ALBERT

Description: HIRAD (Hurricane Imaging Radiometer) flew on the WB-57 during NASA's GRIP (Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes) campaign in August - September of 2010. HIRAD is a new C-band radiometer using a synthetic thinned array radiometer (STAR) technology to obtain cross-track resolution of approximately 3 degrees, out to approximately 60 degrees to each side of nadir. By obtaining measurements of emissions at 4, 5, 6, and 6.6 GHz, observations of ocean surface wind speed and rain rate can be inferred. This technique has been used for many years by precursor instruments, including the Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR), which has been flying on the NOAA and USAF hurricane reconnaissance aircraft for several years. The advantage of HIRAD over SFMR is that HIRAD can observe a +/- 60-degree swath, rather than a single footprint at nadir angle. Results from the flights during the GRIP campaign will be shown, including images of brightness temperatures, wind speed, and rain rate. To the extent possible, comparisons will be made with observations from other instruments on the GRIP campaign, for which HIRAD observations are either directly comparable or are complementary. Potential impacts on operational ocean surface wind analyses and on numerical weather forecasts will also be discussed.

Description: The impact of acute altitude exposure on pulmonary function is variable. A large inter-individual variability in the changes in forced expiratory flows (FEFs) is reported with acute exposure to altitude, which is suggested to represent an interaction between several factors influencing bronchial tone such as changes in gas density, catecholamine stimulation, and mild interstitial edema. This study examined the association between FEF variability, acute mountain sickness (AMS) and various blood markers affecting bronchial tone (endothelin-1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), catecholamines, angiotensin II) in 102 individuals rapidly transported to the South Pole (2835 m). The mean FEF between 25 and 75% (FEF25-75) and blood markers were recorded at sea level and after the second night at altitude. AMS was assessed using Lake Louise questionnaires. FEF25-75 increased by an average of 12% with changes ranging from -26 to +59% from sea level to altitude. On the second day, AMS incidence was 36% and was higher in individuals with increases in FEF25-75 (41 vs. 22%, P = 0.05). Ascent to altitude induced an increase in endothelin-1 levels, with greater levels observed in individuals with decreased FEF25-75. Epinephrine levels increased with ascent to altitude and the response was six times larger in individuals with decreased FEF25-75. Greater levels of endothelin-1 in individuals with decreased FEF25-75 suggest a response consistent with pulmonary hypertension and/or mild interstitial edema, while epinephrine may be upregulated in these individuals to clear lung fluid through stimulation of beta2-adrenergic receptors.

Description: West Antarctica combines one of the largest active rift systems with one of the largest ice sheets on Earth. Complete melting of the West Antarctic Ice-Sheet (WAIS) would result in a global sea level rise of about 5 m. Understanding ice-sheet dynamics is of major importance for predicting future deglaciation processes in Antarctica. Generally, it is assumed that the geodynamic activity of Western Antarctica as the cradle of the WAIS exerts a strong influence on ice sheet dynamics, but coupling and feedback mechanisms are poorly understood. This project aims to apply geophysical and thermochronological methods for unravelling the geodynamic evolution of Marie Byrd Land (West Antarctica) in terms of crustal structure, exhumation and erosion rates, fault activities, and (paleo-)geothermal gradient. Furthermore, we will use cosmogenic nuclide analysis for reconstructing thinning rates and glacial retreat in Marie Byrd Land. The combination of both data sets provides information on spatial and temporal correlations of geodynamic activity and ice-sheet evolution. Here, we show first results of apatite dating from samples collected in Pine Island Bay during RV Polarstern expedition ANT-XXVI/3 (2010).

Description: © The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Oecologia 168 (2012): 819-828, doi:10.1007/s00442-011-2133-7.

Description: Global climate change is expected to affect terrestrial ecosystems in a variety of ways. Some of the more well-studied effects include the biogeochemical feedbacks to the climate system that can either increase or decrease the atmospheric load of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. Less well-studied are the effects of climate change on the linkages between soil and plant processes. Here, we report the effects of soil warming on these linkages observed in a large field manipulation of a deciduous forest in southern New England, USA, where soil was continuously warmed 5°C above ambient for 7 years. Over this period, we have observed significant changes to the nitrogen cycle that have the potential to affect tree species composition in the long term. Since the start of the experiment, we have documented a 45% average annual increase in net nitrogen mineralization and a three-fold increase in nitrification such that in years 5 through 7, 25% of the nitrogen mineralized is then nitrified. The warming-induced increase of available nitrogen resulted in increases in the foliar nitrogen content and the relative growth rate of trees in the warmed area. Acer rubrum (red maple) trees have responded the most after 7 years of warming, with the greatest increases in both foliar nitrogen content and relative growth rates. Our study suggests that considering species-specific responses to increases in nitrogen availability and changes in nitrogen form is important in predicting future forest composition and feedbacks to the climate system.

Description: This work was supported by the National Institute for Climate Change Research (DOE-DE-FCO2-06-ER64157), DOE BER (DE-SC0005421) and the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research program (NSF-DEB-0620443).

Description: 3000 m of ice sheet thickness has ensured that central Greenland has kept it geothermal heat flow (GHF) distribution enigmatic. Some few direct ice temperature measurements from deep ice cores reveal a GHF of 50 to 60 mW/m2 in the Summit region and this is noticeably above what would be expected for the underlying Early Proterozoic lithosphere. In addition, indirect estimates from zones of rapid basal melting suggest extreme anomalies 15 to 30 times continental background. Subglacial topography indicates caldera like topographic features in the zones hinting at possible volcanic activity in the past [1], and all of these observations combined hint at an anomalous lithospheric structure. Further supporting this comes from new high-resolution P-wave tomography, which shows a strong thermal anomaly in the lithosphere crossing Greenland from east to west [2]. Rock outcrops at the eastern and western end of this zone indicate significant former magmatic activity, older in the east and younger in the west. Additionally, plate modelling studies suggest that the Greenland plate passed over the mantle plume that is currently under Iceland from late Cretaceous to Neogene times, consistent with the evidence from age of magmatism. Evidence of rapid basal melt revealed by ice penetrating radar along the hypocentre of the putative plume track indicates that it continues to affect the Greenland continental geotherm today. We analyse plume-induced thermal disturbance of the present-day lithosphere and their effects on the central Greenland ice sheet by using a novel evolutionary model of the climate-ice-lithosphere-upper mantle system. Our results indicate that mantle plume-induced erosion of the lithosphere has occurred, explaining caldera-type volcanic structures, the GHF anomaly, and requiring dyke intrusion into the crust during the early Cenozoic. The residual thermo-mechanical effect of the mantle plume has raised deep-sourced heat flow by over 25 mW/m2 since 60 Ma and explains the high basal melting rates of the Greenland ice sheet observed in the study area. [1] Fahnestock, M., Abdalati, W., Joughin, I., Brozena, J., Gogineni, P., 2001. High geothermal heat flow, Basal melt, and the origin of rapid ice flow in central Greenland. Science (New York, N.Y.). 294, 2338–2342. [2] Jakovlev, A.V., Bushenkova, N.A., Koulakov, I.Y., Dobretsov, N.L., 2012. Structure of the upper mantle in the Circum-Arctic region from regional seismic tomography. Russian Geology and Geophysics. 53, 963–971.