Collaborative Research: Asian Ice Core Array (AICA)--Reconstruction of Past Physical and Chemical Climate over Asia

研究人员通过分析和解释一组新的亚洲冰芯，成功地利用冰芯来了解南极、北极、北太平洋和亚洲过去的物理和化学气候变化。研究人员计划利用现有的五个冰芯，并收集一个新的冰芯，以加强对亚洲环境状况的重建。亚洲冰芯阵列（AICA）研究的主要研究问题包括：(1)亚洲气候变率——亚洲主要环流特征（即亚洲季风、西风带、极地气团、西伯利亚和青藏高原）在年或更长尺度上是如何变化的？哪些因素（即太阳变率、火山活动、温室气体）控制着影响亚洲的主要环流特征的变化？亚洲气候与全球环流特征有何关联？亚洲的气候可以从过去的大气环流模式（模拟模式）进行模拟和预测吗？热带和热带外环流的相互作用如何影响亚洲的气候？根据趋势，预计在不久的将来区域气候会发生什么变化？亚洲气候变化事件是否与其他地区的气候变化有关？(2)亚洲地区的环境变化——中亚地区大气中化学物质，特别是硫酸盐、硝酸盐和某些重金属、微量元素和主要元素的自然来源与人为来源是如何变化的？污染物的时空变化是否与污染源区域或生产的变化有关？大气环流的变化是否影响了中亚地区大气中化学物质的分布？在科学上，来自亚洲冰川的冰芯可以提供季节性到千年气候动力学和大气化学的高分辨率记录来源。这一点很重要，因为欧亚大陆是世界上最大的陆地，对大气和陆地系统以及生活在该地区的25亿人口具有重大影响。该地区的环境变化可能对人类和生态系统产生巨大影响。在这个人口稠密的地区，水资源和沙漠化不可预测的变化可能对全球产生重大影响。来自AICA的结果可能会引起气候学家、古气候学家、大气化学家、地球化学家、气候建模者、日地物理学家和环境统计学家的兴趣。在教育方面，该研究项目将支持两名博士生和几名本科生，为期三年。这将有助于为研究生和本科生提供丰富的研究经验。此外，该项目与中国和欧洲的同事有着密切的联系，并提供智力和财务杠杆，以帮助项目取得成功。

Funding is provided to help the researchers build on success using ice cores for understanding past physical and chemical climate change from Antarctica, Arctic, North Pacific and Asia by analyzing and interpreting a new array of Asian ice cores. The researchers plan to use five existing ice cores and collect one new ice core to enhance the reconstruction of environmental conditions over Asia. The primary research questions for the Asian Ice Core Array (AICA) research include: (1) Asian climate variability - How do major Asian circulation features (i.e., Asian monsoon, Westerlies, polar air masses, Siberian and Tibetan Highs) vary on annual to longer scales? What factors (i.e., solar variability, volcanic activity, greenhouse gases) control changes in the major circulation features impacting Asia? What is the association between Asian climate and global circulation features? Can Asian climate be simulated and predicted from the state of past atmospheric circulation patterns (analog modeling)? How does the interaction between tropical and extra-tropical circulation impact climate over Asia? What are the regional climatic changes to be expected in near future based on trends? Are Asian climate change events related to climate change in other regions?(2) Environmental change over Asia - How have natural versus anthropogenic sources for chemical species notably sulfate, nitrate, and select heavy metals and trace and major elements varied in the atmosphere over central Asia? Are spatial and temporal variations in contaminants related to changes in contaminant source areas or production? Have changes in atmospheric circulation impacted distribution of chemical species in the atmosphere over central Asia?Scientifically, ice cores from Asian glaciers could provide a source of high-resolution records of seasonal to millennial climate dynamics and atmospheric chemistry. This is important because the Eurasian continent is the largest landmass in the World and exerts substantial influence on atmospheric and terrestrial systems and the 2.5 billion people living in the region. Changes in environment over this region could have dramatic impacts on humans and ecosystems. Unpredictable changes in water resources and desertification over this heavily populated region may have significant global consequences. The results from AICA could be of interest to climatologists, paleoclimatologists, atmospheric chemists, geochemists, climate modelers, solar-terrestrial physicists, and environmental statisticians. Educationally, the research project will support two PhD students as well as several undergraduate students for three years. This will help provide a rich research experience for the graduate and undergraduate students. Also, this project has strong ties to colleagues in China and Europe and offers intellectual and financial leveraging to aid in the success of the project.