SAS synthesis workshop report

Group photo of participants of the SAS synthesis workshop in Woods HoleThe SAS synthesis phase was initiated with a workshop in Woods Hole, June 7-9, 2023. Almost 40 participants brainstormed ideas for synthesis papers and how to establish an online SAS atlas of the Artic Ocean (as has been done for all the other oceans in the WOCE atlas).

Carin Ashjian hosted the workshop at the top floor of the Clark building at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute with a magnificent view of the Atlantic Ocean. A selection of the wonderful images taken by photographer Leonard Sussman on the Healy cruise to the North Pole were displayed during the workshop.

On the first day of the workshop, Øyvind Paasche introduced the background of the SAS initiative and the need to move forwards. All country representatives gave overviews of cruises contributing to the SAS data collection, and suggestions for pan-Arctic themes to study. Several participants presented results from individual cruises. The second day was used for discussions in break-out groups and in plenary. On the third day, we compiled a list of synthesis papers with assigned working groups and agreed on the road ahead. The full SAS synthesis workshop report describes this in more details.

Overview presentations

Individual presentations

A list of planned synthesis papers was compiled at the workshop.

Screenshot of online particpants (Karen and Jeehoon)

Screenshot of online participants (Pauline and Kumiko)
Screenshot of four online participants

Final registration for SAS synthesis workshop

Aerial photo of harbor in Woods Hole

The final registration for the International SAS Synthesis Workshop in Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on June 7-9, 2023, has opened. Please fill out the event registration form to pay the fee of 100 USD and save a spot.

Hotel rooms have been reserved and can be booked according to the instructions in the SAS workshop travel information sheet. Please note that the discounted rates expire by the beginning of May.

 

 

Open position: Project Manager for Synoptic Arctic Survey

At the Geophysical institute we have an open permanent position as Project Manager (Advisor) for the international secretariat of the Synoptic Arctic Survey, hosted by Norway and the UiB. The position is jointly funded by strategic allocations from the UiB and by the EU H2020 project ArcticPassion. The initial scope of the position may change with time, depending on future funding.

SAS March Webinar

 

 

March 16th – Large-Scale Arctic Insights, 14:00 – 15:30 UTC (15:00 – 16:30 CET)

The Arctic Ocean is brimming with change. In SAS, we’re trying to approach and understand the totality of change and how it potentially connects the different compartments of the ocean. In this new March seminar we are extremely happy to present a diverse set of excellent speakers who will share recent insights on large scale Arctic oceanography, biology, and biogeochemistry in the spirit of the SAS. All are welcome to join. 

Mary-Louise Timmermans (Yale University): Ocean heat and freshwater dynamics and change in the Canadian Basin

Bodil Bluhm (University of Tromsø): Bio-physical coupling on the pan-Artic continental slope

Jens Terhaar (University of Bern): Around one third of current Arctic Ocean primary production sustained by rivers and coastal erosion

 

REGISTER HERE

SAS January Webinar

The planning of the 2021 field season is well underway, and several important Synoptic Arctic Survey (SAS) cruises will take place.

On this occasion we would like to invite you to join the SAS January Webinar, where we will be learning about some of these cruises, and the finer details that goes into biological sampling programs. We will also learn the latest about drivers of Arctic ocean acidification.

There will be time for questions and discussions after each presentation.

Date, time and location:

January 28. 2021

14:00 – 15:30 UTC (15:00 – 16:30 CET)

Online, see details below

 

Presenters

Pauline Snoeijs Leijonmalm (Stockholm University)

­Organizing a biological core parameter program for the SAS-Oden 2021 expedition

Heidemarie Kassens (GEOMAR)

Arctic Century – International expedition onboard research icebreaker Akademik Tryoshnikov 

Karl Adam Ulfsbo (University of Gothenburg)

Drivers of ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean

 

The Webinar will take place in GoToMeeting. Please submit your e-mail in this form to get the meeting ID and password (the contact will only be used for this webinar, and the list will be deleted after two months).

Feel free to distribute this throughout your community and network.

See you there!

Update on SAS session at ASSW2021

SAS has a session on ASSW2021. Submit abstracts through the ASSW21 website https://assw2021.pt/

The new deadline is Dec 10, 2020.

