|
The FY 2002 Budget Request for U.S. Polar Research
Programs Activity is $213.97 million, an increase of $3.17 million,
or 1.5 percent, over the FY 2001 Current Plan of $210.80 million.
(Millions of Dollars)
|
FY 2000
Actual |
FY 2001
Current Plan |
FY 2002
Request |
Change |
Amount |
Percent |
U.S. Arctic Research Program |
26.09
|
31.14
|
33.14
|
2.00
|
6.4%
|
U.S. Arctic Research Support and Logistics |
23.96
|
23.96
|
23.96
|
0.00
|
0.0%
|
Arctic Research Commission |
0.70
|
1.00
|
1.02
|
0.01
|
1.4%
|
U.S. Antarctic Research Grants Program |
31.07
|
36.50
|
37.25
|
0.75
|
2.1%
|
Operations and Science Support |
108.11
|
118.20
|
118.61
|
0.41
|
0.3%
|
Total, U.S. Polar Research Programs |
$189.93
|
$210.80
|
$213.97
|
$3.17
|
1.5%
|
The U.S. Polar Research Programs Activity supports
both Arctic and Antarctic research. Arctic support represents part
of a larger NSF and federal effort. Antarctic support represents
the role of NSF as manager of the entire federal Antarctic program,
including special requirements for operations and science support.
U.S. Arctic Research Program
The FY 2002 Budget Request for the U. S. Arctic Research
Program within Polar Programs is $33.14 million, an increase of
$2.00 million, or 6.4 percent over the FY 2001 Current Plan. This
represents over 70 percent of the NSF support for university-based
Arctic research.
The U.S. Arctic Research Program supports research on the Arctic
Ocean, and the Arctic's atmosphere and land areas - including its
people and marine and terrestrial ecosystems. In addition to research
in individual disciplines, an Arctic System Science (ARCSS) component
focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the Arctic
region, including its role in global climate.
Of growing interest and importance is providing full
annual access, especially during winter months, to polar regions
such as Summit on the Greenland icecap, in order to extend measurements
on living and physical systems into the dark months and to test
models developed on the basis of summer-only measurements. This
includes facilitating both human and virtual access through remote
instrumentation.
It has become widely recognized that the Arctic is
in the midst of a change. This change has been especially significant
in the last decade. At the same time, changes have occurred in the
ice cover, atmosphere, some terrestrial parameters, and northern
ecosystems. Residents of the north are seeing these environmental
changes affect their lives. It is important to determine whether
these changes are correlated with a fundamental shift in atmospheric
circulation or whether they signal global long-term change.
Priorities in FY 2002 include:
NSF, in cooperation with other federal agencies,
plans to initiate support for a broad, interdisciplinary, multi-scale
program with the aim of understanding the complex suite of recent
and ongoing interrelated environmental - atmospheric, oceanic,
and terrestrial - changes. Plans for the program, known as Study
of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH), include: a long-term
observational program to track environmental changes; a modeling
program to test hypotheses about the coupling between the different
environmental components and predict future changes; process studies
to test hypotheses about critical feedbacks; and an assessment
component to understand the ultimate impact of the change on the
ecosystem and society.
Support for merit reviewed oceanographic research
using the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy. The Healy
is the first U.S. research vessel capable of providing access
to the entire Arctic Ocean.
Ongoing activities include:
Support for Western Arctic Shelf-Basin Interactions
(SBI), examining shelf-slope water mass modification and chemical
exchange processes in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas and their
impact on the thermohaline and biogeochemical structure of the
Arctic Ocean. The overarching goal of the SBI program is to provide
a major step forward in understanding biogeochemical processes
and their interactions to understand the controls on marine productivity,
including fisheries and marine mammals.
Support for a cooperative program with German
investigators to sample basalts, peridotites and related rocks
along 600 km of the Gakkel Ridge in the central Arctic Ocean.
Results of this project will be used to generate quantitative
models of oceanic crust formation under ultra-slow spreading conditions.
The Gakkel is the slowest spreading mid-ocean ridge in the world
and, as such, provides a window on crustal processes that cannot
be studied at the more common, faster-spreading ridges.
Support for cross-disciplinary modeling studies
to address the issue of whether climate changes are natural or
anthropogenic and the implications for resource management, habitability,
and change in the Arctic system.
