Past ARCSS Research Efforts

The below webpages provide information about past NSF ARCSS-funded projects. Information on current NSF ARCSS research can be found through the NSF website at: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13426.

Changing Seasonality of the Arctic System (CSAS)

This set of projects, funded in 2009, focused on investigations in shifts in the timing, length, and pattern of individual seasonal events that are occurring throughout the arctic system, including physical events (e.g., ocean and atmospheric circulation and fluxes, precipitation, sudden thaws, presence of ice and snow), biological events (e.g., plant phenology, animal life history events) and human activities (e.g., resource use, industrial activities).

Synthesis of Arctic System Science (SASS)

The SASS effort consisted of 17 funded projects focused on advancing understanding of the arctic system by building on and integrating existing data and knowledge to advance understanding of linkages, interactions, and feedbacks among components of the arctic system.

Study of the Northern Alaska Coastal System (SNACS)

In early 2004, NSF released an announcement of opportunity for the Study of the Northern Alaska Coastal System (SNACS; see Witness Spring 2004).

The solicitation drew on two science plans from the ARCSS research community:

The announcement defined the coastal system very broadly, from the Brooks Range to the ice edge. In response, NSF received 43 proposals for 23 projects requesting a total of $24 million, not including logistics costs. NSF was able to fund six projects for a total of $7.27 million in FY 2005 and 2006.

Human Dimensions of the Arctic System (HARC)

The Human Dimensions of the Arctic System (HARC) activities focused on human interactions with physical and biological environmental change in the Arctic.

Freshwater Integration (FWI)

A set of projects funded under the title "Arctic Freshwater Cycle: Land/Upper-Ocean Linkages" links CHAMP/ASOF/ SEARCH.

Shelf-Basin Interactions (SBI)

The NSF funded SBI Project progressed in three phases over a ten-year period. The goal of Phase I (1998-2001), Phase II (2002-2006), and Phase III (2007-2009) was to investigate the production, transformation and fate of carbon at the shelf-slope interface in the Arctic as a prelude to understanding the impacts of a potential warming of the Arctic.

ARCSS 2 kyr Project

A four-year (2005-2008) project to contribute to understanding the arctic system by placing 20th century climatic change into a longer-term context of inter-decadal climatic variability spanning the last 2000 years.

Additional Past Research Components

The planning infrastructures that supported separate ARCSS component efforts were expired by NSF:

  • LAII office and Science Steering Committee (SSC) funding expired 31 December 2004;
  • OAII office and SSC funding expired 30 June 2005;
  • RAISE/LSI office funding expired 31 July 2005;
  • PARCS office and SSC funding expired 31 October 2005;
  • A HARC core office; funded expired 2010.

Ocean-Atmosphere-Ice Interactions (OAII)

The Ocean-Atmosphere-Ice Interactions (OAII) component of ARCSS has investigated the arctic marine system in the context of global change. OAII programs included SHEBA and SBI.

Land-Atmosphere-Ice Interactions (LAII)

Land-Atmosphere-Ice Interactions (LAII) investigations improved our understanding of arctic terrestrial ecosystems, the role they play in the whole Earth system, and the effect that global change may have on the Arctic. This program included ATLAS and ITEX.

Russian-American Initiative on Shelf-Land Environments in the Arctic (RAISE)

The RAISE objective was to facilitate collaborative research between Russian and American scientists in order to understand processes and events in terrestrial, shelf, and ocean environments in northern Eurasia in the context of a globally changing environment.

Paleoenvironmental Arctic Sciences (PAR

Paleoclimate research straddled the National Science Foundation's ARCSS and Earth Systems History (ESH) programs, and paleoenvironmental research activities in the Arctic expanded to include all facets of the paleosciences. These paleoenvironmental programs coordinated their efforts in an overarching effort - Paleoenvironmental Arctic Sciences (PARCS).

Greenland Ice Sheet Project Two (GISP2)

The GISP2 deep ice core from central Greenland, and the companion GRIP ice core, yielded an exceptionally high-resolution, multi-parameter history of climatic changes over the last 100,000 years or more in the Northern Hemisphere.