BAS-Arctic Working Group
Working Group purpose
The Arctic Working Group is a group of more than 60 BAS scientists and operations staff who are currently working in the Arctic or have aspirations to work there. The AWG was started in 2018 to bring together researchers in different fields to share their experiences of Arctic research, to enable new collaborations, and to maximise the potential output of this group by coordinating efforts and knowledge regarding Arctic projects, funding calls and logistics.
Terms of Reference
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Our priorities
Content coming soon
Arctic marine geophysics
This research focuses on investigating the glacial histories of Arctic ice sheets and ice caps using the marine geological record preserved on continental margins. By reconstructing past ice sheets, their …SDOO
Abrupt warming episodes punctuate Greenland ice core records throughout the last glacial period. These events were first identified in two Greenland stable water isotope records (Dansgaard et al., 1993), and …Climate and Ice during the Last Interglacial
During the Last Interglacial (129-116 thousand years ago, ka) CO2 and global temperature were both higher than they were before human industrialisation. By examining Last Interglacial climate, we thus gain …TEA-COSI
TEA_COSI assesses Arctic Sea-ice which has an important impact on currents and ocean circulations around the globeUKESM-BAS
Reliable projections of the Earth’s climate are at the heart of scientific support for international efforts to address global change. There is increasing recognition that reliable projections require that physical …ESA IAP ArcticSat project
Situational awareness in the ArcticICE-ARC
physicists, chemists, biologists, economists, and sociologists from 21 institutes in 11 countries across Europe assess the rapid retreat and collapse of Arctic sea-ice coverSIOS
Svalbard Integrated Earth Observing System (SIOS) is an international infrastructure project. There are 26 partners from Europe and Asia involved. The essential objective is to establish better coordinated services for …SEANA
Global shipping is undergoing significant changes. In January 2020 the maximum sulphur emission by ships in international waters will reduce from 3.5% to 0.5% by mass, as a result of …Data As Art
DATA AS ART is an ongoing science & art project in development at NERC’s British Antarctic Survey (BAS). It visualises science data (in its widest definition), to create stunning and …EISCAT Science Support
The UK EISCAT support group (UKESG) is a collaboration between the British Antarctic Survey and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, funded via the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) EISCAT, the …Iceland Greenland seas Project
PI: Ian Renfrew (University of East Anglia) CO-I’s: Tom Bracegirdle, Tom Lachlan-Cope, Alexandra Weiss PDRA’s: Andrew Elvidge (University of East Anglia), James Pope NERC Grant: NE/N009924/1 Project Partners: Robert Pickart …ACSIS
Major changes are occurring across the North Atlantic climate system: in the ocean and atmosphere temperatures and circulation, in sea ice thickness and extent, and in key atmospheric constituents such …Increasing ship traffic in Inuit Nunangat
17 August, 2023
Researchers from British Antarctic Survey are heading to the Canadian Arctic this week to learn more about the impacts of increasing ship traffic in Inuit Nunangat. In recent years, climate …
Poet Laureate visits UK Arctic Research Station
14 July, 2023
The UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage CBE has travelled to the UK Arctic Research Station, where he will create new works inspired by the visit. While hosted at the UK …
Britain’s Arctic Research Station celebrates 30 years of science and monitoring climate change
28 September, 2021
The Arctic Station in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard in Norway, the UK’s permanent Arctic research facility, celebrates its 30 years anniversary this week (Tuesday 28 September) as it continues to undertake critical …
BAS celebrates International Day of Women and Girls in Science
11 February, 2022 by Melody Clark
Today, 11 February, is International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a global initiative led by UNESCO and UN-Women. To celebrate, we have asked some of our female staff …
Byrd ice core debris constrains the sediment provenance signature of central West Antarctica
16 March, 2024 by Claire Allen, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
Provenance records from sediments deposited offshore of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) can help identify past major ice retreat, thus constraining ice-sheet models projecting future sea-level rise. Interpretations from…Observing change in pelagic animals as sampling methods shift: the case of Antarctic krill
8 March, 2024 by Alison Cleary, Anna Belcher, Cecilia Liszka, Eugene Murphy, Geraint Tarling, Jaume Forcada, Nadine Johnston, Philip Trathan, Ryan Saunders, Simeon Hill, Sophie Fielding
Understanding and managing the response of marine ecosystems to human pressures including climate change requires reliable large-scale and multi-decadal information on the state of key populations. These populations include the…The high-energy tail of energetic electron precipitation: solar wind drivers and geomagnetic responses
7 March, 2024 by Andrew Kavanagh
Compositional NOx changes caused by energetic electron precipitation (EEP) at a specific altitude and those co-dependent on vertical transport are referred to as the EEP direct and indirect effect, respectively.…Future Antarctic Climate: Storylines of mid-latitude jet strengthening and shift emergent from CMIP6
5 March, 2024 by Andrew Orr, Gareth Marshall, Nadine Johnston, Ryan Williams
A main source of regional climate change uncertainty is the large disparity across models in simulating the atmospheric circulation response to global warming. Using the latest suite of global climate…Sea ice detection using concurrent multispectral and synthetic aperture radar imagery
4 March, 2024 by Andrew Fleming, Scott Hosking, Jeremy Wilkinson, Maria Fox, Martin Rogers
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery is the primary data type used for sea ice mapping due to its spatiotemporal coverage and the ability to detect sea ice independent of cloud…Read more on Sea ice detection using concurrent multispectral and synthetic aperture radar imagery
