Woodwell Climate Research Center

BII: EVOLVING META-ECOSYSTEMS IN THE ARCTIC -THE EVOLVING METAECOSYSTEMS (EVOME) INSTITUTE WILL STUDY THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE ON ARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS. ECOSYSTEMS ARE COMPLEX COMMUNITIES OF SPECIES THAT HAVE EVOLVED WITH EACH OTHER AND THEIR SHARED ENVIRONMENT OVER LONG PERIODS OF TIME. UNDERSTANDING HOW THESE SYSTEMS CHANGE OVER TIME IS A GRAND CHALLENGE IN BIOLOGY THAT IS MADE URGENT AND POLICY-RELEVANT BY RAPID CLIMATE CHANGE. THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE IN THE ARCTIC, WHICH IS WARMING AT LEAST THREE TIMES FASTER THAN THE GLOBAL AVERAGE. ARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS ARE UNIQUELY SUITED TO THEIR EXTREME ENVIRONMENT, AND THEY PROVIDE FOOD AND LIVELIHOODS FOR HUMAN COMMUNITIES. IT IS CRITICAL TO KNOW WHETHER SPECIES AND ECOSYSTEMS CAN EVOLVE TO MATCH THE PACE OF CHANGE, OR WHETHER THEY MIGHT FALL APART OR MUDDLE ALONG IN A REDUCED STATE. EVOME WILL BRING TOGETHER EXPERTS FROM ACROSS BIOLOGICAL DISCIPLINES TO GENERATE NEW INSIGHTS AT EVERY SCALE, FROM GENES TO LANDSCAPES. IT WILL DOCUMENT NATURAL RESPONSES OF MULTIPLE SPECIES IN RIVERS AND STREAMSIDE TUNDRA ENVIRONMENTS AND CONDUCT LARGE-SCALE EXPERIMENTS ON THE FLOW OF ENERGY AND GENES BETWEEN ECOSYSTEMS. EVOME WILL FOSTER A NEW GENERATION OF BIOLOGISTS TRAINED TO THINK AND WORK ACROSS DISCIPLINES, WITH SPECIAL ATTENTION TO INCREASING INCLUSION AND RETENTION OF RESEARCHERS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED BACKGROUNDS, BY A CROSS-DISCIPLINARY AND CROSS-INSTITUTIONAL COURSE, A RESEARCH FUND FOR STUDENTS, AND A FELLOWS PROGRAM. FINALLY, IT WILL BRING JOURNALISTS INTO THE RESEARCH PROCESS TO CREATE?AND HELP RESEARCHERS CREATE?INNOVATIVE MEDIA AND STORIES THROUGH BLOGS, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND RADIO STORIES THAT BRING EVOME?S INTEGRATED UNDERSTANDING TO PUBLIC AUDIENCES, INCLUDING RURAL AND ALASKA NATIVE COMMUNITIES. THE EVOME INSTITUTE INTEGRATES ACROSS BIOLOGICAL DISCIPLINES AND SCALES OF ORGANIZATION TO UNDERSTAND HOW ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION MAINTAINS AND SHAPES ECOSYSTEMS LINKED BY THE FLOW OF EVOLVING ORGANISMS AND ENERGY (THE META-ECOSYSTEM) IN RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE. NEW EVIDENCE THAT EVOLUTION CAN OCCUR RAPIDLY NECESSITATES A MAJOR REAPPRAISAL OF THE LONGSTANDING PARADIGM THAT ECOSYSTEM AND META-ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE CAN BE UNDERSTOOD WITHOUT EVOLUTION. EVOME ADVANCES ECO-EVOLUTIONARY THEORY AND UNDERSTANDING BY INTEGRATING FROM GENES TO META-ECOSYSTEMS TO UNDERSTAND HOW EACH BIOLOGICAL LEVEL INTERACTS WITH THE OTHERS. IN DOING SO, THIS INSTITUTE ADDRESSES FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS IN GENOMICS, MOLECULAR GENETICS, EVOLUTION, PHYSIOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, POPULATION AND COMMUNITY ECOLOGY, AND ECOSYSTEM BIOLOGY IN THE MOST RAPIDLY WARMING PLACE ON EARTH. EVOME WILL EVALUATE THE CURRENT ADAPTIVE CAPACITY OF KEY SPECIES THAT INTEGRATE ARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS ALONG A LATITUDINAL GRADIENT IN NORTHERN ALASKA, INCLUDING LEVERAGING INSIGHTS FROM POPULATIONS LIVING IN HOT SPRINGS IN THE ARCTIC. EVOME WILL CONDUCT METAECOSYSTEM EXPERIMENTS THAT MANIPULATE ENERGY (LITTER AND INSECT MIGRATION INCLUSION/EXCLUSION) AND GENE (TRANSPLANT AND COMMON GARDEN) FLOW IN RIVER/RIPARIAN SYSTEMS. IT WILL COMBINE THIS INFORMATION WITH POWERFUL WHOLE-GENOME ASSESSMENTS AND MODELS TO DISENTANGLE THE PROCESSES THROUGH WHICH FOOD WEB RESPONSES INTERACT WITH EVOLUTION AND ALTER UNDERLYING TRAIT AND ECOSYSTEM RESPONSES. EVOME ALSO WILL DEVELOP NOVEL BIO-MONITORING EQUIPMENT, COMPUTATIONAL ALGORITHMS, AND NEW MODELING TECHNIQUES TO DEVELOP FLEXIBLE AND ADAPTABLE FORECASTING TOOLS. IN THESE WAYS, EVOME WILL CONTRIBUTE TO A BROADER, MECHANISTIC, AND PREDICTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE JOINT ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSES OF EARTH?S META-ECOSYSTEMS TO CLIMATE CHANGE. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

THE ARCTIC GREAT RIVERS OBSERVATORY (ARCTIC-GRO)

INFEWS/T1: INTENSIFICATION IN THE WORLD'S LARGEST AGRICULTURAL FRONTIER: INTEGRATING FOOD PRODUCTION, WATER USE, ENERGY DEMAND, AND ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY IN A CHANGING CLIMATE

SCC-IRG TRACK 1: CONNECTING COASTAL COMMUNITIES WITH CONTINUOUS, SENSOR-BASED MONITORING OF WATER QUALITY -COASTAL COMMUNITIES FACE LARGE CHALLENGES MONITORING WATER QUALITY IN MULTIPLE PLACES AND FREQUENTLY ENOUGH TO IDENTIFY WATER QUALITY PROBLEMS AND TO DOCUMENT IMPROVEMENTS FOLLOWING INVESTMENTS IN PROGRAMS OR INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IMPROVE WATER QUALITY. TRADITIONAL WATER QUALITY MONITORING IS CONDUCTED BY PERIODIC COLLECTION OF PHYSICAL WATER QUALITY SAMPLES. HOWEVER, CONDITIONS THAT LEAD TO LARGE WATER QUALITY AND BIOLOGICAL IMPACTS (SUCH AS PERIODS OF LOW OXYGEN DURING HEAT WAVES OR FOLLOWING PERIODS OF HIGH RIVER DISCHARGE) OCCUR INFREQUENTLY AND ARE NOT WELL CAPTURED BY EXISTING MONITORING PROGRAMS THAT SAMPLE ONLY PERIODICALLY. THIS MAKES IT HARD FOR CITIZENS TO DOCUMENT PROBLEMS AND FOR MANAGERS TO IDENTIFY APPROPRIATE WATER QUALITY ACTIONS. NEW CONTINUOUSLY-RECORDING WATER QUALITY SENSORS NOW HAVE THE POTENTIAL BE DEPLOYED ACROSS MULTIPLE LOCATIONS TO PROVIDE TIME-SERIES AND INFORMATION TO BETTER IDENTIFY WATER QUALITY IMPACTS AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS. DISSOLVED OXYGEN IS A KEY WATER QUALITY PARAMETER THAT CAN NOW BE MEASURED WITH RELIABLE, LOW-COST SENSORS. HOWEVER, THE TRANSITION TO CONTINUOUS SENSOR-BASED MONITORING IS COMPLEX AND WILL REQUIRE CONCURRENT CHANGES TO THE INSTITUTIONS THAT CONDUCT MONITORING, THEIR NORMS AND SOCIAL PRACTICES, AND THE WAY THE PUBLIC AND REGULATORY AGENCIES USE THIS NEW FORM OF WATER QUALITY DATA. THIS PROJECT WILL DETERMINE HOW VOLUNTEER CITIZEN SCIENTISTS RESPOND TO USE OF IN SITU RECORDING SENSORS RATHER THAN GRAB SAMPLES, AND TEST HOW VOLUNTEERS RESPOND TO DIFFERENT PROCEDURES FOR DEPLOYING AND INTERACTING WITH SENSORS. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO TEST LOW-COST MOBILE PLATFORMS FOR DEPLOYING SENSORS IN COASTAL WATERS. IT WILL FOCUS ON THREE COMMUNITIES CONNECTED TO WATER QUALITY IN THE WATERSHED OF BUZZARDS BAY, MASSACHUSETTS: (1) LOCAL RESIDENTS WHO LIVE WITHIN COASTAL WATERSHEDS, INCLUDING MANY WHO VOLUNTEER TO COLLECT WATER SAMPLES; (2) TOWN OFFICIALS RESPONSIBLE FOR WATER QUALITY PLANNING AND REGULATION; AND (3) STATE OFFICIALS RESPONSIBLE FOR SETTING AND ENFORCING WATER QUALITY REGULATIONS. IT WILL DETERMINE WHICH COMBINATIONS AND SCALES FOR SENSOR DEPLOYMENT PRODUCE DATA MOST LIKELY TO BE USED AND ACTED UPON BY RESIDENTS, TOWN OFFICIALS, AND GOVERNMENT REGULATORS. IT WILL ALSO PROVIDE KNOWLEDGE ON HOW DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES INTERPRET AND MAKE SENSE OF MORE DETAILED WATER QUALITY DATA DERIVED FROM SENSORS COMPARED WITH DATA FROM TRADITIONAL GRAB SAMPLES. UNDERSTANDING THIS TRANSITION?BOTH TECHNOLOGICALLY AND SOCIALLY?WILL HELP ADVANCE THE USE OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SENSORS BY THE MANY ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE U.S. THAT CONDUCT ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND THAT MIGHT IN THE FUTURE DEPLOY AUTOMATED CONTINUOUS ENVIRONMENTAL SENSORS. 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.

SOURCES AND SINKS OF CARBON FROM LAND-USE CHANGE, MANAGEMENT, AND DISTURBANCE IN THE U.S.: STEPS TOWARD A SYNTHESISSOURCES AND SINKS OF CARBON FROM

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: AON: THE ARCTIC GREAT RIVERS OBSERVATORY (ARCTICGRO)

FIRE, LAND USE AND THE SAVANNAZATION OF SEASONALLY-DRY AMAZON FORESTS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE POLARIS PROJECT II: AMPLIFYING THE IMPACT

POLARIS: CATALYZING DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE IN THE ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMUNITY THROUGH AN IMMERSIVE AND SUSTAINED UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

THE AMPLITUDE OF ATMOSPHERIC SEASONAL CO2 CYCLES IN HIGH LATITUDE ENVIRONMENTS HAS INCREASED BY 30-50% OVER THE LAST 50 YEARS. ROUGHLY TWO-THIRDS OF THIS INCREASE IS ATTRIBUTED TO GREATER SEASONAL CO2 EXCHANGE IN ARCTIC TUNDRA AND BOREAL FORESTS. SEVERAL PLAUSIBLE MECHANISMS HAVE BEEN HIGHLIGHTED BUT THE OVERALL CONTRIBUTIONS REMAIN UNKNOWN DESPITE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR ARCTIC AND BOREAL CARBON CYCLING AND CLIMATE FEEDBACKS. FROM A BROAD PERSPECTIVE THE INCREASING AMPLITUDE CAN ONLY BE DUE TO EITHER INCREASED NET CO2 UPTAKE IN THE GROWING SEASON AND/OR INCREASED EFFLUX IN THE DORMANT SEASON. A NUMBER OF STUDIES HAVE IDENTIFIED THIS BUT THE CONTRIBUTION FROM EACH PROCESS REMAINS UNCERTAIN. HOWEVER EVEN A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING AT THIS LEVEL IS NOT SUFFICIENT FOR DIAGNOSING SYSTEM CHANGES AND PREDICTIVE MODELING AS A VARIETY OF ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES AND RESPONSES TO GLOBAL CHANGE COULD BE RESPONSIBLE. THE PROPOSED PROJECT WORKS TO FILL THIS KNOWLEDGE GAP BY PRESENTING BOTTOM-UP ESTIMATES OF ECOSYSTEM DRIVERS LEADING TO THIS AMPLITUDE TREND. ESTIMATES WILL BE EVALUATED IN THE CONTEXT OF MULTIPLE TOP-DOWN CONSTRAINTS. BECAUSE ANY ONE RESEARCH TOOL IS INHERENTLY LIMITED THE PROJECT WILL UTILIZE SEVERAL TOOLS AND APPROACHES TO ADDRESS MULTIPLE LINES OF INQUIRY WITHIN A HYPOTHESIS-DRIVEN FRAMEWORK. THESE INCLUDE (I) LARGE-SCALE AND LONG-TERM REMOTE SENSING DATA SETS (II) BENCHMARKING DEVELOPMENT AND EXPERIMENTS WITH A LAND SURFACE MODEL (III) MULTI-MODEL INTERCOMPARISONS (IV) ATMOSPHERIC TRANSPORT MODELING AND (V) META-ANALYSIS OF IN SITU FLUX OBSERVATIONS. RESEARCH TASKS ARE LINKED THROUGH A SET OF COMPLEMENTARY AND TRACTABLE HYPOTHESES. OUR PRIMARY GOAL WILL BE TO ATTRIBUTE THE CAUSES OF THE OBSERVED INCREASED CO2 EXCHANGE IN HIGH LATITUDES. THIS WILL IMPROVE OUR COLLECTIVE UNDERSTANDING AND ABILITY TO PROJECT HIGH-LATITUDE CARBON DYNAMICS. HOWEVER OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL ALSO ADVANCE SEVERAL RELATED TOPICS OF BROAD INTEREST TO THE COMMUNITY. THESE INCLUDE HOW VEGETATION PROPERTIES HAVE CHANGED IN TUNDRA AND BOREAL FORESTS AND HOW MUCH CHANGE STEMS FROM DISTURBANCE; HOW CLIMATE AND OTHER FACTORS HAVE ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY; AND HOW INCREASED TEMPERATURE SUBSTRATE QUANTITY VEGETATION COVER AND SNOW DYNAMICS HAVE INFLUENCED DORMANT SEASON RESPIRATION. OUR PROJECT ADDRESSES SEVERAL HIGH-LEVEL RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND PRIORITIES FOR DOE NASA AND THE US CARBON CYCLE SCIENCE PROGRAM AS THEY RELATE TO ELEMENT 3.1.2 OF THE CARBON CYCLE SCIENCE SOLICITATION. AMONG OTHERS THESE INCLUDE (I) HOW DO NATURAL PROCESSES AND HUMAN ACTIONS AFFECT THE CARBON ON LAND AND IN THE ATMOSPHERE? (II) HOW ARE ECOSYSTEMS IMPACTED BY INCREASING GREENHOUSE GAS CONCENTRATIONS AND THE ASSOCIATED CHANGES IN CLIMATE? (III) WHAT IS THE DIRECTION AND STRENGTH OF ARCTIC/BOREAL CLIMATE FEEDBACKS? AND (IV) HOW CAN WE BEST REPRESENT MECHANISTIC CARBON FEEDBACKS IN EARTH SYSTEM MODELS? BECAUSE OF THE STRONG LINKS WITH PROCESS-LEVEL UNDERSTANDING EARTH SYSTEM MODELS AND CLIMATE FEEDBACKS WE ARE RECOMMENDING OUR PROPOSAL BE REVIEWED BY DOE. HOWEVER THERE ARE STRONG TIES TO NASA PRIORITIES AND WE PROPOSE TO INCORPORATE EXISTING AND NOVEL REMOTE-SENSING BASED DATA SETS INTO SEVERAL PROJECT COMPONENTS; THUS CO-REVIEW WITH NASA WOULD BE APPROPRIATE.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TIDE: LEGACY EFFECTS OF LONG-TERM NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT ON RECOVERY OF SALTMARSH ECOSYSTEMS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DISRUPTED NITROGEN CYCLES IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON

