Perturbations of Earth Surface Dynamics Caused by Extreme Events

这一奖项将使八名美国科学家能够参加2019年10月13日至19日在尼泊尔举行的EGU伽利略国际会议。这次科学会议是在2015年灾难性的7.8兆瓦的高尔卡地震现场举行的。它将汇集来自不同科学领域的专家，介绍和讨论在一系列时间尺度上研究地球表面动力学、生物地球化学循环和生态系统的极端事件的研究和新方向。它将以专题为重点，由50-80名参与者组成，包括3.5天的演讲、海报演示和分组会议，以及为期1.5天的实地考察，参观一个受到高尔卡地震和2016年冰川湖暴发洪水严重影响的集水区。这次会议将为即将在《地球表面动力学》杂志上发表的一期特刊提供基础，该特刊的重点是近地表系统对极端事件的反应。会议的组织者将起草一份公开文件，定义“极端事件科学”方面的重大挑战和研究需求，并在计划的分组会议期间收集与会者的意见。美国科学家参加这次会议将促进国际合作。美国与会者的遴选将通过首席调查员和会议共同组织者审查的申请程序进行。他们将根据需要选择申请者，并优先考虑少数群体和其他在地球科学中代表性不足的群体。极端事件，如大地震、高强度降水事件、洪水、野火和火山喷发，瞬时扰乱地球表面的动力学，具有级联效应，可能对决定系统在短时间尺度和长时间尺度上的行为很重要。由于相关的自然灾害，这些事件的直接影响往往引起全球的关注和反应。监测技术的最新进展，如地面仪器和遥感卫星数据，使我们能够以前所未有的准确度和精确度量化地貌、生物地球化学和水文学对这类事件的反应。这些研究记录了最初的灾难性后果和随后的级联过程。建模工作已经阐明了极端扰动的潜在长期后果，并表明在许多情况下，当随着时间的推移综合起来时，这些罕见的高震级事件比缓慢而稳定的“背景”过程更重要。在过去的十年里，人们对改善对从短到长时间尺度上的极端事件对景观动态的理解的科学兴趣有所增长。然而，尽管最近取得了进展，但仍然存在重大的知识差距，特别是在对在地球近地表环境中运行的各种系统之间的扰动和潜在反馈作出复杂反应方面。除了聚集广泛的科学家，以确定极端事件对地球表面动力学的作用方面的知识差距和未来研究方向外，本次会议还将提出如何在事件发生后最好地处理此类研究的指导方针。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award will enable eight U.S.-based scientists to attend an international EGU Galileo conference in Nepal on October 13th-19th, 2019. This scientific conference is being held at the site of the catastrophic 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha Earthquake. It will bring together experts from various scientific fields to present and discuss research and new directions for studies of extreme events on earth surface dynamics, biogeochemical cycles, and ecosystems on a range of timescales. It will be topically focused, consist of 50-80 participants and include 3.5 days of talks, poster presentations, and breakout sessions and a 1.5-day field trip to a catchment heavily impacted by the Gorkha earthquake and a 2016 glacial lake outburst flood. The meeting will provide the basis for an upcoming special issue in the journal Earth Surface Dynamics focused on the response of near-surface systems to extreme events. Organizers of the meeting will draft a public document defining grand challenges and research needs in "extreme event science" with input from participants gathered during planned breakout sessions. Participation of U.S. scientists in this meeting will foster international collaboration. Selection of U.S. participants will occur through an application process vetted by the Principal Investigator and co-organizers of the meeting. They will select applicants based on need and give preference to minorities and other underrepresented groups in the geosciences.Extreme events, such as large earthquakes, high magnitude precipitation events, floods, wildfires, and volcanic eruptions, perturb earth surface dynamics instantaneously, have cascading effects, and are likely important in dictating system behavior on short and long timescales. The immediate impact of these events often grabs global attention and response due to the associated natural hazards. Recent advances in monitoring techniques, such as ground-based instrumentation and remotely sensed satellite data, has allowed quantification of the landscape, biogeochemical and hydrologic response to such events with unprecedented accuracy and precision. Such studies document the initial catastrophic consequences and ensuing process cascades. Modeling efforts have shed light on the potential long-term consequences of extreme perturbations, and suggest that in many cases these rare high-magnitude events are more important than slow and steady "background" processes when integrated over time. Scientific interest in improving understanding of extreme events on landscape dynamics on short to long timescales has grown in the past decade. However, despite recent progress, significant knowledge gaps exist, particularly with respect to the complex response to perturbations and potential feedbacks between various systems that operate in the Earth's near-surface environment. In addition to bringing together a wide range of scientists with the aim of identifying knowledge gaps and future research directions in the role of extreme events on earth surface dynamics, this conference will set forth guidelines for how to best approach such studies in the aftermath of an event.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.