Ice Core and Air-Snow Exchange Research and Coordination
The recovery and analysis of ice cores from glaciers around the globe and related studies of air/snow exchange have been a research foci for the
Climate Change Research Center for the past two decades.
Our current research is focused on reconstruction of past climate and environmental variability and change via the analysis of ice cores recovered from
the Tibetan Plateau and the Yukon Territory and on air/snow exchange investigations at Summit, Greenland, Antarctica, and mid-latitude locations in the United States.
In addition, we continue to assist with the organization of the US ice core community via the operation of the National Ice Core laboratory/Science
Management Office and the West Antatctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide Ice Core/Science Coordination Office.
| Projects |
Ice Cores
Contact: Cameron Wake
Ice cores arguably provide the most direct paleorecords of changes in the Earth's atmosphere over time periods ranging from seasons to millennia. Our
current focus is the high resolution (annual to decadal) reconstruction of regional climate and environmental change in the Arctic and the Himalaya/
Tibetan Plateau via the chemical analysis of ice cores recovered from glaciers with relatively high snow accumulation rates.
Air-Snow Exchange
Contact: Jack Dibb
We continue our long-standing investigations of air-snow exchange. These studies were initiated to help make reconstructions of past atmospheric composition
from ice core records more rigorous. While this objective is still important, recent and current campaigns also focus on the impact that active
photochemistry in sunlit snow (discovered by us in 1998) has on the overlying atmosphere. This research is mainly conducted in Greenland and Antarctica,
but also in seasonal snowpacks at midlatitudes (e.g., Michigan, Colorado, and potentially right here in NH).
UNH air/snow research at Summit, Greenland
UC Davis at Summit, Greenland
Greenland Summit Camp
In addition, we continue to assist with the organization of the US snow and ice scientific community via leadership of the GEOSUMMIT Science Coordination Office.
National Ice Core Laboratory/Science Management Office
Contact: Mark Twickler
NICL-SMO serves as the primary point of contact for scientists interested in access to ice cores and is responsible for the coordination and facilitation
of the Ice Core Working Group (ICWG), a group of scientists who represent ice core researchers and those in related disciplines whose research utilizes or
applies to ice core research. The ICWG investigates a wide range of topics related to ice core research including scientific oversight of the National Ice
Core Laboratory (NICL), sample access and distribution, inventory, policy issues and the development of plans for future ice core activities.
West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide Ice Core/Science Coordination Office
Contact: Mark Twickler
The Science Coordination Office (SCO) for the WAIS Divide Ice Core project is managed by the Desert Research Institute at the University of Nevada and
the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. The Chief Scientist and head of the SCO is Kendrick Taylor (DRI) and the
UNH portion is lead by Mark Twickler and Joe Souney. The SCO is responsible for providing all participating organizations with current and NSF approved
scientific requirements that define the scope of the project.
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