MANY TROPICAL COUNTRIES ARE NOW WORKING ON DEVELOPING THEIR STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING EMISSIONS FROM DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION, INCLUDING AC

MSM COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: AGRICULTURAL EXPANSION IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE WATER ENERGY AND CLIMATE CYCLES

TODAY'S DATA-DRIVEN AGRICULTURE DEMANDS ACCESS TO HIGH-RESOLUTION SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DATA STREAMS. SOIL SCIENTISTS IN THE UNITED STATES AND GLOBALLY HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING TO MEET THIS DEMAND. THIS FACT COORDINATED INNOVATION NETWORK WILL PROVIDE A GLOBAL, OPEN-ACCESS AND OPEN SOURCE, EASY-TO-USE PLATFORM FOR RELIABLY PREDICTING SOIL PROPERTIES FROM INFRARED SPECTRA THAT WILL OFFER LOW-COST, MEANINGFUL, AND ACCURATE DATA STREAMS TO MONITOR SOIL HEALTH AS IT IS IMPACTED BY EFFORTS TO CONSERVE IT AND ITS USE BY AGRICULTURE. DIFFUSE REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY IS BECOMING AN INDISPENSABLE TOOL IN SOIL SCIENCE; HOWEVER, SEVERAL TECHNICAL CHALLENGES STILL LIMIT ITS BROADER APPLICATION OUTSIDE OF RESEARCH PROJECTS. THIS PROJECT WILL NETWORK SOIL SPECTROSCOPISTS WITH EXPERTS IN INFORMATICS, DATA SCIENCE AND SOFTWARE ENGINEERING TO OVERCOME SOME OF THE CURRENT BOTTLENECKS PREVENTING WIDER AND MORE EFFICIENT USE OF SOIL SPECTROSCOPY. THE NETWORK WILL DEFINE A COMMON VOCABULARY, METADATA REQUIREMENTS, SPECTRAL QUALITY STANDARDS, AND BEST PRACTICE LAB PROCEDURES. THE NETWORK WILL CREATE SOFTWARE TO QUALITY CHECK, HARMONIZE AND STANDARDIZE SPECTRA AND SOIL DATA COLLECTIONS. THE NETWORK WILL DELIVER A WEB-BASED SOFTWARE PLATFORM, THE GLOBAL SOIL SPECTROSCOPY LIBRARY, BACKED BY MULTIPLE SPECTRAL DATABASES AND ROBUST STATISTICAL MODELS, THAT DERIVES SOIL PROPERTIES FROM THE SPECTRAL DATA. DEMONSTRATION, OUTREACH AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES WILL PROMOTE THE USE OF THE GLOBAL SOIL SPECTRAL LIBRARY AND DATA-DRIVEN SCIENCE AS SOLUTIONS TO THE SOIL DATA CRISIS.

INTEGRATED BELOWGROUND GREENHOUSE GAS FLUX MEASUREMENTS AND MODELING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE POLARIS PROJECT - CATALYZING CHANGE IN THE ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMUNITY

LINKING HIGH-FREQUENCY, AUTOMATED MEASUREMENTS OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM SOILS WITH MICROWAVE-BASED ESTIMATES OF SOIL SATURATION IN AGRICULTUR

IN RESPONSE TO THE IMPLICATIONS THAT HIGH UNCERTAINTIES ASSOCIATED WITH TRADITIONAL APPROACHES TO FOREST CARBON ACCOUNTING HAVE, NOT ONLY FOR THE CRE

CARBON MANAGEMENT IN THE NORTHEASTERN U.S.: AS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: AON: THE ARCTIC GREAT RIVERS OBSERVATORY (ARCTIC-GRO)

IMPROVING AMAZON FIRE RISK FORECASTS TO MINIMIZE IMPACTS ON TROPICAL FOREST ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN HEALTH

ETBC: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CONTROLS ON THE FLUX, AGE, AND COMPOSITION OF TERRESTRIAL ORGANIC CARBON EXPORTED BY RIVERS TO THE OCEAN

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH. IPY: THE POLARIS PROJECT: RISING STARS IN THE ARCTIC

SOIL CARBON CYCLE SCIENCE IN THE BIG DATA ERA

THE ARCTIC-BOREAL REGION CHARACTERIZED BY VAST EXPANSES OF TUNDRA BOREAL FORESTS AND WETLANDS CONTINUES TO WARM MORE RAPIDLY THAN ELSEWHERE ON EARTH. REGIONAL WARMING ASSOCIATED SHIFTS IN THE ANNUAL NON-FROZEN SEASON AND SIMULTANEOUS CHANGES IN HYDROLOGY CAN GREATLY INCREASE ECOSYSTEM VULNERABILITY TO CHANGE. ABRUPT DISTURBANCES FROM FIRE AND THE RAPID THAW OF PERMAFROST ALSO THREATEN ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION INCLUDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO CARBON BUDGETS AND CLIMATE FORCING. HOW CHANGING ARCTIC-BOREAL SYSTEMS ARE IMPACTING CLIMATE UNDER CONTEMPORARY CONDITIONS IS NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD AND HOW THESE ECOSYSTEMS MIGHT RESPOND UNDER FUTURE CLIMATE REMAINS HIGHLY UNCERTAIN. UNDERSTANDING HOW CHANGES IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND COMMUNITY STRUCTURE ULTIMATELY AFFECT ATMOSPHERIC RADIATIVE FORCING IS KEY TO IDENTIFYING THE ROLE OF THESE SYSTEMS IN AMPLIFYING OR MITIGATING CLIMATE CHANGE. A PRESSING CHALLENGE IS IMPROVING PROCESS-MODEL ESTIMATES OF CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) AND METHANE (CH4) GAS EXCHANGE FOR HIGH LATITUDE TERRESTRIAL AND AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS. MODELING STUDIES CONTINUE TO DISAGREE REGARDING THE: 1) NET CO2 SINK OR SOURCE STATUS FOR THE ARCTIC-BOREAL REGION 2) MAGNITUDES AND SPATIOTEMPORAL DISTRIBUTIONS OF CH4 FLUXES AND COMPONENTS (I.E. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM TERRESTRIAL VS. AQUATIC SYSTEMS EMISSION VS. UPTAKE) 3) REGIONAL TRAJECTORIES OF GAS EXCHANGE GIVEN FUTURE CLIMATE CONDITIONS AND ECOSYSTEM DISTURBANCES. REDUCING UNCERTAINTIES IN ECOSYSTEM CARBON BUDGETS IS NECESSARY TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE ARCTIC-BOREAL ZONE IS RESPONDING TO/IMPACTING CLIMATE. THIS STUDY FIRST FOCUSES ON IMPROVING ESTIMATES OF CO2 AND CH4 EXCHANGE FOR THE ARCTIC-BOREAL REGION THROUGH THE INTEGRATION OF TERRESTRIAL AND AQUATIC FIELD OBSERVATIONS A SUITE OF REMOTE SENSING DATA AND PRODUCTS AND MODELING (BIOGEOCHEMICAL AND ATMOSPHERIC). HERE WE FOCUS ON AN IMPROVED VERSION OF THE DYNAMIC VEGETATION DYNAMIC ORGANIC SOIL TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM MODEL (DVM-DOS-TEM) WITH UPDATED ECOSYSTEM PARAMETERIZATIONS FOR TUNDRA BOREAL FORESTS AND WETLANDS MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH NEW ABOVE SYNTHESIS DATASETS OF CARBON FLUX ECOSYSTEM PROPERTIES AND DISTURBANCE. SITE-LEVEL VALIDATIONS FOR DVM-DOS-TEM WILL EMPLOY A WEALTH OF DATA FROM MONITORING AND VALIDATION SITES WITHIN ALASKA CANADA AND SIBERIA WE WILL ALSO INCORPORATE ADDITIONAL GLOBAL AND REGIONAL (I.E. ABOVE) MODEL BENCHMARKING. TO ASSESS MODEL SKILL/UNCERTAINTY AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL WE WILL USE A WRFSTILT (STOCHASTIC TIME-INVERTED LAGRANGIAN TRANSPORT MODEL DRIVEN BY A POLAR VARIANT OF WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING MODEL WINDS) APPROACH AND ATMOSPHERIC OBSERVATIONS FROM TALL TOWERS AND AIRCRAFT CAMPAIGNS. FURTHER OUR STUDY INCLUDES A CARBON MODEL INTERCOMPARISON EFFORT TO BETTER IDENTIFY SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN CARBON BUDGET ESTIMATES AND ASSOCIATED UNCERTAINTIES ACROSS THE ABOVE DOMAIN AND EASTERN SIBERIA. WE WILL USE OUR NEW 0.25 DEGREE AND 1-KM MONTHLY CO2 AND CH4 FLUX RECORDS (2001-2021) FOR THE ARCTIC-BOREAL REGION SATELLITEINFORMED RECORDS OF FIRE EMISSIONS AND ALBEDO TO IDENTIFY HOW ECOSYSTEMS ARE CONTRIBUTING TO NET RADIATIVE FORCING AND REGIONAL WARMING OR COOLING. OUR FINAL COMPONENT EXPLORES POSSIBLE FUTURE TRAJECTORIES OF NET ECOSYSTEM CARBON BUDGETS (NECB TERRESTRIAL & AQUATIC CARBON FLUX PLUS FIRE EMISSIONS) AND RADIATIVE FORCING UNDER ALTERNATIVE CLIMATE AND DISTURBANCE SCENARIOS THROUGH 2100. THIS RESEARCH DIRECTLY BENEFITS NASA BY PROVIDING IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF CLIMATE-CARBON CYCLE-DISTURBANCE FEEDBACKS IN ARCTICBOREAL SYSTEMS THROUGH ENHANCED REGIONAL PROCESS-MODEL ESTIMATES OF NECB NEW RADIATIVE FORCING ASSESSMENTS THAT CONSIDER NECB AND ALBEDO AND NEW EVALUATIONS OF HIGH LATITUDE ECOSYSTEM RESPONSE INCLUDING NECB AND RADIATIVE FORCING UNDER FUTURE CLIMATE SCENARIOS.

THE SAVANNA ECOSYSTEM IS THE SECOND LARGEST BIOME OF TROPICAL SOUTH AMERICA. ALTHOUGH DEFORESTATION OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST HAS RECEIVED MUCH PUBLIC

THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE TIER 2 SCIENCE QUESTION (3.6) OF THE TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY SOLICITATION (A.4): "HOW ARE THE MAGNITUDES, FATES, AND LAND-ATM

SCOTT GOETZ/THE WOODS HOLE RESEARCH CENTER, INC.CONTINENTAL SCALE MODELING OF BIRD DIVERSITY USING CANOPY STRUCTURE METRICS OF HABITAT HETEROGENEITY

TEMPERATURE INCREASES IN THE NORTHERN HIGH LATITUDES OVER THE PAST FEW DECADES HAVE LED TO A WIDE VA

WE PROPOSE A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION INTO THE NET RADIATIVE FORCINGS FROM FOREST FIRES IN THE ABOVE DOMAIN. FIRE IS THE DOMINANT DISTURBANCE IN BOREAL

NNA TRACK 1: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE PERMAFROST DISCOVERY GATEWAY: NAVIGATING THE NEW ARCTIC TUNDRA THROUGH BIG DATA, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AND CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE SUSTAINABILITY OF RIPARIAN FORESTS IN EXPANDING AMAZONIAN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES

THE RECENT EXPANSION OF PASTURES AND AGRICULTURAL MONOCULTURES HAS RESULTED IN 730,000 KM2 OF THE AMAZON BASIN BEING DEFORESTED. DESPITE RECENT DECLI

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE SUSTAINABILITY OF RIPARIAN FORESTS IN EXPANDING AMAZONIAN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES

THE NATIONAL BIOMASS AND DATASET 2000.