Data analysis and modeling for the Surface Heat
Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) Project. Data collected from the
field phase of SHEBA will be used to improve models that predict
the fate of the great canopy of Arctic pack ice. This ice has
a major effect on disparate activities, from shipping to the health
of the Arctic's rich marine ecosystem. This ecosystem embraces
whales, polar bears, fish and plankton - and is key to the livelihood
of Arctic peoples. The ultimate goal of SHEBA is to improve forecasts
of climate change.
Research on the effects of contaminants in the
Arctic, focusing on aspects of individual physical, chemical,
and living systems or on functional interrelationships among multiple
systems - ranging from microscopic to global in scale and organization.
U.S. Arctic Research Support and Logistics
Arctic research support and logistics is driven by
and responsive to the science supported in U.S. Arctic Research
programs. Funding for logistics is provided directly to grantees
or to key organizations who provide or manage Arctic research support
and logistics. FY 2002 highlights include:
Increased ability to provide fixed and rotary-wing
airlift support to researchers conducting regional studies in
the difficult, and often fragile, Arctic terrain in Alaska,
Canada, Greenland, Arctic Scandinavia, and Russia.
Improved access to U.S. Coast Guard and other
icebreakers, University-National Oceanographic Laboratory vessels
and coastal boats, and support on the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter
Healy. FY 2002 is the second year of Healy's service
as a research support vessel.
Infrastructure upgrades at Toolik Field Station,
the University of Alaska, Fairbanks', field station for ecological
research on Alaska's North Slope.
Development of new capabilities at the Barrow
Environmental Observatory.
Further development of a year-round facility
at Summit, Greenland, potentially in collaboration with European
partners.
Establishment of strategically placed Long
Term Observatories capable of supporting selected chemical and
physical on-site analyses. For example, sites to measure the
river input into the Arctic Ocean from the surrounding continental
land masses or observe ocean flux through the Bering Strait.
Development of innovative technology and instrumentation
such as pilotless aircraft and autonomous underwater vehicles
that will allow investigators to make measurements year-round
in and above the Arctic Ocean.
Improved safety measures for field researchers,
including field safety experts, global satellite telephones
for emergency response, and improved logistics coordination.
Partnering with the International Arctic Research
Center, based at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, to support
global change assessment activities and research in the Arctic.
Arctic Research Commission
Funding for the Arctic Research Commission (ARC),
an independent federal agency, is transferred through the National
Science Foundation to ARC. In FY 2002 ARC is requesting $1.02 million,
an increase of $13,824, or 1.4 percent, over FY 2001. This funding
continues to support four FTEs and associated operating expenses
of ARC.
U.S. Antarctic Research Grants Program
The FY 2002 Budget Request for the U.S. Antarctic
Research Grants Program (USARP) is $37.25 million, an increase of
$750,000, or 2.1 percent over FY 2001.
The USARP provides grants to fund scientific research
related to Antarctica and to the Southern Ocean. This research,
best or uniquely carried out in Antarctica, provides the principal
expression of U.S. presence in Antarctica. Funded research projects
also receive assistance through the Operations and Science Support
budget component, as well as through the U.S. Antarctic Logistical
Support Activities.
The FY 2002 Request will support research projects
in Antarctica and at U.S. academic institutions. Investigations
will focus on the earth, the ice, surrounding oceans, the atmosphere,
and terrestrial and marine ecosystems, as well as on astronomical
and astrophysical research for which the cold, dry atmosphere at
the South Pole provides ideal conditions. This fundamental research
provides insights on the ozone hole, effects of ultraviolet radiation
on the biosphere, changes in the ice sheet and impacts on sea level,
global weather and climate, ocean circulation, and on the nature
of the universe. There will be a continued emphasis in FY 2002 on
awards for modeling and analysis of data collected in Antarctica.
Priorities in FY 2002 include:
Preliminary support for Antarctic sub-glacial
lake characterization and study, including Lake Vostok. Recent
results have revealed that life has evolved in total darkness
and in isolation from the atmosphere in a number of lakes buried
beneath two miles of glacial ice. Support will include analysis
of airborne ice-penetrating radar and laser altimetry, gravity,
and magnetics data, as well as acquisition and initial analysis
of basic land surface data in support of polar ecosystem characterization
research.
