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The table below includes brief summaries of current CRREL polar research and engineering projects. The projects take place on ice sheets, sea ice, tundra, and snow. There are field expeditions, laboratory experiments, and modeling efforts.The projects include contributions to the Arctic Observing Network studying the mass balance of sea ice, the properties of seasonal sea ice, and the distribution of snow in the Alaskan Arctic. They also include studies of snow permeability in Greenland and investigations of the ice albedo feedback. Polar engineering projects solving problems associated with transportation over snow, ice, and tundra; developing overice methods of delivering fuel and supplies to remote stations in Greenland and Antarctica; and improving cold weather construction.

Many of the CRREL activities are part of larger national and international efforts. For example, our activities in the Arctic Observing Network are part of a large scientific project focused on the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH). SEARCH in turn is a component in the International Study of Arctic Change (ISAC). The overall goal of these programs is to observe, understand, and respond to Arctic environmental change.

Topic areas include sea ice, snow/firn, glaciology/climatology, and polar engineering. To get more information about a project, just click on its link.
 
Sea Ice
Autonomous sea ice mass balance buoys.

Keywords: Arctic Observing Network, Sea ice thermodynamics
Goal: Determine, delineate, and attribute the thermodynamic changes in the mass balance of the Arctic sea ice cover by deploying an array of autonomous ice mass balance buoys.
POC: Jackie Richter-Menge, Don Perovich
SEDNA: SEa ice Dynamic Nature of the Arctic.

Keywords: Sea ice dynamics
Goal: Improve our understanding of the relationship between sea ice thickness variability and sea ice motion variability by investigating stress and strain-rate relations with a comprehensive suite of spatiotemporal coincident observations.
POC: Jackie Richter-Menge
Sunlight, sea ice, and water

Keywords: Ice albedo feedback, solar radiation
Goal: Enhance our understanding of the present role that solar radiation plays in the Arctic atmosphere-sea ice-ocean system and ii) to improve our ability to predict its future role through a synthesis of observations and models
POC: Don Perovich


Pan-Arctic climate and ecosystem response to historical and projected changes in sea ice seasonality

Keywords: Sea ice, climate change, seasonality, marine ecosystems
Goal: explore the causes and effects of ongoing seasonal changes in the annual cycle of sea ice from both an energy balance and an ecosystem perspective.
 POC: Don Perovich
 

SIZONET: The Seasonal Ice Zone Network

Keywords: Arctic Observing Network, seasonal ice
Goal: Understanding the properties and processes of the Seasonal Ice Zone and transfer this information to stakeholders. 
POC: Don Perovich
 

State of the Arctic Report Card

Keywords: Arctic system, climate change
Goal: This work directly supports NOAA’s Program Plan for Building a Sustained Ocean Observing System for Climate, by expanding current efforts to monitor and document the stat of the ocean to include the Arctic Ocean.
POC: Jackie Richter-Menge
 

O - Buoy: An  Arctic atmospheric chemistry buoy

Keywords: Arctic Observing Network, atmospheric chemistry, CO2, ozone
Goal: Develop a rugged autonomous buoy capable of measuring atmospheric ozone bromide, and carbon dioxide for up to two years. 
POC: Don Perovich
 

Air-ice surface energy exchange and sea-ice mass redistribution in the Arctic

Keywords: Sea ice, ice dynamics
Goal:  To understand the contributions of the physical parameterizations of surface energy exchange and ice dynamics in numerical models of the Arctic sea ice cover.
POC:  John Weatherly

 
Snow / Firn

AMSR-E Sea Ice Algorithm Validation and Refinement

Keywords: Snow, sea ice, remote sensing
Goal: Validate the three AMSR-E standard sea ice products (sea ice concentration, snow depth on sea ice, and sea ice temperature)to identify the sources and magnitudes of error, and to refine the corresponding algorithms. The focus is on snow on sea ice.
POC: Matthew Sturm, Anna Wagner
 

A Prototype Network for Measuring Arctic Winter Precipitation and Snow Cover

Keywords: Snow, precipitation, Arctic observing network
Goal: Improve our ability to measure and monitor snow precipitation, sublimation, and melt over tundra and sea ice.
POC: Matthew Sturm
 

