*1st OSL-APECS-PYRN training workshop on permafrost research methods -- St. Petersburg, 30 Nov-2 Dec 2007 -- Full travel grants available to PYRN and APECS members* The Otto Schmidt Laboratory for Polar and Marine Research (OSL) at the State Research Center for Arctic and Antarctic Research (AARI) together with the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) and the Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN) are organising a training workshop on modern investigation techniques in the field of permafrost science (http://www.awi-potsdam.de/pyrn/oslworkshop.html). The workshop will be held from November 30 to December 2, 2007 in St. Petersburg,...

September is a great time to study Sea Ice, in both the Arctic and the Antarctic. Below are details of three expeditions happening at the moment that welcome contact from press and educators. Antarctic Sea Ice in IPY (ASPECT) (IPY Project 141) ASPeCT has a number of associated expeditions investigating Sea Ice. These include: SIPEX: Sea Ice Physics and Eco-system eXperiment SIPEX website International SIPEX flyer (44KB PDF) ...

Press Releases: DAMOCLES including details of current Arctic expeditions on the following vessels: Polarstern, Tara, Akademik Fedorov, Lance, and Viktor Buinitskiy. POLARSTERN Press Release (English) PDF (German) SIPEX: Sea Ice Physics and Eco-syste...

When asked about this IPY Day, sea ice scientist, Don Perovich (IPY project 95), replied: September 21 is excellent timing for a sea ice day. There is a tremendous amount of sea ice activity going on. There was an international sea ice summer school with more than 100 students from dozens of countries in July. There is currently a tremendous amount of sea ice activity going on in IPY. This summer there have been icebreakers from Canada, Sweden, Russia, and the U.S. conducting research in the Arctic and deploying autonomous sensors to monitor the changing sea ice cover. There have been ice camps at the North Pole and in the Beaufort Sea, along with work out of terrestrial...

How does ice floating on the ocean act as it melts? Download this activity as a PDF: What Happens When Sea Ice Melts How does ice floating on the ocean act as it melts? Main photo: Salt water on left and fresh on right Materials per pair of students: 2-2 oz. blue ice cubes (In a small plastic cup, freeze 2 ozs of water mixed with 6 drops of blue food coloring) 2-16 ounce clear cups (Fill one with tap water and one with tap water saturated with salt) Directions: 1. Draw two glasses on a piece of paper. 2. Label one “fresh water” and the other “salt water.” 3. Draw a predict...

Activity time: 20-30 minutes + freezing time PDF version, with pictures, to download: Sea ice and circulation activity.pdf BACKGROUND: The freezing temperature of water depends on the amount of dissolved salts (salinity). Normal ocean water, with a salinity of about 3.4%, begins to freeze when temperatures reach about -1.9°C. At its maximum extent in the winter, sea ice covers about 19 million square kilometres of the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. Approximately 80% of this ice melts each summer, contributing to the global mixing of ocean water. Vertical mixing of ocean water, known as ‘overturning circulation’ or ‘thermohaline...

Mark your diaries: SEPTEMBER 21ST WILL BE THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL POLAR DAY, HIGHLIGHTING SEA ICE. IPY and Sea Ice Over 30 large, international IPY projects are studying some aspect of Sea Ice. This includes ship expeditions, remote sensing, sea ice ecosystems, the importance of sea ice to polar bears and marine mammals, climate research, exhibitions, and books. On September 13th, a web-page dedicated to Sea Ice will be published on www.ipy.org listing projects that are involved, real-time expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic, contacts for media, sources for images, and background information. There will also be educational and community activities including classroom...

From the perspective of the North or South Pole, every year is essentially one long day that lasts half a year and one long night lasting the other half. This has enormous impact on how much solar energy is received in different times of year, which in turn influences physical processes, such as the freezing and thawing of snow and ice, biological processes, such as migration, and the lives of people who live in polar regions. If the Earth were perpendicular on its axis, everywhere on the planet would receive an equal amount of sunshine (and darkness) every day. But because of the tilt of the Earth on its axis (currently 23.5 degrees off the perpendicular), only two days a year — the Equinoxes every spring and fall — have equal amounts of sunshine everywhere. ...

MEDIA RELEASE For more information, visit the SIPEX expedition website. An earlier than usual foray into far southern waters will help scientists understand the connection between Antarctic sea ice and the ecosystems that depend on it for survival. The voyage is Australia's first in around 10 years to head into the Southern Ocean while the sea ice remains in place before the summer thaw. The Sea Ice Physics and Ecology eXperiment (SIPEX*) voyage, jointly organised by the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (Antarctic CRC) and the Australian Antarctic Division, will sail from Hobart at the beginning of September 2007. Eighty-six scientists from eight nations will use a suite of...

Contents: 1) Joint Committee Assessment, for October 2007 2) AGU Sessions and Activities, for December 2007 3) IPY Science Day - 21 September 2007 4) IPY Youth International Planning Workshop, for September 2007 From: IPY International Programme Office To: IPY Project Coordinators cc: IPY Community Google Groups 1) Joint Committee Assessment The IPY Joint Committee will hold their sixth meeting in Canada in late October 2007. With most national funding decisions known, and with most IPY Projects underway or in late stages of planning, the Joint Committee will make an initial assessment of the overall programme. The IPY Expression of Interest (EoI) data...