 

ASSW21 Theme: Observing the Arctic

Session ID: 17 – The Synoptic Arctic Survey (SAS) Activities

Abstract

The Central Arctic Ocean remains profoundly understudied, particularly carbon cycling, ecosystem alteration, and associated changes in atmosphere, ice and ocean physics that influence those biological and biogeochemical systems. The region is expected to continue to make marked changes over the next decades, driven by ongoing climate warming, yet our understanding of key process is limited for this area. The international Synoptic Arctic Survey (SAS) seeks to quantify the present states of the physical, biological, and biogeochemical systems of the Arctic Ocean. Multiple countries have both confirmed and pending cruises as part of the 2020/2021 SAS networked activities. Key goals of the SAS are to establish the present state of the Arctic system, to document temporal changes where possible through comparison with historical data, and to quantify linkages between the adjacent shelves, slopes, and deep basins, objectives that are shared with the broader Pan-Arctic effort of the composite SAS. The SAS consists of regional shelf-to-basin ship-based surveys in 2020 and 2021 to obtain a Pan-Arctic understanding of essential ocean variables (EOVs) on a quasi-synoptic, spatially distributed basis in which no single nation bears the full burden of collecting the requisite data. The multi-country field effort will provide a strong basis for educational opportunities for early career scientists. This SAS session will outline the benchmark and important legacy for SAS activities to future, quasi-decadal assessments of rapid and evolving Arctic Ocean system change. Updates on the 2020 SAS field program results and upcoming national plans for 2021 activities will be provided during the session.

Key-words

Central Arctic Ocean, Pan-Arctic, ecosystem, climate change

Conveners

Jacqueline M. Grebmeier | University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, Maryland, USA
Oyvind Paasche | Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research and NORCE Climate, Bergen, Norway
Christina Goethel | University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, Maryland, USA

Watch the SAS November Webinar; Reporting back from the Arctic Ocean

November 19, 2020

Reports from the SAS cruise activity in 2020 from the national representatives;

0:04:03: Dr Shigeto Nishino (JAMSTEC) Reporting from the Japanese contribution from Bering Strait, Chukchi Sea, and Canada Basin with R/V Mirai.

0:17:25: Dr Kyoung-Ho Cho (KOPRI) Reporting from the Korean contribution from Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea with R/V Araon.

0:24:45: Dr Kumiko Asetzu-Scott (DFO) Reporting from the USA/Canada/Denmark/Greenland contribution from Davis Strait, Baffin Bay, and Labrador Sea with R/V Dana.

0:37:00: Dr Bill Williams (DFO) Reporting from the USA/Canada/Japan contribution from the Beaufort Sea and Canada Basin with CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent.

Updates on planned cruises;

0:54:30: Dr Mats Granskog (Norwegian Polar Institute) Cruise plans for Fram Strait (Norwegian Polar Institute) and Arctic Ocean (Nansen Legacy) with Kronprins Haakon.

MOSAiC:

1:01:00: Dr Carin Ashjian (WHOI) Presentation from the recent MOSAiC expedition.

SAS November Webinar

CTD, R/V Mirai 2020, Western Arctic Ocean.

The Synoptic Arctic Survey (SAS) completed four cruises this fall in the Western Arctic Ocean, where the latest one with R/V Mirai just arrived back in Shimizu (Japan) from the Canada Basin.

On this occasion, we would like to invite you to join the SAS November Webinar where representatives from each cruise will report back from the expeditions. Much changed because of the pandemic, but most cruises still carried out their sampling program and collected physical, chemical, and biological measurements that will become part of SAS’s pan-arctic dataset.

In addition to the cruise reports, there will be an update on “ARCTIC CENTURY”, the Russian/Swiss/German contribution to SAS 2021 that will sample across the Kara Sea with the icebreaker Akademik Tryoshnikov. We will also see some highlights from the recent yearlong MOSAiC cruise.

There will be time for questions and discussion after the last talk.

Date, time, and location:

November 19, 2020
15:00 – 17:00 CET
Online, see details below.

Presenters:

Dr Shigeto Nishino (JAMSTEC) Reporting from the Japanese contribution from Bering Strait, Chukchi Sea, and Canada Basin with R/V Mirai.
 
Dr Kyoung-Ho Cho (KOPRI) – Reporting from the Korean contribution from Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea with R/V Araon.

Dr Kumiko Asetzu-Scott (DFO) – Reporting from the USA/Canada/Denmark/Greenland contribution from Davis Strait, Baffin Bay, and Labrador Sea with R/V Dana.

Dr Bill Williams (DFO) – Reporting from the USA/Canada/Japan contribution from the Beaufort Sea and Canada Basin with CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent.

Dr Heidi Marie Kassens (GEOMAR) – Update on «ARCTIC CENTURY» 2021.

Dr Carin Ashjian (WHOI) – Presentation from the recent MOSAiC expedition.
 
The Webinar will take place in GoToMeeting. Please email anne.meisingset@uib.no to get the meeting ID and password.

Feel free to distribute this throughout your community and network.

See you there!

Mascots of R/V Mirai’s mother port Mutsu (Japan) together with a sediment trap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best regards,

Anne Kari Meisingset
SAS Coordinator

SAS on Arctic Science Summit Week 2021

Good news!

SAS will lead a session during next year’s online Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) 20 to 26 March.

Session name: “The International Synoptic Arctic Survey (SAS) Program in the High Arctic”

Chairs: Jacqueline Grebmeier (CBL/UMCES, USA), Øyvind Paasche (Norway), and Christina Goethel (CBL/UMCES, USA)

More information will come in December.