Support for a polar genomics activity. Evolutionary
adaptation to polar environments has been discovered in microorganisms
at the genomic level, setting the stage for new areas of research
addressing questions that range from evolutionary biology to
the interplay between the environment and gene expression.
Ongoing activities include:
Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics
(GLOBEC), with the goal of understanding and ultimately predicting
how populations of marine animal species interact with the physical
environment and respond to natural and anthropogenic climate
changes.
International Trans-Antarctic Science Expedition
(ITASE) which investigates the last 200 years of climate in
Antarctica in an effort to understand the atmospheric composition
and anthropogenic effects.
Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) continues
the search for meteorites in collaboration with the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Smithsonian Institution.
Due to new interpretation of ALH84001 "fossils" as
magnetic bacteria the importance of this activity is increased.
Continued operation of polar LTERs as part
of an international framework for ecosystem research.
Astrophysics research to address the origin
of the universe, galaxies and stars.
Operations and Science Support
The FY 2002 Budget Request for Operations and Science
Support is $118.61 million, an increase of $410,000, or 0.3 percent,
over FY 2001. Operations and Science Support makes research in Antarctica
possible by providing the required research and life support facilities,
food, fuel, environmental protection, health and safety, and all
other operational support for all U.S. research conducted on the
continent, including research funded through other federal agencies
such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National
Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Geological Survey,
Department of Energy, and Smithsonian Institution.
Costs normally attributed to research grants funded
by other NSF activities are included in Operations and Science Support.
This central management of funds allows for a more cost effective
approach to the support of science in Antarctica, as well as helping
to ensure that proper environmental and safety standards are maintained.
It allows for volume buying of equipment and consumables for the
laboratories, takes advantage of lower transportation costs through
advantageous shipping and ticket fares negotiated at group rates,
and eliminates duplication of administrative effort.
Operations and Science Support also funds the management
of the South Pole Station Modernization, an activity funded out
of the Major Research Equipment (MRE) Account from FY 1998 through
FY 2001. The new station will provide the infrastructure required
for imaginative new science on the drawing board. Fully taking advantage
of the new station will require new efficiencies in delivering scientists
and science supplies to remote locations and the South Pole and
fuel to the South Pole.
FY 2002 priorities include:
Providing operational logistical support for
an Antarctic sub-glacial lake activity. Support includes development
of a season-long ice runway at McMurdo Station and a divert
airstrip for emergency landings. This capability will also benefit
South Pole Station-based and other deep-field research in Antarctica;
Providing operational and logistical support
for a polar genomics activity; and
Enabling scientists conducting research in
Antarctica to leverage their impact and productivity by directly
sharing their research with colleagues and collaborators through
improvements in communications capabilities and bandwidth.
Science support and operations are provided primarily
through a support contractor. A Polar Class U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker
provides access to McMurdo Station for resupply ships. Other agencies
and contractors also provide technical support in areas of expertise
such as engineering, construction and communications. The estimated
costs of these functions are displayed in the following table:
Operations and Science Support
(Millions of Dollars)
|
FY 2000 Est |
FY 2000 Estimate |
FY 2001 Est |
FY 2001 Estimate |
FY 2002 Estimate |
Administration |
5.10
|
5.10
|
5.30
|
5.20
|
5.20
|
Science facilities,
research ships, field camp operations, science support aircraft |
28.34
|
29.00
|
30.00
|
29.10
|
29.20
|
Operations at McMurdo,
South Pole & Palmer Stations |
23.00
|
23.21
|
26.50
|
25.70
|
25.80
|
Transportation
of people & cargo, materials & inventory |
19.20
|
20.00
|
23.60
|
22.90
|
22.90
|
Engineering, construction
& facilities maintenance |
12.59
|
13.00
|
15.70
|
15.20
|
15.30
|
Data handling &
communications |
12.50
|
12.50
|
14.78
|
14.40
|
14.50
|
Waste management,
fire protection, occupational health & safety, quality assurance |
3.10
|
3.10
|
3.20
|
3.10
|
3.10
|
Coast Guard icebreaker
support |
2.20
|
2.20
|
2.70
|
2.60
|
2.61
|
Total, Operations
& Science Support |
$106.03
|
$108.11
|
$121.78
|
$118.20
|
$118.61
|
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