ECONOMICALLY VIABLE FOREST HARVESTING PRACTICES THAT INCREASE CARBON SEQUESTRATION

WARMING AND DRYING EFFECTS ON TUNDRA CARBON BALANCE

WE PROPOSE TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF NATIONAL MRV SYSTEMS FOR REDD+ THROUGH TWO OBJECTIVES. FIRST, WE WILL DEVELOP, TEST, AND SHA

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: VEGETATION AND ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS ON PERMAFROST VULNERABILITY

CARBON IMPLICATIONS OF ECOSYTEM RESPONSES TO NORTH AMERICAN CLIMATE CHANGE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: UNDERSTANDING BIOPHYSICAL DRIVERS OF THE CH4 SOURCE SINK TRANSITION IN NORTHERN FORESTS -METHANE IS SECOND ONLY TO CARBON DIOXIDE IN ITS CONTRIBUTION TO HUMAN-INDUCED CLIMATE CHANGE DUE TO ITS GLOBAL WARMING POTENTIAL, WHICH IS 34 TIMES GREATER THAN THAT OF CO2. MICROORGANISMS IN WET LANDSCAPES TEND TO RELEASE METHANE, WHEREAS THOSE IN DRY ONES TEND TO TAKE UP THE GAS FROM EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE. RESEARCHERS AT THE HOWLAND RESEARCH FOREST IN MAINE HAVE BEEN MEASURING METHANE FLUCTUATIONS ACROSS THIS SUB-BOREAL FOREST SINCE 2012. THEIR STUDIES HAVE FOUND THAT THE FOREST USUALLY SERVES AS A METHANE SINK DUE TO MICROBIAL CONSUMPTION, ALTHOUGH OCCASIONALLY, UNDER EXTREMELY WET CONDITIONS, THE REVERSE CAN BE TRUE. THIS RESEARCH SITE PROVIDES AN IDEAL OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH A FOREST WOULD SWITCH FROM A NET SINK TO BECOME A SOURCE OF ATMOSPHERIC METHANE. UNDER FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS, THE REGION IS EXPECTED TO BECOME WARMER AND WETTER, CONDITIONS THAT MAY INDUCE A SHIFT FROM METHANE SINK TO SOURCE, WITH THE POTENTIAL TO HAVE AN IMPACT ON ATMOSPHERIC METHANE CONCENTRATIONS AT REGIONAL TO GLOBAL SCALE. THIS PROJECT WILL EXAMINE HOW FOREST SOIL MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES WILL CHANGE IN RESPONSE TO CLIMATE WARMING, TO IDENTIFY THE CONDITIONS THAT MAY LEAD FORESTS TO SWITCH FROM BEING A METHANE SINK TO MORE OF A SOURCE. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO SUPPORT THE CROSS-DISCIPLINARY TRAINING OF GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH SCHOLARS, INCLUDING THOSE FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN SCIENCE. A SERIES OF PUBLIC TALKS WILL BE CONVENED, AND SHORT VIDEOS AND STORYMAPS FOCUSED ON SCIENCE OUTREACH WILL BE PAIRED WITH ?SCIENTIST IN THE CLASSROOM? VISITS TO LOCAL HIGH SCHOOLS. THE PROJECT WILL HOST AN OPEN HOUSE FOR STUDENTS AND THE PUBLIC AT THE HOWLAND RESEARCH FOREST TO LEARN ABOUT THIS IMPORTANT RESEARCH. THIS STUDY AIMS TO IDENTIFY - THROUGH THE INTEGRATION OF FIELD OBSERVATIONS, LABORATORY ANALYSES, AND MODELING - THE CONDITIONS AND MECHANISMS DRIVING METHANE SINK VS SOURCE ACTIVITY IN FORESTS, USING THE HOWLAND RESEARCH FOREST IN MAINE AS A CASE STUDY. THE PROJECT'S NOVEL APPROACH FOCUSES ON THREE KEY AREAS TO IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF METHANE IN SUCH HABITATS: 1) IDENTIFY THE ROLES AND RESPONSE OF SOIL MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES, SPECIFICALLY, METHANOGENS AND METHANOTROPHS (AND THEIR FUNCTIONAL GUILDS), IN DRIVING METHANE FLUX ACROSS ENVIRONMENTAL GRADIENTS; 2) UNDERSTAND AND QUANTIFY HOW WET VS DRY LANDSCAPE MICROSITES, AND BELOWGROUND VS. ABOVEGROUND COMPONENTS WITHIN A FOREST CONTRIBUTE TO SEASONAL AND ANNUAL METHANE FLUXES; AND 3) INTEGRATE KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM FIELD AND LABORATORY ANALYSES TO INFORM AND IMPROVE ECOSYSTEM PROCESS MODELS. A SUITE OF IN-SITU AND LAB-BASED EXPERIMENTAL MEASURES OF METHANE PRODUCTION AND OXIDATION, STABLE ISOTOPES, AND PROFILES OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITY COMPOSITION AND FUNCTION WILL BE USED TO UNDERSTAND THE MECHANISMS, PROCESSES, AND FEEDBACKS DRIVING METHANE SINK/SOURCE ACTIVITY FROM SITE TO LANDSCAPE LEVELS. AT THE SITE LEVEL, MULTI-SCALE OBSERVATIONS OF SOIL AND ABOVEGROUND METHANE FLUXES, MICROBIAL TRAITS, AND ASSOCIATED IN-SITU ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS WILL BE OBTAINED. TO FURTHER UNDERSTAND AND QUANTIFY METHANE RESPONSE, IN-SITU AND LABORATORY MANIPULATION EXPERIMENTS TO IDENTIFY THE ROLE OF FUNCTIONAL GUILD ACTIVITY, UNDER CHANGING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, IN REGULATING METHANE PRODUCTION/OXIDATION AND ULTIMATELY NET METHANE FLUX TO AND FROM THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE EMPLOYED. FINALLY, THESE DATA, INTEGRATED WITH PROJECT DATA-ENHANCED MICROBIAL MODEL FOR METHANE DYNAMICS-DUAL ARRHENIUS MICHAELS MENTEN (M3D-DAMM) AND COMMUNITY LAND MODEL-MICROBE (CLM-MICROBE) PROCESS MODELS, WILL ALLOW RESEARCHERS TO IDENTIFY SEASONAL AND ANNUAL METHANE SINK/SOURCE ACTIVITY AT THE LANDSCAPE LEVEL WITHIN HOWLAND FOREST FROM THE PRESENT TO 2100. THE RESEARCH WILL INCLUDE TRAINING AT THE UNDERGRADUATE, GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL LEVELS, AS WELL AS A VARIETY OF OUTREACH ACTIVITIES TO ENGAGE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND THE PUBLIC. 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.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ENVIRONMENTAL AND BIOLOGICAL CONTROLS ON CARBON UPTAKE PHENOLOGY IN PERMAFROST AFFECTED BOREAL FORESTS

INTERACTIONS OF EDAPHIC AND LAND USE FACTORS ON WATER BUDGETS IN THE CERRADO REGION OF BRAZIL.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: WILL CHANGES IN VEGETATION COMPOSITION SLOW CLIMATE-DRIVEN WILDFIRE GROWTH IN THE BOREAL FORESTS OF NORTHWESTERN NORTH AMERICA?

ROBUST ESTIMATES OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF CARBON CONTAINED IN THE ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS (AGB) OF FORESTS ARE NEEDED FOR THE GLOBE TO REDUCE THE UNCERTAIN

TOWARDS SPATIALLY EXPLICIT QUANTIFICATION OF CARBON FLUX (2000-2007) IN NORTHEASTERN U.S. FORESTS LINKING REMOTE SENSING WITH FOREST INVENTO

SCOTT GOETZ/WOODS HOLE RESEARCH CENTER MODELING STRATEGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO LINKED CLIMATE AND LAND USE CHANGE IN THE UNITED STATES OVER THE COMING

RCN: REACTIVE NITROGEN IN THE BIOSPHERE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DRIVERS AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL IMPLICATIONS OF SALTWATER INTRUSION ALONG ARCTIC COASTLINES -SEA-LEVEL RISE AND STORM EVENTS PUSH SALTWATER LANDWARD (I.E., SALTWATER INTRUSION), DRIVING CHANGES IN THE CHEMISTRY, ECOLOGY, AND GREENHOUSE GAS FLUXES OF TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS. PRESENT KNOWLEDGE OF THE DRIVERS AND IMPACTS OF SALTWATER INTRUSION IS BASED ON TEMPERATE AND TROPICAL ENVIRONMENTS. LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT SALTWATER INTRUSION ALONG ARCTIC COASTLINES WHERE PERMAFROST UNDERLIES COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS. IN THIS STUDY, WE INVESTIGATE THE DRIVERS OF COASTAL ARCTIC SALTWATER INTRUSION AND THE IMPACTS OF SALTWATER INTRUSION ON POREWATER CHEMISTRY AND GREENHOUSE GAS FLUXES ALONG ALASKA?S BEAUFORT SEA COAST. THIS WORK WILL PROVIDE BASELINE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICAL, BIOLOGICAL, AND CHEMICAL PROCESSES OCCURRING ALONG RAPIDLY CHANGING ARCTIC COASTLINES; WILL TRAIN TWO SUMMER INTERNS, A RESEARCH ASSISTANT, AND FIELD TECHNICIAN; AND WILL FUND TWO EARLY CAREER, FEMALE RESEARCHERS. FINDINGS WILL BE SHARED WITH THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY, AS WELL AS AT LOCAL SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC FORUMS, BRINGING THE ARCTIC TO CAPE COD COMMUNITIES. ALONG COASTLINES WORLDWIDE, SEA-LEVEL RISE AND STORM EVENTS ARE DRIVING SALTWATER INTRUSION INTO TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENTS. PRESENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE DRIVERS AND ECOSYSTEM RAMIFICATIONS OF SALTWATER INTRUSION IS LARGELY BASED ON STUDIES CONDUCTED IN TEMPERATE AND TROPICAL ENVIRONMENTS. THE INFLUENCE OF SALTWATER INTRUSION ON THE PHYSICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF PERMAFROST-BOUND COASTLINES HAS BEEN INVESTIGATED FAR LESS, LEAVING PRONOUNCED GAPS IN UNDERSTANDING OF COASTAL ARCTIC ECOSYSTEM RESPONSES TO SALINIZATION. THIS STUDY WILL FILL THESE GAPS BY EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROCESSES MEDIATING DISTRIBUTIONS OF COASTAL POREWATER SALINITY AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF ARCTIC TUNDRA SALINIZATION FOR GREENHOUSE GAS FLUXES TO THE ATMOSPHERE AND NUTRIENT FLUXES TO THE COASTAL OCEAN. THROUGH AN INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD AND LABORATORY STUDY CONDUCTED ALONG ALASKA?S BEAUFORT SEA COAST, WE WILL (1) CHARACTERIZE SUBSURFACE TEMPERATURE, WATER LEVEL, THAW DEPTH, AND POREWATER SALINITY DYNAMICS, (2) MEASURE POREWATER NUTRIENT CONCENTRATIONS AND GREENHOUSE GAS FLUXES, AND (3) ASSESS LINKS BETWEEN WATER TABLE DYNAMICS, GROUNDWATER NUTRIENT CONCENTRATIONS, AND GREENHOUSE GAS FLUXES ACROSS HEALTHY AND SALINIZED TUNDRA SITES. THE PROPOSED ACTIVITIES WILL EXPAND SYSTEM UNDERSTANDING BY UNCOVERING LINKS BETWEEN TUNDRA SALINIZATION AND ALTERED PHYSICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES, ENHANCING OUR ABILITY TO PROJECT COASTAL ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION IN A CHANGING CLIMATE. THE BROADER IMPACTS OF THE PROJECT INCLUDE EARLY CAREER MENTORSHIP, PARTICIPATION IN K-12 EDUCATION, AND RESEARCH DISSEMINATION TO THE SCIENTIFIC AND BROADER COMMUNITY. SPECIFICALLY, THIS PROJECT WILL TRAIN SUMMER INTERNS, A RESEARCH ASSISTANT, AND A TECHNICIAN BOTH IN THE FIELD AND LABORATORY. THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE WOODS HOLE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION PROGRAM, PROJECT OUTCOMES WILL REGULARLY BE PRESENTED AT LOCAL SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC FORUMS, AND PIS WILL PARTICIPATE IN LOCAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING MENTORING STUDENT PROJECTS IN SCIENCE FAIRS. LASTLY, RESULTS FROM THIS PROJECT WILL BE DISSEMINATED TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY THROUGH JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS. 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.