Norwegian - United States Antarctic Traverse

Keywords: Antarctica, firn, traverse, climate change
Goal: Collect intermediate depth cores (about 120 m) along a trans-Antarctic traverse. These cores will provide insight on snow and firn stratigraphy, firn physical properties and processes, and ice dynamics.
POC: Zoe Courville
 
Interstitial Processes and the Composition of Firm Air at Summit Greenland

Keywords: Firn, permeability, vapor transport
Goal: Quantify the dependence of interstitial transport processes (ventilation and diffusion) on firn microstructure, and determine the dependence of gas diffusivity on microstructure characteristics from the surface down to the pore closeoff depth.
POC: Zoe Courville
Mercury contamination in snow and sea ice in the Alaskan Arctic Coastal Region

Keywords: Mercury, snow, fate and deposition
Goal: Investigate how cryospheric processes control the deposition of atmospheric mercury in the Arctic and its subsequent fate. Aassess whether the impact of mercury contamination on biological systems and ultimately humans is likely to increase or decrease as climate-induced changes in sea ice and snow take place.
POC: Tom Douglas
A microstructure based, photon tracking, radiative transfer model for snow

Keywords: Snow optics, snow microstructure
Goal: Develop a microstructure based photon tracking algorithm to study radiative transfer in snow. Enhance understanding of the interaction of solar radiation.
POC: Thomas Kaempfer
Modeling Heat and Mass Transfer in Snow at a Microstructural Level

Keywords: snow, metamorphism, heat and mass transfer, modeling
Goal: Develop a numerical model operating at microstructure length scales and based on fundamental physics to study snow metamorphism and heat and vapor transport.
POC: Thomas Kaempfer

 
Glaciology / Climatology

ITASE 2 Traverse from Victoria Land to South Pole Station

Keywords: Ice sheets, snow accumulation, firn
Goal: Search for thin layer signatures in Antarctic snow and firn along with evidence of folding caused by differential accumulation dynamics.
POC: Steve Arcone (steven.a.arcone@usace.army.mil)
 


Climatic Instability in Interior Alaska

Keywords: Ice wedges, climate isotopes
Goal: Document the growth and stable isotopic compositions of periglacial ice wedges from interior Alaska to constrain last glacial paleoclimate variability in a sensitive arctic region.
POC: Dan Lawson
 
Glacier Research in Alaska

Keywords: Hubbard Glaciers, climate change
Goal: Provide a perspective into ongoing glacier and glacier related climate studies worldwide. Glacier related science requires a multidisciplinary approach that integrates field-based scientific measurements with technological advancements.
POC: Dave Finnegan
 
 
Polar engineering

Sea Spray Icing of Drilling and Production Platforms

Keywords: Sea spray icing, icing on structures
Goal: Provide algorithms for processing weather data to determine sea spray icing severity on offshore structures
POC: Kathy Jones
 

South Pole Reconstruction Project

Keywords: Polar construction, South Pole Station
Goal: CRREL will provide in-house and contracted expertise to support OPP and its contractor(s) in their task to reconstruct South Pole Station including frequent reviews, critiques, technical advice, and engineering analyses.
POC: Jackie Richter-Menge
 

Support to NSF Arctic Sciences Section

Keywords: Arctic logistics, polar infrastructure
Goal: Support the NSF-OPP Division of Arctic Sciences as the infrastructure and technical management component of research support and logistics.
POC: Jackie Richter-Menge
 

Greenland Traverse Feasibility Study and Planning

Keywords: Greenland, transportion logistics, traverse
Goal: Provide technical support aimed to improve the delivery efficiency and enhance the safety of a traverse from Thule to Summit Station. This includes tractor research and testing, sled improvements, mobility tests and satellite mapping and route assessment.
POC: Jackie Richter-Menge, Jim Lever
 


South Pole Station fuel resupply

Keywords: South Pole , transportion logistics, traverse
Goal: Provide technical support aimed to improve the delivery efficiency and enhance the safety of a tractor and sled traverse from McMurdo Station to the South PoleThule to Summit Station.
POC: Jackie Richter-Menge, Jim Lever
 



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