Diesel−biodegradation and biosurfactant−production by Janthinobacterium lividum AQ5-29 and Pseudomonas fildesensis AQ5-41 isolated from Antarctic soil
1 March, 2024 by Peter Convey
Given the substantial diesel demand in Antarctic operations, the means of addressing ecological restoration following its inappropriate release are attracting attention from researchers. The Madrid Protocol mandates the use of…How the COVID-19 pandemic signaled the demise of Antarctic exceptionalism
1 March, 2024 by Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
This paper explores how the COVID-19 pandemic affected science and tourism activities and their governance in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean. The pandemic reduced the ability of Antarctic Treaty Parties…Read more on How the COVID-19 pandemic signaled the demise of Antarctic exceptionalism
A diatom extension to the cGEnIE Earth system model – EcoGEnIE 1.1
27 February, 2024 by Kate Hendry
We extend the ecological component (ECOGEM) of the carbon-centric Grid-Enabled Integrated Earth system model (cGEnIE) to include a diatom functional group. ECOGEM represents plankton community dynamics via a spectrum of…Read more on A diatom extension to the cGEnIE Earth system model – EcoGEnIE 1.1
Cretaceous stratigraphy of Antarctica and its global significance
26 February, 2024 by Alistair Crame, Jane Francis
The Cretaceous period is particularly well represented by a thick sequence of clastic sedimentary rocks exposed in the Antarctic Peninsula region of western Antarctica. This was an active margin throughout…Read more on Cretaceous stratigraphy of Antarctica and its global significance
Synchronous retreat of Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers in response to external forcings in the presatellite era
26 February, 2024 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, James Kirkham, Kelly Hogan, Robert Larter
Today, relatively warm Circumpolar Deep Water is melting Thwaites Glacier at the base of its ice shelf and at the grounding zone, contributing to significant ice retreat. Accelerating ice loss…Fungal and fungal-like diversity present in ornithogenically influenced maritime Antarctic soils assessed using metabarcoding
22 February, 2024 by Peter Convey
We assessed soil fungal and fungal-like diversity using metabarcoding in ornithogenically influenced soils around nests of the bird species Phalacrocorax atriceps, Macronectes giganteus, Pygoscelis antarcticus, and Pygoscelis adelie on the…Investigating halogens and MSA in the Southern Hemisphere: A spatial analysis
15 February, 2024 by Dieter Tetzner, Dorothea Moser, Liz Thomas
Sub-Antarctic islands and Antarctic coastal regions provide valuable sites for investigating environmental processes in the Southern Ocean. The fact that these sites are situated within the sea ice zone underscores…Read more on Investigating halogens and MSA in the Southern Hemisphere: A spatial analysis
Testing the physiological capacity of the mussel Mytilus chilensis to establish into the Southern Ocean
14 February, 2024 by Simon Morley
The Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current create environmental conditions that serve as an efficient barrier to prevent the colonization of non-native species (NNS) in the marine ecosystems of…Evaporative controls on Antarctic precipitation: an ECHAM6 model study using innovative water tracer diagnostics
13 February, 2024 by Alison McLaren, Louise Sime, Qinggang Gao, Thomas Bracegirdle
Improving our understanding of the controls on Antarctic precipitation is critical for gaining insights into past and future polar and global environmental changes. Here we develop innovative water tracing diagnostics…Processing of VLF Amplitude Measurements: Deduction of a Quiet Time Seasonal Variation
10 February, 2024 by Mark Clilverd
The amplitude of Very Low Frequency (VLF) transmissions propagating from transmitter to receiver between the Earth's surface and the ionospheric D-region is a useful measurement to detect changes in the…Read more on Processing of VLF Amplitude Measurements: Deduction of a Quiet Time Seasonal Variation
Abrupt Holocene ice loss due to thinning and ungrounding in the Weddell Sea Embayment
8 February, 2024 by Amy King, Liz Thomas, Robert Mulvaney, Thomas Bauska
The extent of grounded ice and buttressing by the Ronne Ice Shelf, which provides resistance to the outflow of ice streams, moderate West Antarctic Ice Sheet stability. During the Last…Read more on Abrupt Holocene ice loss due to thinning and ungrounding in the Weddell Sea Embayment
Review of Satellite Remote Sensing and Unoccupied Aircraft Systems for Counting Wildlife on Land
8 February, 2024 by Ellen Bowler, Hannah Cubaynes, Marie Attard, Penny Clarke, Peter Fretwell, Richard Phillips
Although many medium-to-large terrestrial vertebrates are still counted by ground or aerial surveys, remote-sensing technologies and image analysis have developed rapidly in recent decades, offering improved accuracy and repeatability, lower…An outsider on the Antarctic Peninsula: A new record of the non-native moth Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)
5 February, 2024 by Peter Convey
We report the first record of the microlepidopteran Plodia interpunctella beyond the South Shetland Islands at the Chilean Yelcho scientific station (64°52′33.1428″ S; 63°35′1.9572″ W), Doumer Island, close to the…High-time-resolution analysis of meridional tides in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere at mid-latitudes measured by the Falkland Islands SuperDARN radar
2 February, 2024 by Andrew Kavanagh, Gareth Chisham, Neil Cobbett, Paul Breen, Timothy Barnes
Solar tides play a major role in the dynamics of the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). Hence, a comprehensive understanding of these tides is important for successful modelling of…The Extraordinary March 2022 East Antarctica “Heat” Wave. Part I: Observations and Meteorological Drivers
1 February, 2024 by John King, Thomas Bracegirdle
Between 15 and 19 March 2022, East Antarctica experienced an exceptional heat wave with widespread 30°–40°C temperature anomalies across the ice sheet. This record-shattering event saw numerous monthly temperature records…