NEW; TITLE: PARTITIONING CO2 FLUXES WITH ISOTOPOLOGUES MEASUREMENTS AND MODELING TO UNDERSTAND MECHANSIMS OF FOREST CARBON SEQUESTRATION; PI: ERIC DA

RUI: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FIRE REGIME INFLUENCES ON CARBON DYNAMICS OF SIBERIAN BOREAL FORESTS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH. IPY: ARCTIC GREAT RIVERS OBSERVATORY (ARCTIC-GRO)

URBAN GROWTH IMPACTS ON SURFACE HYDROLOGY

DETECTING THE SIGNATURE OF PERMAFROST THAW IN ARCTIC RIVERS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MSB-FRA: ALTERNATIVE ECOLOGICAL FUTURES FOR THE AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL MACROSYSTEM

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE OF ARCTIC LAND-OCEAN DYNAMICS THROUGH THE ARCTIC GREAT RIVERS OBSERVATORY (ARCTICGRO) -ARCTIC RIVERS DRAIN VAST NORTHERN LANDSCAPES AND FLOW INTO THE ARCTIC OCEAN, FORMING CRITICAL LAND-OCEAN LINKAGES. STUDIES OF THESE LINKAGES PROVIDE DATA THAT ARE INFLUENTIAL FOR U.S. INTERESTS IN THE ARCTIC, INCLUDING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, FOOD SECURITY, COMMUNITY RESILIENCE, AND WEATHER PATTERNS ACROSS THE U.S. AND THE GLOBE. SINCE 2003, THE ARCTIC GREAT RIVERS OBSERVATORY (ARCTICGRO) HAS PROVIDED ESSENTIAL TIME-SERIES DATA OF WATER DISCHARGE AND CHEMICAL ANALYSES FOR THE SIX LARGEST ARCTIC RIVERS ? THE YUKON IN THE USA, THE MACKENZIE IN CANADA, AND THE YENISEY, OB?, LENA, AND KOLYMA IN RUSSIA ? AS WELL AS THE CURATION AND DISSEMINATION OF DISCHARGE DATA FOR NINE ADDITIONAL RIVERS. THIS PROPOSAL SUPPORTS THE CONTINUED SAMPLING OF WATER CHEMISTRY IN THE YUKON AND MACKENZIE RIVERS, ENSURING THE CONTINUITY OF THESE CRUCIAL TIME-SERIES. THE TEAM WILL CURATE AND DISSEMINATE DISCHARGE DATA FOR ALL ARCTICGRO RIVERS AND WILL EXPAND THE DATASET THROUGH ANALYSIS OF ARCHIVED SAMPLES TO EXPLORE POTENTIAL CAUSES OF DOCUMENTED CHANGES IN ARCTIC RIVER WATER CHEMISTRY OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS. THE ARCTICGRO RESEARCH TEAM WILL ALSO WORK WITH COMMUNITIES IN THE YUKON RIVER WATERSHED TO ADDRESS QUESTIONS ABOUT LOCAL WATER QUALITY. DATA GENERATED BY ARCTICGRO WILL BE DISSEMINATED BROADLY AND USED BY THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY TO UNDERSTAND WATERSHED DYNAMICS AND OCEAN PROCESSES AT LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND GLOBAL SCALES. CONTINUED SAMPLING OF THE YUKON (AT PILOT STATION) AND MACKENZIE (AT TSIIGEHTCHIC) RIVERS WILL EXTEND TIME-SERIES RECORDS OF WATER CHEMISTRY, SUPPORTING THE ASSESSMENT OF WATERSHED-SCALE CHANGES ACROSS WIDE EXPANSES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ARCTIC. A BROAD SUITE OF PARAMETERS WILL CONTINUE TO BE MEASURED, INCLUDING DISSOLVED AND PARTICULATE ORGANIC CARBON CONCENTRATIONS AND ISOTOPE VALUES; PARTICULATE NITROGEN CONCENTRATIONS AND ISOTOPE VALUES; CONCENTRATIONS OF DISSOLVED NUTRIENTS, MAJOR IONS, AND TRACE ELEMENTS; ALKALINITY; OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF DISSOLVED ORGANIC MATTER (DOM) INCLUDING UV-VISIBLE ABSORBANCE AND FLUORESCENCE; MOLECULAR-LEVEL COMPOSITION OF DOM, AND STABLE ISOTOPE RATIOS OF OXYGEN AND HYDROGEN IN WATER. ADDITIONAL WATER SAMPLES WILL BE ARCHIVED TO SUPPORT FUTURE RESEARCH. AT THE SAME TIME, RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSES OF ARCHIVED SAMPLES DEEPEN THE DATASET AND PROVIDE CRITICAL CONTEXT FOR HYPOTHESIS TESTING AND MODEL DEVELOPMENT. THESE EFFORTS WILL APPLY ADVANCED TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING ULTRA-HIGH-RESOLUTION MASS SPECTROMETRY TO ASSESS DOM COMPOSITION, AND STRONTIUM AND SULFATE ISOTOPE ANALYSES TO RESOLVE WEATHERING PROCESSES AND THEIR ROLE IN OBSERVED INCREASES IN RIVER ALKALINITY. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL ALSO CONTINUE TO ACQUIRE RIVER DISCHARGE DATA FROM A LARGER SET OF INTERNATIONAL ARCTIC RIVERS. DISCHARGE DATA ARE ESSENTIAL FOR INTERPRETATING CHANGES IN ARCTIC RIVER WATER CHEMISTRY AND ARE ALSO WIDELY USED ACROSS THE ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMUNITY AS A STANDALONE METRIC. THE ARCTICGRO TEAM WILL MAINTAIN AND ENHANCE ACCESS TO ITS COMPREHENSIVE TIME-SERIES DATASETS, ENABLING RESEARCHERS TO INVESTIGATE WATERSHED PROCESSES AND LAND-OCEAN INTERACTIONS. TO PROMOTE BROADER SYNTHESIS AND DISCOVERY, THEY WILL ALSO DEVELOP USER-FRIENDLY VISUALIZATION TOOLS AND FOSTER INTEGRATION OF ARCTICGRO DATA INTO INTERDISCIPLINARY ARCTIC RESEARCH AND SYNTHESIS INITIATIVES. THIS PROJECT IS JOINTLY FUNDED BY THE ARCTIC OBSERVING NETWORK PROGRAM AND THE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH (EPSCOR). 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

WOODS HOLE RESEARCH CENTER INC."ECOSYSTEM STRUCT URE MEASUREMENTS FROM DESDYN1:

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ECOSYSTEM EVOLUTION AND SUSTAINABILITY OF NUTRIENT ENRICHED COASTAL SALTMARSHES

SUPPORTING CARBON CYCLE AND EARTH SYSTEMS MODELING WITH MEASUREMENTS AND ANALYSIS FROM THE HOWLAND AMERIFLUX SITE

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY GOALS TEXT FOR ALL ROSES TECH EVALS: EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGR

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CYBERTRAINING: IMPLEMENTATION: MEDIUM: CYBER2A: CYBERTRAINING ON AI-DRIVEN ANALYTICS FOR NEXT GENERATION ARCTIC SCIENTISTS -THE ARCTIC IS ONE OF THE EARTH'S REMAINING FRONTIERS THAT IS CRITICAL TO THE EARTH'S CLIMATE SYSTEMS. CLIMATE CHANGE AND PERMAFROST WARMING ARE DOCUMENTED ACROSS THE ARCTIC, WITH SUCH WARMING RELEASING GREENHOUSE GASSES THAT FURTHER DRIVE GLOBAL WARMING. THE ARCTIC ECOSYSTEM HAS BEEN PUSHED TO A TIPPING POINT WITH DRAMATIC IMPACTS TO INLAND AND COASTAL LANDSCAPES: ALTERED SOIL CARBON FLUXES, CHANGES IN VEGETATION COVER, EROSION, SHIFTS IN ANIMAL BEHAVIOR, AND CHALLENGES TO INFRASTRUCTURE. AS THIS TRANSFORMATION OF ICE TO WATER THROUGH DEGRADING PERMAFROST AND MELTING SEA AND LAKE ICE REVERBERATES THROUGH THE ENTIRE ARCTIC ECOSYSTEM, UNDERSTANDING OF ARCTIC CHANGE NECESSITATES RESEARCH FROM A BROAD RANGE OF EARTH, ENGINEERING, AND SOCIAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES. VALUABLE CLIMATIC, GEOLOGICAL, BIOLOGICAL, AND SOCIOLOGICAL DATA EXIST BUT HAVE YET TO BE FULLY EXPLOITED BY THE ARCTIC SCIENCE COMMUNITY. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND MACHINE LEARNING APPROACHES, WHICH HAVE THE ABILITY TO AUTOMATICALLY PROCESS BIG DATA AND EXTRACT HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE, WOULD ENABLE RESEARCHERS TO MAKE THE BEST POSSIBLE USE OF THESE DATA TO ADDRESS DIVERSE ARCTIC CHALLENGES. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A NOVEL CYBERTRAINING PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE CAPACITY FOR MYRIAD ARCTIC RESEARCHERS ACROSS DISCIPLINES TO EMPLOY AI-DRIVEN TECHNIQUES ON ARCTIC DATA. THESE NEW SKILLS WILL ENABLE CURRENT AND FUTURE ARCTIC SCIENTISTS TO USE THE NEW WAVE OF DATA-DRIVEN DISCOVERY TOOLS AND THEREBY BETTER UNDERSTAND THE RAPIDLY CHANGING ARCTIC LANDSCAPE, WHICH IS CRITICALLY NEEDED FOR SOCIETAL WELFARE. TODAY, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL TOOLS TO ANALYZE BIG DATA AND ENABLE A NEW PARADIGM OF DATA-DRIVEN SCIENCE. HOWEVER, TRAINING IN THESE EMERGING TOPICS IS LARGELY MISSING IN CURRENT UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE CURRICULA, AS WELL AS FOR ACTIVE ARCTIC RESEARCHERS. THIS PROJECT WILL FOSTER THE GROWTH OF AN ARCTIC SCIENCE WORKFORCE BY DEVELOPING DATA SCIENCE SKILLS THROUGH A SERIES OF COMPLEMENTARY AND MUTUALLY REINFORCING TRAINING ACTIVITIES. AN ARCTIC-AI RESEARCH NETWORK WILL BE ESTABLISHED FOR COLLECTING AI TRAINING NEEDS AND FOR ARCTIC SCIENTISTS AND AI EXPERTS TO SHARE IDEAS AND RESOURCES, TO NETWORK WITH EACH OTHER, AND TO EXPERIENCE THE LATEST RESEARCH ADVANCES THROUGH A MONTHLY WEBINAR SERIES. CUSTOMIZED TRAINING WILL BE PROVIDED THROUGH BOTH IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS AND ONLINE, SELF-PACED LEARNING PROGRAMS TO BROADEN THE ADOPTION OF ADVANCED AI METHODS IN ARCTIC SCIENCE. THE WORKSHOPS WILL BE OPEN NOT ONLY TO ARCTIC RESEARCHERS, BUT ALSO TO THE ARCTIC SCIENCE EDUCATORS, OFFERING A PATHWAY FOR INTERESTED FACULTY AND INSTRUCTORS AT MULTIPLE INSTITUTIONS TO INCORPORATE TRAINING MATERIALS INTO THEIR CURRICULA AND CLASSROOM TEACHING, AMPLIFYING THE SCALE OF THE CYBERTRAINING ACTIVITIES. MEANWHILE, AN OPEN COMPETITION, THE ARCTIC GEOAI CHALLENGE, WILL BE LAUNCHED AS A NOVEL FORM OF HANDS-ON TECHNOLOGY TRAINING TO ATTRACT TALENTED INDIVIDUALS TO DEVELOP NOVEL AI SOLUTIONS FOR SOLVING A REAL-WORLD ARCTIC BIG DATA PROBLEM. THE RECRUITMENT PLAN WILL CULTIVATE AN INCLUSIVE AND DIVERSE CULTURE OF COMMUNITY, WITH A STRONG FOCUS ON GROWING THE STEM RESEARCH WORKFORCE WITH MORE WOMEN, WOMEN OF COLOR, AND PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE ETHNIC GROUPS, ACADEMIC BACKGROUNDS, AND SECTORS, ENABLING ESPECIALLY THE ARCTIC INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY TO HAVE A GREATER VOICE IN UNDERSTANDING AND MITIGATING ARCTIC CHANGE. ALL TRAINING MATERIALS WILL BE DEPOSITED IN THE ARCTIC DATA CENTER'S LEARNING HUB AND THE PERMAFROST DISCOVERY GATEWAY TO ENSURE LONG-TERM ACCESS BY CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE USERS, PROFESSIONALS, AND DEVELOPERS ACROSS ALL ARCTIC SCIENCE AND GEOSCIENCE DOMAINS AND BEYOND. THIS PROJECT IS CO-FUNDED BY A COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE DIRECTORATE FOR GEOSCIENCES AND OFFICE OF ADVANCED CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT AI/ML AND OPEN SCIENCE ACTIVITIES IN THE GEOSCIENCES. 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.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PATTERNS, DYNAMICS, AND VULNERABILITY OF ARCTIC POLYGONAL ECOSYSTEMS: FROM ICE-WEDGE POLYGON TO PAN-ARCTIC LANDSCAPES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ADAPTABILITY OF A KEY ARCTIC FRESHWATER SPECIES TO CLIMATE CHANGE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE ROLE OF CAPILLARIES IN THE ARCTIC HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM -THAWING ICE-RICH PERMAFROST IS TRANSFORMING ARCTIC TUNDRA LANDSCAPES FROM BEING RELATIVELY FLAT AND EVENLY MOIST INTO A MOSAIC OF DRY MOUNDS AND NARROW PONDS. AS THAW PROGRESSES, A WELL-DRAINED LANDSCAPE WITH A MAZE OF TINY SURFACE DRAINAGES MAY FORM. THIS DENSE NETWORK OF SMALL CHANNELS REPRESENTS THE CAPILLARIES OF THE ARCTIC HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM AND SERVES AS THE ORIGINATORS OF THE WATER THAT FEEDS LARGE RIVERS. AN EXPANDING CAPILLARY HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM MAY CHANGE HABITAT FOR WILDLIFE DUE TO AN OVERALL DRYING OF THE TUNDRA LANDSCAPE, INCREASED RIVER RUNOFF, AND THROUGH MORE NUTRIENTS EXPORTED FROM TERRESTRIAL TO AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS. FURTHER, AN EXPANDING CAPILLARY HYDROLOGICAL NETWORK THAT IS IDENTIFIABLE FROM SUB-METER RESOLUTION SATELLITE IMAGERY CAN SERVE AS AN INDICATOR OF ICE-RICH PERMAFROST THAW AND, THEREFORE, WARN OF HAZARD TO INFRASTRUCTURE. THE DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION OF A SURFACE DRAINAGE SYSTEM MAY ALSO DECREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF MOSS TO THRIVE, WHICH RESULTS IN LOSS OF A VEGETATION COVER THAT EFFECTIVELY COOLS THE GROUND AND PRESERVES THE UPPER PERMAFROST FROM THAWING. THE PROJECT WILL PRODUCE A PAN-ARCTIC MAP OF THE CAPILLARY HYDROLOGICAL SYSTEM AND IN SELECTED AREAS, ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE CAPILLARY SYSTEM HAS CHANGED OVER TIME. THE GEOSPATIAL PRODUCTS WILL BE MADE PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE ON THE PERMAFROST DISCOVERY GATEWAY TO ENABLE DISCOVERY AND KNOWLEDGE-GENERATION BY SCIENTISTS, STAKEHOLDERS, AND THE PUBLIC. FIELD OBSERVATIONS HAVE SHOWN THAT RUNOFF FROM MANY ARCTIC RIVERS HAS INCREASED IN RECENT DECADES. SIMULTANEOUSLY, SEVERAL STUDIES HAVE DOCUMENTED ICE WEDGE DEGRADATION ACROSS THE ARCTIC, AND A HANDFUL OF LOCAL FIELD AND REMOTE SENSING STUDIES IN NORTHERN ALASKA HAVE SHOWN THAT THE CAPILLARY HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM IS EXPANDING DUE TO PARTIAL MELTING OF ICE WEDGES. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO MAP THE EXTENT OF THE CAPILLARY HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM ACROSS THE PAN-ARCTIC TUNDRA AND ASSESS THE ROLE OF THE CAPILLARY SYSTEM IN GENERATING WATER FLOW AND LATERAL CARBON FLUX TO LARGE RIVERS. GRAPH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO THE PAN-ARCTIC ICE-WEDGE POLYGON MAP, AS WELL AS DEEP LEARNING/AI ALGORITHMS TRAINED TO DETECT A CAPILLARY SYSTEM FROM VERY HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION SATELLITE IMAGERY, WILL ALLOW THE NETWORK OF ICE WEDGES AND THE CAPILLARY HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM TO BE MAPPED ACROSS THE ARCTIC TUNDRA. FIELD MEASUREMENTS IN NORTHERN AND NORTHWESTERN ALASKA WILL INCLUDE GEOCHEMICAL WATER SAMPLING, CORING OF PERMAFROST TO ASSESS ICE-WEDGE STATUS (DEGRADATION OR STABILIZATION), AND GROUND-TRUTHING FOR THE REMOTE SENSING HYDROLOGIC NETWORK ANALYSES. THIS NEW INFORMATION WILL INFORM A NUMERICAL HYDROLOGY MODEL TO QUANTIFY HOW IMPORTANT THE CAPILLARIES ARE IN CONTRIBUTING FRESHWATER AND CARBON FLOWS TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN. EARLIER HYDROLOGICAL MODEL EXPERIMENTS HAVE SHOWN THAT THE FORMATION OF CONNECTED TROUGHS-NETWORKS CAN DOUBLE THE RUNOFF FROM THE LANDSCAPE EVEN IF THE RAIN AND SNOWFALL AMOUNTS REMAIN UNCHANGED. THE PAN-ARCTIC MAP OF HYDROLOGICAL CAPILLARIES WILL SUPPORT A FIRST STUDY ON HOW IMPORTANT SUB-METER WIDE CHANNELS ARE TO LARGE ARCTIC RIVER RUNOFF. 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.

