Funding in the Arctic includes research and logistics support for work conducted in that remote region. NSF is charged with managing all U.S. activities in the Antarctic as a single, integrated program. Funding for the USAP includes research and the science support directly linked to research projects, as well as support for the broader operations and logistics infrastructure that makes it possible to conduct science on the remote and uninhabited continent. Three overlapping and highly interactive categories of research activities describe BE more fully. HARC provides an opportunity to integrate ecosystem and climate studies with a broad range of social sciences to understand and predict global change and its effects in the Arctic.
Priority is given to fundamental research that can be uniquely undertaken in the polar regions.
Research on the solid earth is integral to understanding plate tectonics, the evolution of life in Earth s distant and recent past, and the effects of Earth s crust on the overlying ice sheets. Glacial and sea ice studies focus on the role of polar regions in both regional and global climate. A major focus of ocean studies is the role of polar regions in generating nutrient-rich, cold currents that influence global ocean circulation. High latitude magnetic field and upper atmospheric studies provide singular views of near-earth space physics. The dry, cold atmosphere at the South Pole, its 9,300 foot elevation and six month continuous night permit astronomical studies not feasible elsewhere.