Written by Erdenebat Eldev-Ochir, Director, International Cooperation Division National Agency for Meteorology and Environment Monitoring of Mongolia In 2007 the government of Mongolia, in connection with IPY, issued regulation #64, establishing a national IPY committee and approving a work plan. At that time the President of Mongolia visited our agency and officially opened IPY in Mongolia. In accordance to the workplan, we have organized an international w...

Subglacial Antarctic Lake Environments (SALE) 2008 Progress Report The SCAR Scientific Research Program (SRP) on Subglacial Antarctic Lake Environments (SALE) made significant advances on several fronts in 2008. SALE promotes, facilitates and champions international cooperation to better understand subglacial aquatic environments in Antarctica. In addition, SALE promotes and advances all aspects of environmental stewardship in research and exploration of these unique settings. SALE is a recognized IPY program under the auspices of the SALE-UNified International Team for Exploration and Discovery (SALE-UNITED) program. The SALE website contains details on all facets of the Program (http://scarsale.tamu.edu/). SALE produces an email digest mailing that circulates weekly...

UNEP/GRID-Arendal, with financial support from the Research Council of Norway (Forskningsr

Overview The IPY sea ice workshop will bring together participants of the SIPEX and SIMBA cruises conducted in the Antarctic in spring 2007, as well as others interested in Antarctic sea ice processes, modelling and remote sensing.  Ground-truthing of remote sensing will be a major emphasis as specific RADARSAT and ICESat missions coincided with the cruises, as well as an archival campaign for Envisat ASAR imagery.  There are currently 35 confirmed attendees. The schedule will allow for parallel breakout sessions to facilitate discussion on topics of interest to workshop participants, and the plenary session on the first day will afford all participants an opportunity to propose discussion topics. One outcome of the workshop will be a final list of papers for the ...

Course Announcement International Polar Year IV: Context and Promise Yukon College and University of the Arctic 2 February to 3 May 2009 Yukon College and University of the Arctic announce the international offering of the online course, International Polar Year IV: Context and Promise. The course will be held from 2 February through 3 May 2009. This second-year-level, multidisciplinary course presents an overview of the historical and scientific context of the fourth International Polar Year 2007-2008 and offers an examination of its development, planning, and execution. The overall orientation of the course is historical and descriptive rather than analytical or theoretical. The course will be of particular interest to individuals workin...

The Arctic Frontiers Conference is underway in Tromsø, Norway and has had a number of interesting presentations. This conference is being broadcast live on the web. We suggest checking it out. In particular, this afternoon [Tuesday, 20 january] we will be involved in a panel discussion on the needs of young researchers in polar science. It would be great if you could all join in watching this broadcast. If you cannot watch it live, it will be archived and you can watch it later. Young science in the North - Panel discussion 15:00 - 17:00 Central Europe Time (1400 UTC) ...

LOHAFEX: An Indo-German iron fertilization experiment What are the effects on the ecology and carbon uptake potential of the Southern Ocean? Bremerhaven, January 13th 2008. The German research vessel Polarstern is currently on its way to the Southwest Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean. The team of 48 scientists (30 from India) on board left Cape Town on 7th January to carry out the Indo-German iron fertilization experiment LOHAFEX (LOHA is Hindi for iron, FEX stands for Fertilization EXperiment). About two weeks will be required to reach the area and carefully select a suitable location, after which a patch of 300 square kilometres will be fertilized with six tons of dissolved iron. This will lead to rapid growth of the minute, unicellular algae known as phytoplan...

The Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) report 'Observing the Arctic' is now ready for distribution. The presented conclusions have developed during a series of workshops involving 350 Arctic researchers, representatives of inter-governmental, national and subnational government agencies, representatives of indigenous peoples organizations, and residents of the Arctic. This process, referred to as the SAON-process, was initiated as a response to the request from Arctic Council ministers at their meeting in Salekhard, Russia in November 2006. The report was drafted by the SAON Initiating Group and is directed to organizations, agencies, governments, networks and programs involved in all aspects of Arctic observing. ...

Special Issue of the Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing: Remote Sensing Innovations During the International Polar Year Guest Editors: Dr. Chris Derksen ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) Dr. Paul Treitz ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) We invite contributed papers on the application of remote sensing to polar research. Papers are solicited from all application areas including the marine and terrestrial cryosphere, land cover and ecology, geology, education, outreach, and policy. Contributions from endorsed IPY projects are encouraged, but all submissions dealing with remote sensing of the polar regions will be considered. If you intend to submit a manuscript please contact either of the Guest Editors by email before 1 February 20...

Clear, reliable, concise information on recent Arctic environmental conditions relative to historical time series records. Provided by NOAA with annual updates. Material presented in the Report Card is prepared by an international team of scientists and is peer-reviewed by topical experts of the Climate Experts Group (AMAP) of the Arctic Council. The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP) provides collaborative support through the delivery and editing of the biological elements of the Report Card. The audience for the Arctic Report Card is wide, including scientists, students, teachers, decision makers and the general public interested in Arctic environment and science. The web-based format will facilitate future time...