During the IPY, the USGS will highlight numerous long-term studies of the polar regions on the state of the cryosphere (glaciers, permafrost, sea ice), the impacts of change over the last few decades, the petroleum resource potential of the Arctic, and the consequences of permafrost thawing on the Yukon River watershed in Alaska and Canada. Also, we will produce a high resolution Landsat mosaic image of Antarctica.

Plate tectonics and polar ocean gateways: The keys to understanding long-term global change Water mass exchange between world oceans is of great significance for long-term global climatic change and is controlled by tectonic and sedimentary evolution of oceanic gateways and basins. Reconstructions of the geological history of polar oceanic basins and gateways feed into computer simulations of climate change. PLATES & GATES is an international program focussing on the tectonic and sedimentary formation of those areas of the Arctic and Antarctica which are in particular critical for global change.

Microorganisms – including algae, bacteria, fungi and viruses – are numerically by far the most important group of organisms in polar aquatic ecosystems. As well as being the main drivers of biogeochemical cycles and the major producers and consumers of greenhouse gases, they are also sensitive barometers of environmental change. Yet very little is known about their role in ecosystems or their response to change. Working in both the Arctic and Antarctic with a broad range of techniques, including state-of-the-art molecular methods, this project will assess the diversity and make up of this microbial world. It will significantly advance understanding of the diversity and activity of these organisms and their role in climate and global environmental change.

ICESTAR & International Heliophysical Year (IHY) - Interhemispheric Conjugacy in Geospace Phenomena and their Heliospheric Drivers High energy particles from space generate the Aurora and illustrate why the polar regions are unique places for space research. Throughout IPY scientists from 22 countries, using instruments on balloons, ships, spacecraft and the ground will investigate how plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun affect near-Earth space and our atmosphere, improving our understanding of the impact of space weather on satellites, ground-based technology, terrestrial weather and climate.

Terrestrial ecosystems in Arctic and Antarctic: effects of UV light, liquefying ice, and ascending temperatures (TARANTELLA)

Predicted changes in climate and ozone concentrations in the Polar Regions make it critically important to understand how changes in key environmental factors influence polar terrestrial ecosystems via the modification of their individual but interconnected components.

Observational and experimental research on the effect of climate change and ozone depletion is affiliated to international research programmes including the EBA, Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic project, SCAR in the Antarctic, and in the Arctic to ITEX, International Tundra Experiment as well as IGBP-GCTE.

TARANTELLA aims to coordinate these studies by focusing on the experimental approach, in both the Arctic, in collaboration with ITEX, and in the Antarctic.

A common methodology is used, the so-called Open-Top Chambers (OTC) or small greenhouses for temperature manipulations; for UV-B field research, UV-B supplementation (lamps) and/or UV-B exclusion (foils), are used to experimentally establish varied UV-B levels.

The IPY Publications Database will capture the results of the International Polar Year by describing the more than 20,000 publications that the IPY will produce. In most cases, links will be provided from the database to the actual publications. The database will include research, education, outreach and communication publications, and will be useful to researchers, educators, the media and the general public.

Thermal State of Permafrost Permafrost conditions underlie upwards of 25% of the Earth's land surface. Permafrost temperatures are a function of past and present climates and vary greatly depending on location. Lacking is a comprehensive set of pemafrost measurements against which to assess present and future regional and global changes. Duirng IPY, TSP researchers will obtain a "snapshot" of permafrost temperatures in hundread of borehole throughout the world.

Integrated Data and Information Services IPY projects cover a broad range of physical, life, and social sciences. The data from these projects will be unprecedented in their breadth and diversity and will be the primary legacy of IPY. Data management is the key to preserving and building on that legacy. The IPYDIS is the responsible for managing this immense and diverse volume of data and addressing substantial challenges in the evolution of scientific values, methods, and cooperation.

This project – which involves scientists from two dozen countries – will examine how atmospheric processes in the Southern Hemisphere affect current climate, and provide an important baseline for assessing future climate change. COMPASS will obtain the first circumpolar snapshot of the Southern Hemisphere atmospheric environment – covering physical, chemical and ecological properties – a major observational milestone. Only by harnessing the resources of the global polar community can this multinational project achieve the depth of investigation required to improve knowledge of future climate change and its impacts.