Collaborative Research: THE MCMURDO DRY VALLEYS: A landscape on the Threshold of Change

合作研究：麦克默多干旱山谷：变化门槛上的景观由国家科学基金会(NSF)地球科学局极地项目部南极科学科的南极综合系统科学(AISS)计划支持。这笔资金将支持在2014/2015年南极野外考察季节收集南极干燥山谷最先进的高分辨率激光雷达(结合了光和雷达)图像，激光雷达数据收集和处理由美国国家科学基金会支持的NCALM(国家机载激光测绘中心)设施提供。将把2014/2015年度收集的激光雷达图像与2001年的图像进行比较，以发现年代际变化。更多的实地考察工作将着眼于埋藏的大块冰的分布，以及崩塌等重大变化对生物群的影响。所有现场数据将用于改进能量平衡和水文模型。智力价值：在过去的十年里，麦克默多干谷发生了戏剧性的变化：冰川正在收缩数十米，河流切割超过3米，几条小溪和湖泊附近出现了热岩溶塌陷。这些观测都是由实地研究人员进行的，但没有一项变化是在山谷范围内绘制的。该奖项将为整个干谷系统提供一个新的基线地图，为谷底提供高分辨率图像，并为变化较小的高海拔地区提供较低分辨率的图像。该项目将检验这样一种观点，即沉淀物覆盖的冰与最戏剧性的变化有关，这是因为与清洁冰相比，太阳辐射对沉淀物覆盖的冰的影响不同，而且尽管目前干燥山谷内的空气温度有轻微降温的趋势。收集到的地形信息，加上探地雷达确定的埋藏冰分布，也将被纳入改进的能量和水文模型。除了提供新的高分辨率数字高程模型(DEM)外，该项目最终还将识别易受沉积物增强的融化驱动的变化的地区，为气候变化的影响提供一个强大的预测工具。广泛的影响：新的DEM将立即对广泛的学科有用，并将提供一个全面的新基线，用于比较未来的变化。该项目将为整个社区提供一个使用的工具，调查人员将与社区合作，通过公开演示或可能通过研讨会让他们了解新资产。这张地图将具有国际兴趣，也将作为环境管理人员在考虑保护计划时参考的工具。几名本科生和研究生将参与该项目，其中一名合作PI是一名新的调查员。除了科学研究人员外，预计收集的图像还会引起普通公众的兴趣，并将探索博物馆展品和互联网等外联场所。拟议的工作与1)位于同一地点的McMurdo LTER计划和2)NCALM设施是协同的，该设施也由地球科学委员会资助。

Collaborative Research: THE MCMURDO DRY VALLEYS: A Landscape on the Threshold of Change is supported by the Antarctic Integrated System Science (AISS) program in the Antarctic Sciences Section of the Division of Polar Programs within the Geosciences Directorate of the National Sciences Foundation (NSF). The funds will support the collection of state-of-the-art high resolution LIDAR (combining the terms light and radar) imagery of the Dry Valleys of Antarctica in the 2014/2015 Antarctic field season, with LIDAR data collection and processing being provided by the NSF-supported NCALM (National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping) facility. LIDAR images collected in 2014/2015 will be compared to images from 2001 in order to detect decadal change. Additional fieldwork will look at the distribution of buried massive ice, and the impacts that major changes like slumping are having on the biota. All field data will be used to improve models on energy balance, and hydrology.Intellectual Merit: There have been dramatic changes over the past decade in the McMurdo Dry Valleys: glaciers are deflating by tens of meters, rivers are incising by more than three meters, and thermokarst slumps are appearing near several streams and lakes. These observations have all been made by researchers in the field, but none of the changes have been mapped on a valley-wide scale. This award will provide a new baseline map for the entire Dry Valley system, with high-resolution imagery provided for the valley floors, and lower resolution imagery available for the higher elevation areas that are undergoing less change. The project will test the idea that sediment-covered ice is associated with the most dramatic changes, due to differential impacts of the increased solar radiation on sediment-covered compared to clean ice, and despite the current trend of slightly cooling air temperatures within the Dry Valleys. Information collected on the topography, coupled with the GPR determined buried ice distributions, will also be incorporated into improved energy and hydrological models. In addition to providing the new high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM), the project will ultimately result in identification of areas that are susceptible to sediment-enhanced melt-driven change, providing a powerful prediction tool for the impacts of climate change.Broader Impacts: The new DEM will be immediately useful to a wide range of disciplines, and will provide a comprehensive new baseline against which future changes will be compared. The project will provide a tool for the whole community to use, and the investigators will work with the community to make them aware of the new assets via public presentations, and perhaps via a workshop. The map will have international interest, and will also serve as a tool for environmental managers to draw on as they consider conservation plans. Several undergraduate and graduate students will participate in the project, and one of the co-PIs is a new investigator. The imagery collected is expected to be of interest to the general public in addition to scientific researchers, and venues for outreach such as museum exhibits and the internet will be explored. The proposed work is synergistic with 1) the co-located McMurdo LTER program, and 2) the NCALM facility that is also funded by the Geosciences Directorate.