PROJECT ENTITLED "INTEGRATING EARTH SCIENCE ENTERPRISE RESULTS INTO PROJECTS AREAS DECISION SUPPORT

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DISRUPTED NITROGEN CYCLES IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON

ONE OF THE MAIN FIELDS OF WORK OF THE WOODS HOLE RESEARCH CENTER IS THE TERRESTRIAL CARBON BALANCE. THE GOAL OF THE RESEARCH IS TO REDUCE THE EXISTIN

THIS PROJECT WILL APPLY AN INNOVATIVE SATELLITE DATA DRIVEN TERRESTRIAL CARBON FLUX (TCF) MODEL FRAMEWORK SUPPORTED BY DETAILED BIOPHYSICAL PROCESS MEASUREMENTS IN CONJUNCTION WITH ATMOSPHERIC INVERSE MODELING TO IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF CARBON (CO2 AND CH4) DYNAMICS AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS ON NORTHERN ECOSYSTEM CARBON BUDGETS. AT PRESENT IT REMAINS HIGHLY UNCERTAIN IF LENGTHENING GROWING SEASONS AND INCREASES IN VEGETATION PRODUCTIVITY WILL OFFSET HEIGHTENED PLANT AND SOIL RESPIRATION OCCURRING WITH HIGH LATITUDE WARMING. ALSO UNCERTAIN IS THE IMPACT OF AUTUMN AND WINTER CO2 RELEASE AND WETLAND CH4 EMISSIONS ON ANNUAL CARBON BUDGETS. THIS STUDY WILL EXPLORE AND QUANTIFY LINKAGES BETWEEN CHANGING TERRESTRIAL CARBON FLUXES LANDSCAPE THERMAL AND MOISTURE CONDITIONS AND DISTURBANCE EVENTS OVER ARCTIC-BOREAL ECOSYSTEMS IN ALASKA AND NORTHWEST CANADA. THIS WILL BE MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH A SUITE OF OBSERVATIONS FROM TOWER EDDY COVARIANCE SITES NEW MEASUREMENTS OF WINTER SOIL CO2 RESPIRATION ATMOSPHERIC CO2 AND CH4 MEASUREMENTS FROM THE NASA CARBON IN THE ARCTIC RESERVOIRS VULNERABILITY EXPERIMENT (CARVE) SATELLITE OPTICAL-INFRARED AND MICROWAVE REMOTE SENSING RETRIEVALS AND IMPROVED RESOLUTION REANALYSIS PRODUCTS. THE TCF MODEL WILL BE ENHANCED FOR NORTHERN TUNDRA AND BOREAL REGIONS TO IMPROVE ECOSYSTEM RESPIRATION RESPONSE UNDER AUTUMN AND WINTER COLD TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS. THE ALGORITHM IMPROVEMENTS WILL BE INFORMED USING A NEW NASA ARCTIC BOREAL VULNERABILITY EXPERIMENT (ABOVE) NETWORK OF WINTER SOIL CO2 FLUX OBSERVATIONS. THE UPDATED TCF MODEL WILL BE USED TO GENERATE A 16-YR (2003-2018) BASELINE RECORD OF DAILY VEGETATION GROSS PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY (GPP) ECOSYSTEM RESPIRATION (RECO) NET ECOSYSTEM CO2 EXCHANGE (NEE) AND WETLAND CH4 EMISSIONS AT A 1-KM RESOLUTION. A SERIES OF ALTERNATIVE 500-M FLUX SIMULATIONS WILL ALSO BE PROVIDED USING 3-KM FIELDS FROM THE POLAR WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING (POLAR-WRF) MODEL AND IMPROVED RESOLUTION MICROWAVE SURFACE FREEZE/THAW SOIL MOISTURE AND INUNDATION RETRIEVALS. THE BOTTOM-UP 1-KM AND 500-M ECOSYSTEM CARBON FLUXES WILL BE USED AS PRIORS IN REGIONAL ATMOSPHERE MODEL INVERSIONS TO ASSESS TERRESTRIAL CARBON SOURCE AND SINK ACTIVITY ACROSS THE ABOVE DOMAIN. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED USING THE WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING-STOCHASTIC TIME-INVERTED LAGRANGIAN TRANSPORT (WRF-STILT) AND GEOSTATISTICAL INVERSE MODELING (GIM) FRAMEWORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH CO2 AND CH4 CONCENTRATION MEASUREMENTS OBTAINED FROM CARVE FLIGHTS AND TALL TOWERS. THE STILT/GIM ANALYSES WILL BE USED AS PROGNOSTIC AND CORRECTIVE TOOLS TO EVALUATE THE ABILITY OF MODEL FLUX MAPS TO REPRESENT SPATIAL PATTERNS OBSERVED IN REGIONAL ATMOSPHERIC CONCENTRATIONS. PRODUCTS RESULTING FROM THIS STUDY WILL INCLUDE A 16-YEAR RECORD OF CARBON FLUXES AND BUDGETS FOR THE NASA ABOVE DOMAIN AT A 1-KM RESOLUTION AND ALTERNATIVE 500-M RECORDS FOR ALASKA OVER THE 2013-2015 POLAR-WRF OBSERVATION PERIOD. TREND MAPS AND ANALYSIS OF UNDERLYING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS DRIVING SHIFTS IN CARBON FLUX PATTERNS AND BUDGETS WILL ALSO BE PROVIDED FOR ALASKA AND THE ABOVE DOMAIN. RESULTING DATA WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE FROM THE WOODS HOLE RESEARCH CENTER AND ARCHIVED AT THE OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LAB (ORNL) DISTRIBUTED ACTIVE ARCHIVE CENTER IN ACCORDANCE WITH NASA GUIDELINES. THIS STUDY TARGETS THE CARBON CYCLE AND ECOSYSTEM FOCUS AREA IN THIS SOLICITATION BY IMPROVING UNDERSTANDING OF CARBON BUDGETS CARBON CYCLE PROCESSES AND ECOSYSTEM VULNERABILITY TO CHANGING WATER AND ENERGY CYCLES OCCURRING IN ARCTIC-BOREAL SYSTEMS. THIS STUDY WILL CONTRIBUTE TO MODEL BENCHMARKING ACTIVITIES THAT INFORM SCIENCE RESEARCH NEEDS FOR NASA INCLUDING THE ABOVE SOIL MOISTURE ACTIVE PASSIVE (SMAP) AND SURFACE WATER&OCEAN TOPOGRAPHY (SWOT) MISSIONS.

A PROPOSAL FOR LBA ECO PROJECT SCIENTIST 2008-2009I HAVE BEEN AN LBA-ECO PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR FOR

OVER THE LAST TWO DECADES, GROWING GLOBAL DEMAND FOR BEEF AND COMMODITY CROPS HAS INCREASED PRESSURE ON BRAZIL S NATIVE ECOSYSTEMS, PARTICULARLY THE

WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF VEGETATION DYNAMICS ACROSS THE ABOVE STUDY DOMAIN BUILDING UPON OUR EXTENSIVE PRIOR WORK DOCUMENTING CHANGES IN ARCTIC AND BOREAL VEGETATION PRODUCTIVITY OVER THE PAST THREE DECADES USING MODERATE AND COARSE RESOLUTION SATELLITE DATA AND RELATED FIELD MEASUREMENTS. WE WILL EXPAND PAST ACTIVITIES WITH THE MOST RECENT SATELLITE DATA SETS AS WELL AS NEWER HIGHER RESOLUTION SATELLITE DATA PRODUCTS AND EXISTING AIRCRAFT LIDAR AND HYPERSPECTRAL DATA (IN ANTICIPATION OF FUTURE AIRCRAFT CAMPAIGNS FOR ABOVE). THESE ANALYSES WILL BE COUPLED WITH EXTENSIVE FIELD MEASUREMENTS AND SPECIES-SPECIFIC MODELING TO CAPTURE AREAS OF DOCUMENTED BOREAL BIOME TREE MORTALITY AND TUNDRA VEGETATION CHANGES ACROSS REGIONAL CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL GRADIENTS. OUR INVESTIGATIONS WILL BE IN THE CONTEXT OF EXPLORING MULTIPLE LINES OF EVIDENCE FOR THE PROGRESSION OF AN ARCTIC BOREAL BIOME SHIFT WHERE TREE PRODUCTIVITY DECREASES AND MORTALITY INCREASES IN THE SOUTHERN BOREAL WHILE SUITABILITY FOR RANGE EXPANSION AND DENSIFICATION OF WOODY VEGETATION (E.G. SHRUBS) INCREASES IN THE NORTHERN BOREAL AND ARCTIC TUNDRA. THE INVESTIGATIVE TEAM HAS WORKED EXTENSIVELY ON THESE TOPICS AND CAN LEVERAGE EXISTING RESOURCES FOCUSING ON ASPECTS OF BOREAL FOREST DYNAMICS THAT MAKE THEM PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TO PRODUCTIVITY DECLINES AND TREE MORTALITY MAPPING THOSE WITH MULTI-SCALE SATELLITE IMAGERY AND MODELING THESE PROCESSES USING GAP AND FOREST DEMOGRAPHY MODELS WITH A LONG HISTORY OF WELL-DEVELOPED CAPABILITIES. WE WILL ALSO CONDUCT MORE DETAILED REGIONAL ANALYSES FOCUSED ON FAUNAL HABITAT CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH VEGETATION COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE CHANGES IN BOTH BIOMES WITH A FOCUS ON AREAS OF INTERIOR ALASKA AND WESTERN CANADA (BOREAL BIOME) AND THE SEWARD PENINSULA AND NORTH SLOPE OF ALASKA AND NORTHWESTERN CANADA (TUNDRA BIOME). THESE REGIONS INCLUDE THE WINTER RANGE OF THE DECLINING WESTERN ARCTIC CARIBOU HERD AS WELL AS THE FORTY MILE CARIBOU HERD HISTORICAL RANGE EXTENDING FROM THE YUKON RIVER NORTH OF FAIRBANKS TO NEAR WHITEHORSE. THUS THE PROPOSED ACTIVITY FOCUSES ON SOME OF THE LARGEST ISSUES OF CONCERN TO MANAGEMENT AGENCIES IN THE REGION. A SUBSTANTIAL CONTINGENT OF THE TEAM HAS UNIQUE INSIGHTS INTO THESE LAND AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT ISSUES AS WELL AS THE FINE SCALE HETEROGENEITY OF VEGETATION PATTERN AND PROCESS THAT PROVIDES A SOLID BASIS FOR CALIBRATION AND VALIDATION OF MAPS DERIVED FROM SATELLITE IMAGERY AND THUS THE MEANS TO SCALE FROM FIELD SITE TO LANDSCAPES. OTHER MEMBERS OF OUR INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM HAVE CONSIDERABLE COMPLEMENTARY EXPERTISE IN REMOTE SENSING AND IN SITU VEGETATION MENSURATION FOR MAPPING AND MONITORING VEGETATION DYNAMICS FOREST DEMOGRAPHY PROCESS MODELING AND OTHER RELEVANT EXPERIENCE IN ARCTIC AND BOREAL LANDSCAPES. THE PI IS ALSO APPLYING TO BE SCIENCE TEAM LEAD. OUR PROPOSED ACTIVITY ADDRESSES THE TIER 2 SCIENCE OBJECTIVE FOR ABOVE FOCUSED ON ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS SPECIFICALLY Q5. DETERMINE THE CAUSES OF GREENING AND BROWNING TRENDS AND THEIR IMPACTS ON ECOSYSTEM FORM AND FUNCTION. IT ALSO HAS DIRECT RELEVANCE TO Q7. DETERMINE HOW THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DYNAMICS IN BOTH FAUNAL ABUNDANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF FISH AND WILDLIFE HABITAT CO-VARY ACROSS GRADIENTS OF CLIMATE AND DISTURBANCE. THE PROPOSED ACTIVITY WILL ALSO ESTABLISH A FIRM BASIS FOR ADDRESSING THE OVERARCHING ABOVE PHASE 2 OBJECTIVE FOCUSED ON ECOSYSTEM SERVICES SPECIFICALLY Q4. ANALYZE HOW CHANGES TO NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES WILL IMPACT LOCAL COMMUNITIES AS WELL AS INFLUENCE LAND MANAGEMENT POLICIES AND PRACTICES AND Q6. DETERMINE THE DEGREE TO WHICH CHANGING ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERED HUMAN ACTIVITIES RESULT IN SYNERGISTIC OR ANTAGONISTIC CHANGES IN ECOSYSTEM SERVICES. FINALLY THE ACTIVITY WILL ADDRESS SEVERAL OF THE ABOVE SCIENCE QUESTIONS PARTICULARLY 3.1 HOW ARE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES AFFECTING CRITICAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES.. AND 3.5 HOW ARE FLORA AND FAUNA RESPONDING TO CHANGES..?

