote-sensing observations. All data will be ingested into an archival and dissemination system that is linked to the Alaska Ocean Observing System and administered by the Geographic Information Network of Alaska. Education at the K-12 and university levels and public outreach are integral parts of the project, with an international field course, web-based engagement of students and the general public, public lectures in local communities, and other modes of presentation taking a prominent role in the project. Stakeholders at various levels will be engaged through the SISS approach, and scientists will work with community-based observers to calibrate and validate the methodology.