Periodic Reporting for period 3 - INTAROS (Integrated Arctic observation system)
Reporting period: 2019-12-01 to 2022-02-28
Climate change already has significant societal consequences both in the Arctic region and globally. The climate change is manifested through melting of ice on land and sea, reduction of snow cover and permafrost as well as changes in weather patterns with increased risks for natural hazards. This has wide implications for the Arctic environment, its ecosystems, and its communities. To meet the challenges better-informed decisions are crucial for sustainable development within key sectors (e.g. local communities, shipping, tourism, fishing). To make well informed decisions stakeholders need trustworthy forecasting systems and climate projections, as well as robust and sustained observing system for the Arctic.
The overall objective of INTAROS was to build an efficient integrated Arctic Observation System by extending, improving, and unifying existing systems in the different regions of the Arctic
INTAROS has made significant contribution to the improve the data delivery chain which is critical for establishing an efficient and sustained Arctic Observation System. The project has extended and improved observing capacity in selected key regions, as well as, harmonising the data processing and documentation. Local communities have been involved through CBM and Citizen Science activities and contributed to the whole data value chain.Based on five years of work from more than 400 scientists, INTAROS has developed a roadmap which is complementary to the more high-level SAON roadmap.
The overall objective of INTAROS was to build an efficient integrated Arctic Observation System by extending, improving, and unifying existing systems in the different regions of the Arctic
INTAROS has made significant contribution to the improve the data delivery chain which is critical for establishing an efficient and sustained Arctic Observation System. The project has extended and improved observing capacity in selected key regions, as well as, harmonising the data processing and documentation. Local communities have been involved through CBM and Citizen Science activities and contributed to the whole data value chain.Based on five years of work from more than 400 scientists, INTAROS has developed a roadmap which is complementary to the more high-level SAON roadmap.
INTAROS has collaborated with actors involved in Arctic observing systems for climate and environmental monitoring at national, European and international levels. INTAROS has engaged a large group of stakeholders from public and private sector, including research and local communities. Broad involvement is required to build an integrated Arctic Observing System useful for the society. Together with EU Polarnet, INTAROS has strengthened the European involvement in SAON. Several INTAROS partners have been members of the SAON and contributed to the SAON Roadmap for Arctic Observing and Data Systems (ROADS). INTAROS has developed a roadmap which is complementary to the more high-level SAON roadmap.
Atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial observing systems have been assessed showing that most of these were funded by national agencies and primarily used for climate research. Research infrastructures have long-term funding and mature data management procedures, while observing systems supported in a sequence of short-term projects have much less mature data management procedures. To mitigate, earmarked funding for data management should be available. Existing research structures are not yet present in the Arctic. Pathways for transfer emerging observing systems into sustained research infrastructures must be established. The evolution of Arctic in situ observing systems can be monitored by ARCMAP (https://arcmap.nersc.no).
INTAROS has supported development and testing of innovative and robust technologies that can operate year-round in Arctic conditions. One important goal was to fill gaps in existing observing systems e.g. ocean acidification, biogeochemical parameters, snow-water equivalents, snow albedo, and microplastic. Selected multi disciplinary observing systems in key regions of the Arctic have been extended and improved by new sensors and technologies e.g. mooring systems and terrestrial stations.
A total of 30 existing community-based observing programs across the eight Arctic countries have been surveyed and analysed. Efforts have focused on community-based observing networks in Greenland and Svalbard, and to explore links between community-based observing and international databases. INTAROS and local communities in the Arctic developed a library of best practises for combining community-based monitoring with scientific knowledge.
Interoperable data systems are central in the data delivery chain providing support in quality control, documentation, formatting of observations, and ingestion into interoperable data repositories. Partners has registered their datasets in the INTAROS data catalogue, promoted by the iAOS portal (https://portal-intaros.nersc.no). Applications using INTAROS data have been developed for 1) assimilation into climate models, 2) ecosystem models, 3) analysis of ice-ocean observations and models, 4) environmental assessment, 5) atmospheric models, 6) natural geohazard assessments. The results will be used as recommendations to the Copernicus service providers on how to use in situ data to improve the validation of the services. Showcases defined by scientists addressing specific stakeholders have demonstrated the use of iAOS cloud platform.
The project has produced more than 90 publications.
Atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial observing systems have been assessed showing that most of these were funded by national agencies and primarily used for climate research. Research infrastructures have long-term funding and mature data management procedures, while observing systems supported in a sequence of short-term projects have much less mature data management procedures. To mitigate, earmarked funding for data management should be available. Existing research structures are not yet present in the Arctic. Pathways for transfer emerging observing systems into sustained research infrastructures must be established. The evolution of Arctic in situ observing systems can be monitored by ARCMAP (https://arcmap.nersc.no).