OPUS MCS: DEVELOPING A MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF METHANE PRODUCTION FROM SMALL AGRICULTURAL RESERVOIRS IN THE AMAZON-CERRADO FRONTIER

USING MODEL ANALYSES AND SURFACE-ATMOSHERE EXCHANGE MEASUREMENTS FROM THE HOWLAND AMERIFLUX SUPERSITE IN MAINE USA TO IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF FOR

PURPOSE:THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO IDENTIFY, PURCHASE, AND INCORPORATE TWO NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART INSTRUMENTS TO ENABLE RAPID ANALYSIS OF WATER SAMPLES COLLECTED BY COMMUNITY SCIENTIST. THIS SCIENCE ON THE FLY PROGRAM SERVES AN IMPORTANT ROLE OF TRACKING WATER CHEMISTRY TO GAIN INSIGHTS ON HOW CLIMATE CHANGE, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, AND OTHER DISTURBANCES IMPACT THE RIVER ECOSYSTEMS ACROSS THE NATION.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED:THE RESEARCHERS WILL 1) REVIEW INSTRUMENTATION NEEDS ALONGSIDE A MARKET ANALYSIS, 2) PROCURE INSTRUMENTATION OPTIMIZED FOR RAPID WATER NUTRIENT ANALYSES SPANNING APPROPRIATE CONCENTRATION RANGES AND ANALYTICAL SPEED, 3) DEVELOP MEASUREMENT METHODOLOGIES USING THE NEW INSTRUMENTATION AND COMPARE RESULTS WITH CURRENT MEASUREMENTS TO ENSURE COMPARABILITY.EXPECTED OUTCOMES:NEW MODERN STATE-OF-THE-ART INSTRUMENTATION WILL EXPAND SCIENCE ON THE FLY'S CAPACITY TO KEEP PACE WITH THE INCREASING NEED TO MONITOR WATER QUALITY AS WELL AS ADDRESS SAMPLE BACKLOGS CAUSED BY AGING INSTRUMENTATION. THE NEW CAPABILITIES WILL ENABLE MAKE CRITICAL DATA PUBLICLY AVAILABLE TO INFORM POLICY DECISIONS AND MAINTAIN HEALTHY WATERSHEDS ACROSS THE NATION.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES:THE PUBLIC, COMMUNITY SCIENTISTS, AND WOODWELL CLIMATE RESEARCH CENTER WILL BENEFIT FROM IMPROVED ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTATION THAT WILL REDUCE SPEED AND ANALYSIS COSTS AND ELIMINATE SAMPLE ANALYSES BACKLOGS. THE LARGE-SCALE DATA COLLECTION PROJECT WILL HELP ENSURE THE HEALTH OF WATERWAYS ACROSS THE NATION.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: NONE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SHIFTING SEASONALITY OF NORTHERN FOREST RESPONSE TO ARCTIC ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

THE CARBON BALANCE OF ARCTIC RIVER DELTAS: TUNDRA FIRE AS AN AGENT OF SYSTEM CHANGE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH:SITS: INTEGRATING NOVEL GREENHOUSE GAS SENSOR TECHNOLOGY WITH MECHANISTIC MODELING TO IMPROVE PROJECTIONS OF ARCTIC SOIL RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND FIRE

DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION OF TROPICAL VEGETATION ACCOUNT FOR 6 -17% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL CO2 EMISSIONS TO THE ATMOSPHERE (VAN DER WERF ET AL.

THIS WORK WILL EXTEND AN IMPORTANT DATA RECORD (SOIL RESPIRATION) FOR THE ABOVE PROJECT FOR AN ADDITIONAL THREE YEARS AT TEN RESEARCH SITES AND THEREFORE HELP ABOVE ACHIEVE ITS OBJECTIVE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE CARBON CYCLE OF BOREAL AND ARCTIC REGIONS OF NORTH AMERICA. THESE MEASUREMENTS WILL HELP US REDUCE THE UNCERTAINTY AND INCREASE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE CARBON DYNAMICS OF SOIL DURING THE SHOULDER SEASONS THAT ARE THE TRANSITION BETWEEN THE NON-GROWING SEASON AND THE GROWING SEASON. THIS IS CRITICAL TO UNDERSTANDING THE OVERALL CARBON BALANCE.

OPUS: MCS - DEVELOPING A MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF DECOMPOSITION OF ORGANIC MATTER IN FROZEN SOIL

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INCREASING WILDFIRES AND THE LOSS OF LEGACY CARBON FROM BOREAL AND TUNDRA ECOSYSTEMS

BELMONT FORUM-G8 INITIATIVE COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: XINGU - INTEGRATING LAND USE PLANNING AND WATER GOVERNANCE IN AMAZONIA

SCC-PG: CONNECTING COMMUNITIES WITH REAL-TIME DATA COLLECTION AND DOWNSCALED CLIMATE RISK MODELS TO IMPROVE WATER QUALITY AND SUSTAIN SALT MARSHES IN THE BUZZARDS BAY WATERSHED

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INFLUENCES OF AMPLIFIED ARCTIC WARMING ON EXTREME WEATHER IN MIDLATITUDES

RAPID: IMMEDIATE POST-FIRE CARBON BALANCE OF BOREAL PEAT-WETLAND MOSAICS -DUE TO CLIMATE WARMING, PERENNIALLY FROZEN SOIL, OR PERMAFROST, IS THAWING IN TUNDRA AND BOREAL ENVIRONMENTS. FIRES ARE ALSO BECOMING MORE FREQUENT AND INTENSE IN A WARMER WORLD, AFFECTING HOW THESE LANDSCAPES EXCHANGE GREENHOUSE GASSES WITH THE ATMOSPHERE. WHILE PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED AFTER FIRE, THIS STUDY WILL PROVIDE AN UNDERSTANDING OF ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION, BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER FIRE AT THE SAME SITE. THE STUDY WILL TAKE PLACE AT A GREENHOUSE GAS MEASURING SITE IN A BOREAL FOREST PEATLAND UNDERLAIN BY PERMAFROST AND ADJACENT WETLANDS IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CANADA, THAT BURNED IN OCTOBER 2022. THE SITE HAS A 9- YEAR DATA RECORD OF CARBON DIOXIDE, METHANE, AND WATER EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE LAND AND THE ATMOSPHERE. THE STUDY WILL INVOLVE A CLOSE WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ?????DL???? K???? FIRST NATION, WHO RUN THE RESEARCH SITE. THE CO-IMPACTS OF PERMAFROST THAW AND FIRE IN BOREAL ECOSYSTEMS IS POORLY UNDERSTOOD. WITH FIRES BECOMING MORE COMMON AND SEVERE IN HIGH-LATITUDE ECOSYSTEMS, UNDERSTANDING THE JOINT RESPONSE OF FIRE AND PERMAFROST THAW IS VITAL TO UNDERSTANDING THE LAND-ATMOSPHERE EXCHANGE OF CARBON. A CARBON FLUX MONITORING SITE IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CANADA, WAS BURNED IN OCTOBER 2022, PRESENTING A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY PRE- AND POST-FIRE FLUXES OVER THE SAME LANDSCAPE. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL REBUILD THE CARBON FLUX MONITORING TOWER TO MEASURE THE LAND-ATMOSPHERE EXCHANGE OF CARBON DIOXIDE AND METHANE, AND A SUITE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENTS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT DRIVES FLUXES BEFORE AND AFTER FIRE. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL COLLABORATE WITH THE ?????DL???? K???? FIRST NATION, WHO RUN THE RESEARCH SITE, AND THE COLLABORATION WILL FOSTER A STRONG KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE SCIENTISTS AND THE FIRST NATIONS PEOPLES. 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.

BELMONT FORUM-G8 INITIATIVE COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: XINGU - INTEGRATING LAND USE PLANNING AND WATER GOVERNANCE IN AMAZONIA

QUANTIFYING THE DYNAMIC CHANGES IN SURFACE WATER EXTENT REMAINS A GLOBAL CHALLENGE. CHANGES IN THE SPATIAL EXTENT SEASONAL TIMING AND PERSISTENCE OF SURFACE INUNDATION CAN GREATLY IMPACT CARBON CYCLING IN TERRESTRIAL AND AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS. SEASONAL FLUCTUATIONS OF WATER OVER ORGANIC-RICH SOILS AND SEDIMENTS ESPECIALLY IN RAPIDLY WARMING ARCTIC-BOREAL ENVIRONMENTS CAN RESULT IN HIGH EMISSIONS OF CH4 A POTENT GREENHOUSE GAS. MANY EFFORTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO DEVELOP GLOBAL-TO-REGIONAL MAPS OF SURFACE INUNDATION. HOWEVER IMPORTANT CHANGES IN LANDSCAPE INUNDATION ARE OCCURRING AT MUCH FINER SPATIAL RESOLUTIONS (<1 TO 3 M) THAT ARE NOT CAPTURED BY EXISTING INUNDATION PRODUCTS. THE PLAN FOR THIS STUDY WILL: 1) FURTHER REFINE AND EVALUATE WATER DETECTION ALGORITHMS THAT CAPITALIZE ON THE FINE (3-M) RESOLUTION AND DAILY TO WEEKLY REVISIT FREQUENCY PROVIDED BY PLANETSCOPE IMAGERY (PLANET LABS) USE THESE ALGORITHMS TO CREATE NEW MULTI-YEAR MAPS (2018-2021) OF WATER COVERAGE FOR TWO TUNDRA AND BOREAL REGIONS IN ALASKA 2) IDENTIFY SEASONAL CHANGES IN FRACTIONAL WATER (FW) COVERAGE ON A PER-PIXEL BASIS IDENTIFY PIXELS HAVING TEMPORAL STABILITY IN WATER COVERAGE AND PIXELS HAVING DYNAMIC SEASONAL WETTING AND DRYING 3) USE THE NEW WATER MAPS TO IMPROVE REGIONAL CH4 EMISSION MAPPING AND IDENTIFY LOCATIONS OF CH4 EMISSION HOTSPOTS USING INFORMATION FROM REMOTE SENSING AND IN SITU OBSERVATIONS.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: LINKING PERMAFROST SOIL INUNDATION TO CARBON AND MERCURY UPTAKE IN AQUATIC FOOD WEBS OF THE ARCTIC -THE ELEMENT MERCURY IS A COMMON GLOBAL CONTAMINANT RELEASED FROM HUMAN ACTIVITIES THAT IMPACT BOTH ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN HEALTH WORLDWIDE. ONE FORM OF MERCURY, METHYLMERCURY, IS PRODUCED BY MICROORGANISMS IN A PROCESS CALLED MERCURY METHYLATION AND CAN ACCUMULATE TO TOXIC LEVELS IN AQUATIC ORGANISMS ACROSS THE FOOD WEB. PERMAFROST SOILS OF THE ARCTIC CONTAIN LARGE STORES OF ANCIENT MERCURY THAT ARE ALSO BEING RELEASED TO FRESHWATER AND COASTAL MARINE ENVIRONMENTS FROM THAWING SOILS DUE TO A WARMING ARCTIC. WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN RURAL COMMUNITIES IN THE ARCTIC THAT RELY ON SUBSISTENCE FISHING ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO THE TOXIC EFFECTS OF MERCURY. THE CENTRAL QUESTIONS SURROUNDING MERCURY IN THE ARCTIC ARE THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF ANCIENT MERCURY RELEASED FROM THAWING PERMAFROST SOILS VERSUS NEWER MERCURY FROM THE ATMOSPHERE, AND HOW RAPIDLY CHANGING CONDITIONS IN ARCTIC LANDSCAPES WILL AFFECT THE TRANSFORMATIONS AND FOOD WEB UPTAKE OF THESE DIFFERENT SOURCES OF MERCURY. TO ADDRESS THESE QUESTIONS, THIS STUDY WILL USE MULTIPLE APPROACHES TO TRACK THE RELEASES, TRANSFORMATIONS, AND UPTAKE OF BOTH CARBON AND MERCURY FROM PERMAFROST SOILS TO AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS AND SUBSEQUENTLY TO RESIDENT FISH. THE PROJECT FURTHER AIMS TO DEVELOP A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO MODEL THE POTENTIAL FOR IMPORTANT MERCURY TRANSFORMATIONS IN LAKES AND PONDS WITH UNDERLYING PERMAFROST SOILS. THROUGH DIALOGUE WITH RURAL COMMUNITIES IN ARCTIC ALASKA, WE WILL SHARE WHAT WE LEARN WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE HEAVILY IMPACTED BY MERCURY POLLUTION. WE WILL ALSO HELP TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS WORKING ON THESE PROBLEMS. THE STUDY WILL BE CARRIED OUT USING A SERIES OF EXPANDING THERMOKARST LAKES AND RECENTLY FORMED BEAVER PONDS IN U.S. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE LANDS IN NORTHWEST ALASKA. FIRST, FIELD STUDIES WILL TARGET THE MICROBIAL METHYLATION OF PERMAFROST MERCURY AND ITS DEPENDENCE ON PERMAFROST CARBON USING METAGENOMICS, FIELD EXPERIMENTATION, AND MEASUREMENTS OF CARBON RESPIRATION PATHWAYS. NEXT, THE UPTAKE OF PERMAFROST CARBON AND MERCURY IN AQUATIC FOOD WEBS WILL BE QUANTIFIED USING A COMBINATION OF RADIO AND STABLE ISOTOPES (CARBON, MERCURY, NITROGEN, AND SULFUR) AND ISOTOPE MIXING ANALYSES. ISOTOPE MIXING MODELS AIM TO DIFFERENTIATE ANCIENT VERSUS CONTEMPORARY MERCURY AND CARBON IN ARCTIC FOOD WEBS. THE GOAL IS TO ESTABLISH A PROCESS-LEVEL UNDERSTANDING OF THE MOBILIZATION, MICROBIAL TRANSFORMATION, AND BIOTIC UPTAKE OF CARBON AND MERCURY FROM PERMAFROST SOILS TO AQUATIC FOOD WEBS. LASTLY, FIELD OBSERVATIONS WILL INFORM MODELING EFFORTS OF LAKES AND PONDS TO ESTABLISH LINKAGES BETWEEN THERMAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL REGIMES OF WATER BODIES AND MERCURY METHYLATION. THIS COMBINATION OF PROCESS-LEVEL SCIENCE AND PREDICTIVE MODEL DEVELOPMENT WILL PROVIDE THE NECESSARY INFORMATION TO UNDERSTAND MERCURY CYCLING IN ARCTIC SYSTEMS UNDER PRESENT AND FUTURE CONDITIONS. THE RESEARCH FINDINGS WILL BE COMMUNICATED TO RURAL COMMUNITIES IN ARCTIC ALASKA THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN SUBSISTENCE RESOURCE COUNCIL MEETINGS, TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC THROUGH PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS AND MEDIA IN COLLABORATION WITH A SCIENCE COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST AT THE U.S. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, AND TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY THROUGH CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS AND PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES. UNDERGRADUATE, GRADUATE, AND POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS WILL CROSS-TRAIN WITH COLLABORATORS ACROSS INSTITUTIONS AND PARTICIPATE IN OUTREACH ACTIVITIES, TO DEVELOP A DIVERSE AND GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE STEM WORKFORCE TO ADDRESS FUTURE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES BEYOND THIS PROJECT. 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.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INFLUENCE OF LAND USE ON WATERSHED HYDROLOGY AND BIOGEOCHEMISTRY AT THE AMAZON AGRICULTURAL FRONTIER

