IASC Proposal Template
IASC Working Groups (WGs) encourage and support science-led international programs byoffering opportunities for planning and coordination, and by facilitating communication andaccess to facilities. Crosscutting projects encourage the IASC Working Groups (WGs) toexplore activities which straddle disciplinary lines and are of interest to two or more WGs.
IASC wishes to promote cross-discipline thematic activities and encourage interaction
between the WGs, in particular between natural and social sciences WGs.
Any proposals submitted to IASC should have been discussed with WG leadership and/ormembership before submission.
Evaluation Criteria:● Does the activity have scientific merit? Does it address research priorities identified
within the ICARP III process & IASC Working Group Work Plans?
● How many disciplines/WGs are meaningfully involved in the proposed activity? Doesit bridge social and natural sciences?
● Does the activity promote interdisciplinary involvement not only in the implementation
but also the planning of the activity?
● Circumarctic and/or polar activities are encouraged.
● Each activity shall involve early career scientists1. Does the activity intend to promote
the involvement of early career scientists not only in the implementation but also theplanning of the activity?
● Does the activity have support or endorsement from organizations other than IASC?
All funded activities must follow IASC requirements.

Title: Glacier - atmosphere interactions in a rapidly warming Arctic
environment
Relevant IASC Working Groups:
X Atmosphere X Cryosphere □Marine□Social & Human□Terrestrial

Requested amount (€):
(Maximum € 15,000 for Workshop)

Total: € 10,000[e.g. CWG: € 6500; AWG: € 3500]1

Please note that early career scientists receiving support can only receive support from IASC for one activity
every 18 months.

Lead Applicant:(Name, affiliations and email address)

Ward van Pelt (NAG chair)
Department of Earth Sciences
Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
ward.van.pelt@geo.uu.se
Co-Applicants:(Names, affiliations and email addresses)

Wesley van Wychen (NAG vice-chair)
Geography and Environmental Management
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
wesley.van.wychen@uwaterloo.ca
Mariusz Grabiec (CWG)
Center of Polar Studies
University of Silesia, Katowice, Polandmariusz.grabiec@us.edu.pl
Thomas V. Schuler (CWG)
Department of Geosciences
Oslo University, Oslo, Norway
t.v.schuler@geo.uio.no
Richard Bintanja (CWG)
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI)
De Bilt, The Netherlands
bintanja@knmi.nlGuðrún Nína Petersen (AWG)
Icelandic Meteorological Office, Reykjavik, Iceland
gnp@vedur.is
Ding Minghu (AWG)
Institute of Tibetan Plateau & Polar Meteorology
Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, China
dingminghu@foxmail.com
Ewa Łupikasza (AWG)
Department of Climatology,______________________
Please send this form to:
IASC Secretariat, Borgir, Norðurslóð, 600 Akureyri, Icelandemail: info@iasc.info phone: +354 515 5824

University of Silesia, Katowice, Polandewa.lupikasza@us.edu.pl
Thomas Kuhn (AWG)
Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space EngineeringLuleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden
thomas.kuhn@ltu.se
Sang-Jong Park (AWG)
Division of Polar Climate Scienes
Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon, South Korea
sangjong@kopri.re.kr
How does the proposed activity assist IASC in fulfilling its mission?
(Maximum 200 words)

The proposed activity aims to bring together experts within glaciology and atmosphericsciences, thereby fostering multi-disciplinary and international research in the Arctic.
It aims to study the physical environments and their two-way coupling. The proposed
activity feeds into the recommendations given about “Arctic Research Priorities for theNext Decade” as outlined in the ICARP III final report, to further exploration of physicallinkages of the atmosphere-ice system. The proposed activity follows up on recent
cross-cutting activities (2018-2020) involving the Cryosphere and Marine WGs, with afocus on glacier-ocean interactions. Collectively, the proposed and recent crosscutting activities contribute to the research priority to “enhance our understanding of afully coupled physical climate system (atmosphere-ocean-ice) on diverse space andtime scales” (ICARP III).
The proposed activity strives to engage and promote early-career scientists (ECS)
during planning, conduction and reporting of the activity. This will help them in building
international and cross-disciplinary research networks. The Association of Early Polar
Career Scientists (APECS) will manage applications for ECS travel funds.
How does the proposed activity align with the foci of the relevant IASC
Working Groups?
(Maximum 200 words)

The proposed activity involves two of the IASC working groups: the Cryosphere
Working Group (CWG)/ Network on Arctic Glaciology (NAG) and the Atmosphere
Working Group (AWG).