INTAROS has supported development and testing of innovative and robust technologies that can operate year-round in Arctic conditions. One important goal was to fill gaps in existing observing systems e.g. ocean acidification, biogeochemical parameters, snow-water equivalents, snow albedo, and microplastic. Selected multi disciplinary observing systems in key regions of the Arctic have been extended and improved by new sensors and technologies e.g. mooring systems and terrestrial stations.
A total of 30 existing community-based observing programs across the eight Arctic countries have been surveyed and analysed. Efforts have focused on community-based observing networks in Greenland and Svalbard, and to explore links between community-based observing and international databases. INTAROS and local communities in the Arctic developed a library of best practises for combining community-based monitoring with scientific knowledge.
Interoperable data systems are central in the data delivery chain providing support in quality control, documentation, formatting of observations, and ingestion into interoperable data repositories. Partners has registered their datasets in the INTAROS data catalogue, promoted by the iAOS portal (https://portal-intaros.nersc.no). Applications using INTAROS data have been developed for 1) assimilation into climate models, 2) ecosystem models, 3) analysis of ice-ocean observations and models, 4) environmental assessment, 5) atmospheric models, 6) natural geohazard assessments. The results will be used as recommendations to the Copernicus service providers on how to use in situ data to improve the validation of the services. Showcases defined by scientists addressing specific stakeholders have demonstrated the use of iAOS cloud platform.
The project has produced more than 90 publications.
Improved Pan-Arctic collaboration in Arctic observing and data systems, including community driven systems, for atmosphere, ocean and terrestrial sciences has been achieved through participation at international conferences, workshop, organizations, networks, and publications. INTAROS has contributed to the SAON Roadmap and provided input to the ASM. The international and interdisciplinary network created through INTAROS is an important stepping-stone towards research needs outlined in the EU Polar Research Programme (Fig). Collaborations with stakeholder though definition of requirements and through application have paved the way towards new research and innovation projects with relevance for the society.
A methodology for assessing in situ observing systems was developed and implemented as a web application (ARCMAP) to facilitate for a dynamic data base holding survey responses to monitor the progress in observing capacities.. Several gaps in in situ observing and data delivery chain were identified and followed up in cross disciplinary activities in the project. Mitigation approaches were implemented to cover some of the gaps but needs to be followed up in future project, including further competence building across disciplines in the data delivery chain. The main impact is better understanding of bottlenecks in the data delivery chain. INTAROS has increased awareness of FAIR data management among scientists, as well as the huge need for resources to perform proper documentation and formatting. Competence in cloud computing has been developed to bridge the expertise of scientists and cloud computing developers. This can lead to better exploitation of computational resources and bridging between data system.
INTAROS has contributed with large amount of multi disciplinary in situ observations, especially from the under sampled ice-covered ocean regions in the Nansen Basin and Baffin Bay. One important goal was to fill gaps in existing observing systems regarding biological data, ocean acidification, biogeochemical parameters, snow water equivalents, albedo, and microplastic in selected key regions of the Arctic. The experiences with new sensors and platforms provide a basis for further development, and testing in new projects.
Furthermore, INTAROS collaborated with local communities in the Arctic to install CBM systems, and to develop a library of best practises for cross fertilizing community-based monitoring with scientific knowledge.
The continuation of several observing systems in INTAROS depends on renewed funding, but the data from INTAROS is secured and stored in open data repositories.
A methodology for assessing in situ observing systems was developed and implemented as a web application (ARCMAP) to facilitate for a dynamic data base holding survey responses to monitor the progress in observing capacities.. Several gaps in in situ observing and data delivery chain were identified and followed up in cross disciplinary activities in the project. Mitigation approaches were implemented to cover some of the gaps but needs to be followed up in future project, including further competence building across disciplines in the data delivery chain. The main impact is better understanding of bottlenecks in the data delivery chain. INTAROS has increased awareness of FAIR data management among scientists, as well as the huge need for resources to perform proper documentation and formatting. Competence in cloud computing has been developed to bridge the expertise of scientists and cloud computing developers. This can lead to better exploitation of computational resources and bridging between data system.
INTAROS has contributed with large amount of multi disciplinary in situ observations, especially from the under sampled ice-covered ocean regions in the Nansen Basin and Baffin Bay. One important goal was to fill gaps in existing observing systems regarding biological data, ocean acidification, biogeochemical parameters, snow water equivalents, albedo, and microplastic in selected key regions of the Arctic. The experiences with new sensors and platforms provide a basis for further development, and testing in new projects.
Furthermore, INTAROS collaborated with local communities in the Arctic to install CBM systems, and to develop a library of best practises for cross fertilizing community-based monitoring with scientific knowledge.
The continuation of several observing systems in INTAROS depends on renewed funding, but the data from INTAROS is secured and stored in open data repositories.