Development and implementation of the terrestrial Circumarctic Environmental Observatories Network (CEON)

• Investigators: Craig E. Tweedie
• Funding Agency: US National Science Foundation ARSL0622406
• Project Length: May 2006 – April 2009
• SEL Participants: Postdoc Vacancy 1, Walker Johnson, Ryan Cody
• Web sites with more information on this project: www.ceoninfo.org, www.caonims.org.

Summary:

The key objective of this three-year proposal is to further the international and multidisciplinary development of the terrestrial Circumarctic Environmental Observatories Network (CEON, www.ceoninfo.org). CEON is a recently established and rapidly evolving initiative jointly endorsed by the Forum of Arctic Research Operators (FARO) and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). CEON’s mission is to strengthen the capacity for emerging monitoring, research and policy needs at high northern latitudes by making data available that is adequate and suitable for addressing a series of well-defined key scientific questions and uncertainties. CEON has received a high level of international governmental (FARO, Arctic Council), non-governmental (IASC), and peer and stakeholder support (e.g. Study of Environmental Arctic Change – SEARCH and the Scandinavian and north European Network of Terrestrial Field Bases - SCANNET) for such a relatively young and dynamic initiative. As a priority, this award aims to satisfy the immediate developmental needs identified by the CEON stakeholder community and, where relevant, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA). This award will also support several other initiatives with a strong Arctic and environmental observation focus, including the second International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP II), the US National Academy of Sciences blue ribbon panel designing an Arctic Observation Network (AON), and the International Polar Year (IPY). Specifically, this award will:

1. Establish a joint US-Swedish CEON Science Coordination Office (SCO). This is critical for CEONs transition to becoming a fully implemented and multi-laterally funded international network.
2. Convene annual CEON stakeholder and working group meetings to foster the community-based decision making necessary for the development of CEON. Annual stakeholder meetings are likely to attract up to 150 arctic and non-arctic specialists and will encourage CEON partners to convene meetings before or after the CEON meeting and hold and/or participate in workshops that will be used, for example, to offer instruction on standardized sampling protocols and technologies.
3. Continue the development of novel web-based information portals and visualization tools that improve the capacity for transferring scientific, logistic, and educational knowledge and information both within and outside of CEON. These include a CEON email list, the CEON-Internet Map Server (CEON-IMS - www.ceonims.org), the capacity to build regionalized IMS applications centered on focal observatory platforms partnered to CEON, a methodological and standards database, and novel visualization tools that enhance education, outreach and information interactivity.

Intellectual Merit: The proposed activities have significant intellectual merit, namely improving the capacity for circumarctic scientific synthesis, assessment and decision making by building on the established research and monitoring activities in the Arctic. Access to data and information on monitoring and logistics will be improved; protocols and standards for environmental measurements will be further developed and made widely and freely available; parameterization and validation of models and remote sensing products using site specific observations will be enhanced; and the capacity to respond rapidly to environmental emergencies, new monitoring needs and opportunities will be fostered.

Broader Impacts: This award will establish the critical framework necessary for CEON to become a long-term scientific endeavor by building from an initial focus that broadens the impacts of ongoing and developing research and monitoring infrastructures and activities in the arctic. Specifically, this award will benefit international relations and cross-border exchange of knowledge and information; offer unprecedented opportunities to the next generation of terrestrial arctic researchers; and significantly enhance the education and career development of several undergraduate and graduate students, a postdoc and a newly appointed faculty member. With continued international cooperation and multidisciplinary consultation and participation, the successes of CEON will greatly advance understanding of the Arctic system, how it will continue to respond to change, and how humans will need to adapt.