______________________
Please send this form to:
IASC Secretariat, Borgir, Norðurslóð, 600 Akureyri, Icelandemail: info@iasc.info phone: +354 515 5824

The proposed activity contributes to all three research foci of the CWG: 1)
Atmosphere-glacier-ocean interactions: implications on the pan-Arctic glacier massbudget; 2) extreme cryospheric events (e.g. heavy snowfall / rain-on-snow events,
extreme glacier summer melt); and 3) cutting barriers in snow knowledge (e.g. snowalbedo, snow drift, precipitation downscaling). NAG has a strong focus on the massbalance and dynamics of Arctic glaciers and their response to climate change, whichmost closely connects to research focus 1) above.
The proposal contributes to all research foci of the AWG: 1) Cloud, water vapour,aerosols, fluxes; 2) Arctic Air Pollution; 3) Coupled Arctic climate system; 4) Arctic
weather extremes; 5) Linkages: Role of the Arctic in the global climate system.
Strongest contributions are anticipated to foci 3) and 5).
Description of the proposed activity:(Maximum 1000 words)

The proposed cross-cutting activity will be implemented in the next annual meetingof the IASC Network on Arctic Glaciology (NAG) in Szczyrk, Poland, 26-28 January
2021, in the form of presentation and discussion sessions.
The Arctic climate system has between 1971 and 2017 warmed at more than twice
the average rate observed in the Northern Hemisphere (AMAP, 2019) due to Arctic
Amplification. Recent warming has led to an acceleration of Arctic land-ice mass loss,
which during 1992-2017 accounted for 30% of total sea level rise.
Glaciers exist and evolve through a long-term balance between mass gain (snowaccumulation and moisture deposition) and mass loss (melt water runoff, sublimationand frontal ablation). The role of the atmosphere is twofold for glaciers. Firstly, nearsurface atmospheric conditions determine the energy balance of a glacier surface,which in turn determines melt rates. Atmospheric warming induces an increase of melt
rates, but a detailed quantification of changes in melt requires a coupled treatment ofatmospheric boundary layer conditions, the state of the surface and the underlying
snow, firn (old-snow) or ice. Secondly, the main mass source for glaciers is snow
accumulation. Changes in sea ice cover and atmospheric flow patterns result inchanges to both the amount and phase of precipitation (snow vs. rain) and thuschanges in snow accumulation. This latter process can either delay or enhance massloss of glaciers in case of summer snowfall or winter rainfall, respectively, and theassociated albedo feedback. Increased surface melt may partly be retained within theextensive firn areas of Arctic ice caps. However, increased melt causes changes in
the firn stratigraphy due to percolation and refreezing, with impact on runoff-hydrology.

______________________
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IASC Secretariat, Borgir, Norðurslóð, 600 Akureyri, Icelandemail: info@iasc.info phone: +354 515 5824

Glaciers are a product of the climate system, but also feedback on the climate systemitself. Linking studies across the atmosphere and cryosphere ultimately contributes toan improved understanding of the role of the Arctic in the climate system, both at aregional and global scale (ICARP III). This would help to assess the impact of futureclimate dynamics, with projected shifts in large-scale circulation patterns inducing
persistent changes in precipitation and temperature patterns, on the mass budget of
Arctic glaciers and the Greenland Ice Sheet. Atmospheric circulation patterns, andsystematic changes thereof in a future climate, may induce strongly contrastingpatterns of glacier mass balance across the Arctic. Such contrasts were for example
observed in 2012, when the Greenland Ice Sheet experienced record melt, while
glacier mass loss in Svalbard was comparably moderate. Understanding atmosphereglacier interactions across the Arctic and their variability in space and time requires
cross-disciplinary approaches and the integration of field observations, satellite
remote sensing, and numerical modelling to further our understanding of the two-way
coupling between the glacier surface and the atmosphere.
We have identified three themes that address topics of mutual interest for theAtmosphere and Cryosphere WGs:
1) Atmospheric circulation patterns and the impact on the Arctic land-ice
mass budget
Research questions:a) What are projected trends in atmospheric circulation patterns and how
will they affect seasonal temperatures and precipitation on Arcticglaciers and the Greenland Ice Sheet?
b) How significant are long-term changes in atmospheric circulation for
estimates of the glacier mass budget at a regional scale?
c) How do changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns
translate into changes of the glacier’s microclimate, i.e. within theatmospheric boundary layer over a glacier surface?
d) What is the impact of changes in atmospheric circulation on Arctic air
mass trajectories? How does this affect deposition rates of pollutants,
such as black carbon, on glacier surfaces? What would be the impact
on surface albedo?
2) Precipitation and snowfall in the Arctic – observations & modellingResearch questions:a) How to best observe precipitation and snow accumulation on Arcticglaciers and the Greenland Ice Sheet?
______________________
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IASC Secretariat, Borgir, Norðurslóð, 600 Akureyri, Icelandemail: info@iasc.info phone: +354 515 5824