IMPROVING ANALYTICAL CAPABILITIES AT THE NORTHEAST SCIENCE STATION, CHERSKIY, SIBERIA

MSB-ECA: TROPICAL BIOMES: HOW AGRICULTURE INTENSIFICATION AND CLIMATE MAY ALTER FIRE REGIMES

HIGH SPATIOTEMPORAL MAPPING OF SURFACE WATER AND WET LANDS WITHIN THE ALASKA YUKON-KUSKOKWIM DELTA FOR WILDLIFE .CARBON MONITORING AND COMMUNITY VULNERABILITY APPLICATIONS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: IS THE EXPORT OF ANCIENT, LABILE CARBON FROM GLACIAL ECOSYSTEMS DRIVEN BY THE DEPOSITION OF FOSSIL FUEL COMBUSTION BYPRODUCTS

PLANNING: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMING ARCTIC SCIENCE PROGRAMS -THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS ONE-YEAR PLANNING PROPOSAL IS TO UNDERSTAND HOW STUDENTS FROM RURAL ARCTIC COMMUNITIES CAN DISCOVER, ENGAGE WITH, AND REMAIN INVOLVED IN, POLAR SCIENCE AND POLAR EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL COLLABORATE WITH TWO ARCTIC SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATH (STEM) PROGRAMS TO GATHER AND CO-CREATE KNOWLEDGE AND INSIGHTS OBTAINED FROM A COLLABORATIVE NETWORK OF FIELD EDUCATORS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND ARCTIC SCIENTISTS. WITH COLLABORATORS FROM MULTIPLE PROGRAMS, THEY AIM TO DEVELOP FRAMEWORKS FOR EFFECTIVE ARCTIC STEM FIELD EXPERIENCES. THIS EFFORT IS FOCUSED ON ACHIEVING A COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHALLENGES RELATED TO RECRUITING AND RETAINING STUDENTS FROM HISTORICALLY EXCLUDED GROUPS (HEGS) IN ARCTIC STEM, AND IT AIMS TO PROPOSE KEY BEST PRACTICES TO ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES. THE PROPOSED PROJECT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT ARCTIC STEM PROGRAMS AND INCREASE THE PARTICIPATION OF STUDENTS FROM RURAL COMMUNITIES IN THESE PROGRAMS. THE PROJECT GOAL IS TO FOSTER A COMMUNITY-OF-PRACTICE THAT WILL MAKE ARCTIC UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAMS MORE ENGAGING AND ACCESSIBLE TO A DIVERSE RANGE OF PARTICIPANTS. THE EFFORT WILL FOCUS ON UNDERSTANDING HOW TO BETTER SERVE THE NEEDS OF STUDENTS FROM ALASKA NATIVE AND OTHER ARCTIC COMMUNITIES. THE PROPOSED WORK ACKNOWLEDGES THE INTERSECTIONALITY AND COMPLEXITY OF INDIGENOUS EXPERIENCES AND KNOWLEDGE, CONTRIBUTING TO A NUANCED UNDERSTANDING OF ARCTIC CHALLENGES. BY ENGAGING WITH INDIGENOUS EPISTEMOLOGIES, IT EXPANDS THE BOUNDARIES OF KNOWLEDGE CREATION IN ARCTIC RESEARCH AND POLICY, AND CHALLENGES TRADITIONAL RESEARCH PARADIGMS. EMPHASIZING THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS, THIS WORK FOSTERS A MORE HOLISTIC AND INTEGRATED APPROACH TO INTELLECTUAL INQUIRY WITHIN ARCTIC STEM, ENRICHING THE FIELD?S INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATION AND ADVANCING ITS CAPACITY FOR INNOVATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING. THIS APPROACH IS AN IMPORTANT STEP TO SUPPORT THE EVOLUTION OF ARCTIC STEM EDUCATION PROGRAMS. THIS EFFORT ALSO SUPPORTS THE GOALS OF THE INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RESEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE (IARPC) EDUCATION TEAM, WHICH IS WORKING TO INCREASE PARTICIPATION OF ALASKA NATIVE YOUTH IN FEDERALLY-FUNDED STEM PROGRAMS IN THE ARCTIC AND UNDERSTAND WHAT INNOVATIONS ARE NECESSARY TO BETTER ENGAGE STUDENTS FROM ARCTIC COMMUNITIES. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

: SILVACARBON RADAR TRAINING PROJECT

SILVACARBON NEPAL LIDAR - WOODS HOLE

R.A. HOUGHTON IS PROPOSING TO BE A MEMBER OF THE SCIENCE DEFINITION TEAM (SDT) FOR A CARBON MONITORING SYSTEM (CMS). HE WOULD PARTICIPATE IN DEVELOPM

CIVIC-PG TRACK A: BUILDING RESILIENT ARCTIC COMMUNITIES TO PERMAFROST THAW HAZARDS -WARMING ARCTIC TEMPERATURES ARE CAUSING PERMAFROST REGIONS OF THE FAR NORTH LATITUDES TO THAW FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MILLENNIA. PERMAFROST CONSISTS OF FROZEN SEDIMENTS THAT, WHEN TEMPERATURES RISE LIKE THEY ARE NOW, CAUSES THE ICE INSIDE THEM TO MELT. ICE-LIKE MINERALS, CALLED CLATHRATES, THAT ABOUND IN PERMAFROST, ALSO DECOMPOSE AND RELEASE ADDITIONAL WATER AND METHANE. THE COMBINATION OF LIQUEFACTION OF THE SEDIMENT AND CORRESPONDING DECREASE IN SEDIMENT VOLUME CAUSES DEFLATION RESULTING IN GROUND INSTABILITY AND SUBSIDENCE OR COLLAPSE OF THE LAND SURFACE. AT PRESENT, MOST COMMUNITIES ACROSS ALASKA DO NOT HAVE GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF PERMAFROST OR A COMPREHENSIVE AND CONSISTENT APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING PERMAFROST AND ITS IMPACT ON INFRASTRUCTURE AND HOW TO POTENTIALLY MITIGATE ITS EFFECTS, ESPECIALLY COMMUNITIES IN RURAL AREAS WITH SMALL NUMBERS OF PEOPLE; THOSE THAT ARE UNINCORPORATED WITH LIMITED LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESOURCES; AND THOSE WITHOUT ADEQUATE ACCESS TO OR KNOWLEDGE OF DATA RESOURCES THAT WOULD ALLOW THEM TO IDENTIFY LOCATIONS OF VULNERABILITY TO PERMAFROST COLLAPSE OR DETERMINE THE BEST WAYS TO AVOID OR ADDRESS IT. IN SOME CASES, PERMAFROST DECOMPOSITION HAS LED TO THE CLOSURE OF ROADS, AIRFIELDS, HOSPITALS, AND OTHER ESSENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENTS, REQUIRING RELOCATION AND/OR COSTLY REPAIRS. FOR THESE COMMUNITIES, DETAILED AND UP-TO-DATE MAP PRODUCTS AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION ON PERMAFROST AREAS AND THE IMPACTS OF ITS DECOMPOSITION IN A WARMING ARCTIC ARE ESSENTIAL IN EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND LONG-TERM PLANNING FOR ANY COMMUNITY. THIS CIVIC INNOVATION CHALLENGE (CIVIC) PLANNING PROCESS BRINGS SCIENTISTS AND ARCTIC INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND THEIR REPRESENTING ORGANIZATIONS AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES TOGETHER TO CO-DESIGN AN ALASKAN HAZARD MAP THAT CAN BE USED TO IDENTIFY PERMAFROST AREAS THAT CAN PUT COMMUNITIES IN PERIL AND CAN IDENTIFY SAFE LOCATIONS FOR THE RELOCATION OF STRUCTURES AND PERMAFROST COMPROMISED BUILDINGS AND INSTALLATIONS. SUCH A MAP WOULD PROVIDE A MUCH NEEDED HIGH-RESOLUTION TOOL TO HELP IMPROVE ALASKAN COMMUNITY RESILIENCE AND INFORM THEIR PLANNING AND POSSIBLE RELOCATION OF PEOPLE AND INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE FUTURE IN A RAPIDLY WARMING ARCTIC. ONE PROJECT GOAL IS TO CO-DESIGN A MAP AND APPLICATION THAT COULD BE USED BY ANYONE, REGARDLESS OF THE USER?S TECHNICAL OR FINANCIAL RESOURCES. THE PLANNING PROCESS WILL DEVELOP THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR A FOLLOW-IN IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT THAT WOULD PROVIDE GUIDANCE AND INFORMATION FOR ANY COMMUNITY IN ALASKA. THE FINAL PRODUCT WOULD INCLUDE INFORMATION ON WHAT DATA PEOPLE SHOULD TO LOOK FOR AND LOOK AT, WHERE TO FIND IT, AND HOW TO INTERACT WITH; USE; AND APPLY THAT DATA FOR PERMAFROST THAW HAZARD ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING. THE PLANNING PROJECT WILL BUILD UPON THE EXISTING PERMAFROST DISCOVERY GATEWAY IMAGERY PLATFORM THAT IS HOSTED BY THE ARCTIC RESEARCH CONSORTIUM OF THE UNITED STATES. THIS IS A FREE ONLINE RESOURCE THAT AIMS TO ENABLE BIG GEOSPATIAL DATA CREATION AND KNOWLEDGE-GENERATION. INTERVIEWS WITH PROJECT PARTICIPANTS AND CO-DESIGN OF THE APPLICATION WILL HELP SUPPORT COMMUNITY DISCOVERY OF FINE RESOLUTION MAPS OF GROUND SUBSIDENCE RATES OBTAINED FROM SATELLITE IMAGERY ANALYSES. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL ALSO EXPLORE NEW AI TOOLS THAT COULD SUPPORT COMMUNITIES. BROADER IMPACTS OF THE PROJECT INCLUDE DEVELOPMENT OF A TOOL TO HELP ALASKANS DISCOVER AREAS AT HIGH RISK AND VULNERABILITY TO PERMAFROST DECOMPOSITION DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE, AND IMPROVE COMMUNITY RESILIENCE; PLANNING; PROTECTION; AND RELOCATION OF ASSETS AND HOMES TO AREAS FREE OF PERMAFROST. THE GOAL OF THIS CIVIC INNOVATION CHALLENGE (CIVIC) PLANNING PERIOD IS TO BRING TOGETHER KEY STAKEHOLDERS FROM ACROSS ALASKA AND FROM THE ARCTIC SCIENCE COMMUNITY TO CO-DESIGN THE ELEMENTS, APPLICATIONS, THE USER INTERFACE, AND VISUALIZATIONS OF A METER-SCALE, HIGH-RESOLUTION, ONLINE, PERMAFROST MAP, AND A CONCEPTUALIZATION FRAMEWORK AND GUIDANCE DOCUMENT FOR ALASKA AND ITS PERMAFROST IMPACTED AREAS FOR A PROJECT THAT WOULD BE DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED IN A FOLLOW-ON CIVIC PROPOSAL. THIS PLANNING PROCESS WILL RESULT IN ALASKAN COMMUNITY ACCESS TO HIGH-RESOLUTION, REMOTE SENSING AND GEOSPATIAL IMAGES AND INFORMATION ON PERMAFROST LOCATIONS AND WHERE SAFE LOCATIONS ARE FOR NEW INFRASTRUCTURE OR THE RELOCATION OF THAT WHICH IS ALREADY OR SOON TO BE COMPROMISED BY PERMAFROST DECOMPOSITION. THE ONLINE APPLICATION WILL COMBINE GROUND SUBSIDENCE DATA GLEANED FROM SATELLITE INTERFEROMETRIC SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR (INSAR) IMAGES. ALGORITHMS WILL BE CREATED AND IMPLEMENTED TO OPTIMIZE BIG DATA CREATION OF WORKFLOWS DEVELOPED BY PERMAFROST DISCOVERY GATEWAY SCIENCE MEMBERS. THIS ENABLES COMMUNITIES OR RESEARCHERS WITH LIMITED TECHNICAL EXPERTISE OR RESOURCES TO WORK WITH BIG GEOSPATIAL DATA. PARTNERS IN DESIGN OF THE ENVISIONED APPLICATION INCLUDE MEMBERS OF THE PERMAFROST DISCOVERY GATEWAY; THE ALASKA COASTAL COOPERATIVE; THE PERMAFROST PATHWAYS ORGANIZATION WHICH WAS STARTED WITH PRIVATE FUNDING AND INCLUDES EXPERTS IN CLIMATE SCIENCE, POLICY ACTION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE; THE RADAR REMOTE SENSING GROUP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS; AND THE COASTAL VILLAGES REGION FUND WHICH REPRESENTS 20 ALASKAN COMMUNITIES ALONG THE BERING SEA COASTLINE. THIS PLANNING PROCESS IS DESIGNED TO IMPROVE THE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW COMMUNITY-BASED EFFORTS CAN BE DESIGNED TO PROVIDE IMPROVED NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND WILL FOSTER AND STRENGTHEN COLLABORATION BETWEEN RESEARCHERS AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS, DEVELOP NEW COLLABORATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS, REFINE THE RESEARCH VISION TO ENABLE SUBMISSION OF A SUCCESSFUL FOLLOW-ON PROPOSAL THAT WILL IMPLEMENT THE COMMUNITY VISION, AND PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ADDRESS RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND DEVELOP EVALUATION METHODS AND MEASURES FOR THE FOLLOW-ON PROJECT. THIS PROJECT IS IN RESPONSE TO THE CIVIC INNOVATION CHALLENGE PROGRAM?S TRACK A. CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL INSTABILITY - BUILDING RESILIENT COMMUNITIES THROUGH CO-DESIGN, ADAPTION, AND MITIGATION AND IS A COLLABORATION BETWEEN NSF, THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, AND THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY. IT WAS FUNDED BY THE NSF DIRECTORATE FOR GEOSCIENCES. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