b) What methods can be used to downscale precipitation from coarseresolution climate models or reanalysis products to finer grids used for
glacier and ice sheet simulations?
c) Will the frequency of rain-on-snow events change in a future climate
and what is impact on glacier mass balance and snow/firn conditions?
This connects also to Research question 1a.
d) How important is wind-driven snow redistribution for surface massbalance modelling?
e) Can we make more extensive use of remote sensing to observe snow
parameters from space, including snow depth, wetness and albedo?
What is the impact of atmospheric conditions (e.g. clouds andmoisture) on the accuracy of the retrieved parameters?
3) Coupling of glaciers and atmosphere in general circulation models(GCMs), regional climate models (RCMs) and earth system models(ESMs)
Research questions:a) How are glaciers and ice sheets represented in GCMs, RCMs andESMs? What are the key (two-way) ice – atmosphere coupling
processes that should at least be included in large-scale models?
b) What future climate predictions exist for the Arctic, how reliable arethey and how do they account for transient cryosphere – atmosphereinteractions? For example, how is the changing geometry of Arctic
glaciers and the Greenland Ice Sheet incorporated in large-scalemodels?
Expected short-term results and long-term (5-year) legacy:(Maximum 200 words)

The proposed activity follows up on previous cross-cutting activities in 2018, 2019and 2020, involving the Cryosphere WG / Network on Arctic Glaciology and theMarine WG. With the current proposed activity, involving the Atmosphere WG wenow shift our focus to atmosphere-glacier interactions and we believe the crosscutting activity will provide an excellent interdisciplinary forum for glaciologists andatmosphere scientists to present and discuss their work and to stimulate futurecollaborations. Such cross-disciplinary research is required in order to predict futureclimate dynamics and its connection with land-ice mass changes, thereby providing
important insights in the vulnerability and resilience of Arctic environments andsocieties.

______________________
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IASC Secretariat, Borgir, Norðurslóð, 600 Akureyri, Icelandemail: info@iasc.info phone: +354 515 5824

Through the proposed workshop we will help early-career scientists in building
international, cross-disciplinary research networks. This will increase their visibility
and recognition by the scientific community and help them establish networks
needed for future projects and project proposals.
During the activity we will discuss the idea for a jointly written paper reviewing recent
research on observing and modelling pan-arctic glacier-atmosphere interactions,involving an equal share of researchers from both WGs.

Dissemination of results:(Maximum 200 words)● A workshop summary report will be submitted to the IASC office anddistributed among AWG and CWG members (February 2021).
● The “Book of abstracts”, including workshop agenda, abstracts, as well as
minutes from open discussion and open forum meeting will be published on
the IASC and IASC-NAG website (https://nag.iasc.info/publications) anddistributed among the communities.
● The activity is expected to foster ideas for scientific papers in international
scientific journals with a focus on atmosphere-glacier interactions. During theactivity we will discuss the idea for a jointly written review paper (see previoussection).
● The activity is expected to initiate and strengthen collaboration between theglaciology and atmosphere communities, thereby fostering joined research
proposals in the coming years.
Detailed Budget Specification:●●Travel costs: specify number of participants and indicate early career scientists
Logistic support: provide detailed cost listing

own contribution

requested from IASCcontribution fromother sponsors

total

Travel costs *

7000

7000

Logistics*

3000

3000

etc.

Travel support: Partial travel support is requested for ca. 10 participants of the NAG
annual meeting (average support 700 € per person; mainly early career, but also a______________________
Please send this form to:
IASC Secretariat, Borgir, Norðurslóð, 600 Akureyri, Icelandemail: info@iasc.info phone: +354 515 5824

few senior scientists/invited keynote speakers, if requested). We will strive to include
group representatives from all of the involved IASC working groups and a broadinternational representation. As in the past years, we will seek assistance from theAssociation of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) in order to review applications
and distribute ECS travel funds.
Logistic support: Workshop facilities/equipment, i.e. conference room rental: ca. 500
EUR (3 days); name tags: ca. 200 EUR; coffee/tea/refreshments: ca. 2300 EUR (16EUR per person and day; e.g. 50 participants x 3 days).

______________________
Please send this form to:
IASC Secretariat, Borgir, Norðurslóð, 600 Akureyri, Icelandemail: info@iasc.info phone: +354 515 5824