WITH THE SUCCESSFUL INCLUSION OF REDD+ IN THE UNFCCC AGREEMENT OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES 16 IN CANCUN, ACCURATE AND SCIENTIFICALLY DEFENDABLE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: EFFECTS OF TROPICAL WATERSHED DEFORESTATION ON MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION AND SERVICES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: NEW ANALYSES OF 50-YEAR NET ECOSYSTEM PRODUCTIVITY AND CARBON ACCRETION IN SECONDARY FORESTS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PLANNING: ARCTIC T-SLIP: TSUNAMIGENIC SLOPE INSTABILITIES PARTNERSHIP -RETREATING GLACIERS AND WARMING PERMAFROST IN MOUNTAINOUS COASTAL AREAS INCREASES THE LIKELIHOOD OF LANDSLIDES AND, AS A RESULT, LANDSLIDE-GENERATED TSUNAMIS. THESE POTENTIAL LANDSLIDES AND TSUNAMIS BECOME A HAZARD IF THEY RISK IMPACTING AREAS WHERE PEOPLE GATHER FOR A VARIETY OF CULTURAL, RECREATIONAL, OR ECONOMIC PURPOSES. A NUMBER OF COASTAL TOWNS AND COMMUNITIES IN ALASKA ARE AT RISK, WHILE BOTH SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING AND PREPAREDNESS OPTIONS ARE STILL IN THEIR EARLY STAGES. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SUPPORT INITIAL PLANNING CONVERSATIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE AFFECTED BY THE HAZARD, EMERGENCY RESPONSE MANAGERS, AND SCIENTISTS WHO STUDY THESE HAZARDS ACROSS THE ARCTIC. ANY SUCCESSFUL PLANNING AND PREPAREDNESS EFFORT REQUIRES USEFUL AND ACCESSIBLE DATA, WHICH RESEARCH EFFORTS CAN PROVIDE IF DESIGNED TOGETHER WITH THE END-USERS OF THE INFORMATION. ACCORDINGLY, WE HOPE TO BRING PEOPLE WITH VARIOUS EXPERTISE AND KNOWLEDGE TOGETHER AT IN-PERSON AND ONLINE LISTENING- AND CONVERSATION SPACES TO 1) IDENTIFY AND PRIORITIZE INFORMATION NEEDS, AND 2) TO ENABLE THE CREATION OF DIVERSE TEAMS FOR FUTURE COLLABORATIONS IN ADDRESSING THE SPECIFIED NEEDS. THESE CONVERSATIONS WILL BUILD TOWARDS LARGER EFFORTS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND LANDSLIDE-GENERATED TSUNAMIS, ALLOWING FOR INCREASED AWARENESS AND PREPAREDNESS TO THESE HAZARDS IN COASTAL ALASKA. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: GP-IN: ACCELERATING CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE CAREERS THROUGH A POSTBACCALAUREATE FELLOWSHIP IN WOODS HOLE (ACES WOODS HOLE) -ACCELERATING CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE CAREERS (ACES) THROUGH A POST-BACCALAUREATE FELLOWSHIP IN WOODS HOLE IS A THREE-YEAR PILOT PROJECT TO RECRUIT, TRAIN, PREPARE, AND RETAIN POST-BACCALAUREATE FELLOWS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED BACKGROUNDS IN GEOSCIENCES AND PREPARE THEM FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL AND/OR CAREERS. THE PROJECT?S GOAL IS TO CREATE A SCALABLE, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING ECOSYSTEM THAT CONTRIBUTES TO DIVERSIFYING THE GEOSCIENCES WORKFORCE. ITS OBJECTIVES ARE CENTERED ON THE ACES WOODS HOLE LEARNING ECOSYSTEM MODEL THAT INCLUDES TWO FUNCTIONALLY DISTINCTIVE, BUT DYNAMICALLY AND RECIPROCALLY CONNECTED COMPONENTS, TRANSFORMATIVE ACTIVITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE. THE FORMER INCLUDES A ROBUST MENTORING NETWORK, MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, VARIED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES, AND AN IMMERSIVE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE. THE LATTER INCLUDES INTENTIONAL RECRUITMENT OF PARTICIPANTS, RESOURCES AND FACILITIES THAT REDUCE BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION, AND A SUPPORTIVE WOODS HOLE COMMUNITY. TOGETHER, THE ECOSYSTEM OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES FOR INNOVATION AND CHANGE TO REDUCE STRUCTURAL BARRIERS, CREATE ONGOING ENVIRONMENTS OF SUPPORT FOR FELLOWS AND ULTIMATELY BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN THE GEOSCIENCES. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS AWARD DERIVES FROM A RECOGNITION OF THE PAUCITY OF POSTBACCALAUREATE PROGRAMS IN THE GEOSCIENCES, DESPITE THEIR SUCCESS IN OTHER FIELDS. AS SUCH ACES REPRESENTS A NOVEL PROJECT FROM WHICH MUCH CAN BE LEARNED THROUGH THE CUMULATIVE AND SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND INSIGHTS GENERATED. THE ACES MODEL BUILDS ON THE KNOWLEDGE-BASE AND EFFORTS OF THE WOODS HOLE PARTNERSHIP EDUCATION PROGRAM (PEP) AND PEP-II. THROUGH MULTIPLE ITERATIONS OF THESE PROGRAMS, THE PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS HAVE REFINED THE COMPONENTS TO BECOME MOST EFFECTIVE, CONTRIBUTING TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW BEST TO SUPPORT UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS IN THE GEOSCIENCES. AN EVALUATION OF THE CUMULATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCES ABOUT DIFFERENT, BUT INTERRELATED, PROGRAMMATIC INTERVENTIONS WILL OFFER A UNIQUE UNDERSTANDING OF THE NEED FOR POSTBACCALAUREATE OPPORTUNITIES AND THE IMPORTANCE OF FILLING THE ?GAP? BETWEEN UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE SCHOOL OR THE WORKFORCE. FURTHER, THE PROJECT WILL GENERATE SPECIFIC UNDERSTANDING ABOUT HOW THE LEARNING ECOSYSTEM MODEL WORKS INDEPENDENTLY AND COLLABORATIVELY TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE OBSERVED OUTCOMES. THE KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM ACES WILL GREATLY CONTRIBUTE TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF POSTBACCALAUREATE PROGRAMS IN THE GEOSCIENCES AND PROVIDE A MODEL FOR WHAT IS REQUIRED TO DESIGN AND MANAGE A SUCCESSFUL INTERVENTION. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

SILVACARBON RESEARCH: WOODS HOLE

CARBON AND NITROGEN MODEL INTER-COMPARISON AND IMPROVEMENT FOR AGRICULTURAL GREENHOUSE GAS MITIGATION: DISSEMINATION AND TRAINING

INCREASING AIR TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE ARCTIC ARE IMPACTING LANDCOVER WILDLIFE PERMAFROST AND HUMAN COMMUNITIES. THESE REGIONAL CHANGES CAN ALSO IMPACT GLOBAL CLIMATE THROUGH THE DESTABILIZATION OF THE VAST POOL OF CARBON THAT IS CURRENTLY STORED IN PERMAFROST. DESPITE THE POTENTIAL GLOBAL IMPACT OF THE PERMAFROST CARBON FEEDBACK THE TIMING AND MAGNITUDE OF CARBON EMISSIONS FROM THAWING PERMAFROST REMAIN HIGHLY UNCERTAIN. A MAJOR PART OF THIS UNCERTAINTY ARISES FROM NONLINEAR RESPONSES THAT CAN RESULT FROM DISTURBANCES ABRUPT EVENTS OR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL EARTH SYSTEM PROCESSES. FOR EXAMPLE IN THE SIBERIAN ARCTIC ANOMALOUSLY HIGH TEMPERATURES MAY HAVE TRIGGERED THE UNPRECEDENTED EXPLOSIVE RELEASE OF SUBTERRANEAN GASSES FROM TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS. THESE EXPLOSIVE RELEASES AND SUBSEQUENT FORMATION OF GAS-EMISSION CRATERS (GECS) REPRESENT A POTENTIALLY NEW PROCESS IN TERRESTRIAL ARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS THAT MAY CREATE A PATHWAY FOR THE RAPID RELEASE OF STORED METHANE IN PERMAFROST REGIONS AND THAT WILL LIKELY CONTINUE IN THE FUTURE. DESPITE THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF GECS LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE CAUSE OF THEIR FORMATION THE POTENTIAL REGIONAL RISKS TO INFRASTRUCTURE AND HUMAN POPULATIONS AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR CARBON CYCLE FEEDBACKS ON GLOBAL CLIMATE. IN ADDITION BECAUSE OF THE REMOTE NATURE OF THE ARCTIC THE FREQUENCY AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF GECS IS UNKNOWN. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSED WORK IS TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL GECS ACROSS THE GYDAN AND YAMAL PENINSULAS IN NORTHWEST SIBERIA RUSSIA WHERE THEY WERE FIRST DISCOVERED IN 2014. THIS IS A CRITICAL FIRST STEP IN ADDRESSING THE LONGER-TERM GOAL OF UNDERSTANDING THE KEY FACTORS FOR GEC FORMATION AND OCCURRENCE AND QUANTIFYING THE POTENTIAL LOCAL REGIONAL AND GLOBAL IMPACTS OF GECS. WE PROPOSE TO APPLY DATA MINING AND FUSION TECHNIQUES USING NEWLY AVAILABLE HIGH-RESOLUTION REMOTELY SENSED DATA TO DEVELOP A 'HOTSPOT MAP' OF THIS UNIQUE AND RECENTLY DISCOVERED LANDCOVER FEATURE IN THE ARCTIC. THIS PROPOSED EXPLORATORY RESEARCH WOULD LAY THE GROUNDWORK TO APPLY MACHINE-LEARNING APPROACHES TO MAP GECS ACROSS THE ARCTIC SO THAT WE CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND THE MECHANISM OF FORMATION AND PROJECT THEIR FUTURE DISTRIBUTION. OUR PROPOSED APPROACH WILL FOCUS ON IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL GECS USING MULTIVARIATE CHANGE DETECTION ANALYSES INCLUDING ELEVATION CHANGE CHANGE IN SURFACE WATER COVER SHAPE-DETECTION ANALYSIS AND VEGETATION SPECTRAL INDEX CHANGE. KEY TO OUR PROPOSED WORK IS THE NEWLY RELEASED VERY HIGH RESOLUTION (2 M) REPEAT DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS FOR THE ARCTIC WHICH WILL ALLOW US TO DETECT THE LAND DEFORMATION CHARACTERISTIC OF GECS AND POTENTIALLY TO DETECT GECS PRIOR TO FORMATION. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL USE REMOTE SENSING DATA TO IMPROVE KNOWLEDGE OF A NOVEL EARTH SYSTEM PROCESS WHICH IS HIGHLY RELEVANT TO THE MISSION OF NASA'S EARTH SCIENCE DIVISION. LAND DETECTION CHANGE ANALYSIS DEVELOPED THROUGH THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS ALSO APPLICABLE FOR DETECTING OTHER ABRUPT LANDCOVER CHANGES THAT ARE OCCURRING AT A RAPID PACE ACROSS THE ARCTIC (E.G. EROSION AND GROUND SUBSIDENCE). UNDERSTANDING THE CAUSES FREQUENCY AND DISTRIBUTION OF NOVEL PROCESSES IN THE ARCTIC IS ESSENTIAL FOR REDUCING UNCERTAINTY IN THE CURRENT AND FUTURE STATE OF THE ARCTIC AND FOR QUANTIFYING THE IMPACTS OF ARCTIC CHANGE BOTH LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY.

THE OBJECTIVES OF THE WORKSHOPS ARE TO ENGAGE THE RELEVANT TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY, CARBON CYCLE, LAND USE AND LAND COVER CHANGE, AND BIODIVERSITY SCIENC

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CALIBRATION AND APPLICATION OF VASCULAR PLANT AND AQUEOUS MICROBIAL BIOMARKERS TO EXAMINE TRANSFORMATIONS OF DISSOLVED ORGA

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MARINE PRIMING EFFECT - MOLECULAR MECHANISMS FOR THE BIOMINERALIZATION OF TERRIGENOUS DISSOLVED ORGANIC MATTER IN THE OCEAN

NEITHER OF THE PILOT STUDIES IN NASA'S PHASE 1 OF THE CMS HAS EXPLICITLY CONSIDERED CHANGES IN TERRESTRIAL CARBON STORAGE THAT RESULT FROM LAND USE A

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DETERMINING THE VULNERABILITY AND RESILIENCE OF BOREAL FORESTS AND SHRUBS ACROSS NORTHWESTERN NORTH AMERICA

INTEGRATED BELOWGROUND GREENHOUSE GAS FLUX MEASUREMENTS AND MODELING

TOWARDS SPATIALLY EXPLICIT QUANTIFICATION OF CARBON FLUX (2000-2007) IN NORTHEASTERN U.S. FORESTS LINKING REMOTE SENSING WITH FOREST INVENTO

CARBON AND NITROGEN MODEL INTER-COMPARISON AND IMPROVEMENT FOR AGRICULTURAL GREENHOUSE GAS MITIGATION: DISSEMINATION AND TRAINING