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SCAR Scientific Research Programs
The focus of SCAR's international scientific coordination is its major Scientific Research Program (SRPs). If you want further details and/or explore how you might participate in a specific program, contact the SRP Chief Officers (follow the links below to the program home web site) or the SCAR Secretariat.
Antarctic Climate EvolutionACE is an international research initiative that has grown out of the ANTOSTRAT (ANTarctic Offshore STRATigraphy) project. ANTOSTRAT orginated in 1990 as an offshoot project of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Group of Specialists on the Evolution of Cenozoic Paleoenvironments of the Southern High Latitudes. The ANTOSTRAT program officially came to an end in July 2002. The goal of ACE is to continue the study of Antarctic climate and glacial history through paleoclimate and ice sheet modeling studies, purposefully integrated with geological investigations of the proxy record of ancient Antarctic climates and ice sheets. ACE is now an official SCAR program.
Antarctica and the Global Climate System
AGCS is a major research programme to investigate the nature of the atmospheric and oceanic linkages between the climate of the Antarctic and the rest of the Earth system, and the mechanisms involved therein. The scientific direction of the project is over seen by the AGCS Steering Committee. The program makes use of existing deep and shallow ice cores, satellite data, the output of global and regional coupled atmosphere-ocean climate models and in-situ meteorological and oceanic data to understand the means by which signals of tropical and mid-latitude climate variability reach the Antarctic, and high latitude climate signals are exported northwards. It has four major, closely linked themes of research dealing with decadal time scale variability in the Antarctic climate system, global and regional climate signals in ice cores, natural and anthropogenic forcing on the Antarctic climate system and the export of Antarctic climate signals.
Evolution and Biology in Antarctica
Describe the past, understand the present, predict the future
Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic: The Response of Life to Change or EBA is an international, multidisciplinary programme that has been approved by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) for 2006 - 2013. This program combines the research communities and aims of the past SCAR programmes of RiSCC, EVOLANTA and EASIZ. EBA seeks to:
- Understand the evolution and diversity of life in the Antarctic;
- Determine how these have influenced the properties and dynamics of present Antarctic ecosystems and the Southern Ocean system;
- Make predictions on how organisms and communities are responding and will respond to current and future environmental change; and
- Identify EBA science outcomes that are relevant to conservation policy and communicate this science via the SCAR Antarctic Treaty System Committee
EBA aims to facilitate collaboration between key researchers from other disciplines through workshops and conferences and maximize international and multidisciplinary involvement. By integrating research in marine, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems in a manner never before attempted, EBA hopes to advance evolutionary and ecological science globally using model systems and organisms from the Antarctic.
Interhemispheric Conjugacy Effects in Solar-Terrestrial and Aeronomy Research
Subglacial Antarctic Lake Environments
SALE - Subglacial Antarctic Lake Environments - is a Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) program that brings together an international confederation of scientists dedicated to understanding the interplay of biological, geological, chemical, glaciological, and physical processes within subglacial environments. SALE will advance our understanding of the geological evolution of our planet’s fifth largest continent. The integration of geophysical observations, in situ measurements, and advanced modeling will provide a holistic view of the fundamental forces that have shaped Antarctica over the millennia. Deciphering subglacial sedimentary record will provide unique information about Antarctic paleoclimate, ice sheet history, and stability that can be found nowhere else. Embedded in this is a record of the evolution of the interior of the Antarctic continent that is unrecoverable from most other Antarctic environments.
Coming soon!
The Antarctic Astronomy and Astrophysics proposal was approved at SCAR XXX to become a SCAR Scientific Research program in 2010 and it will coordinate efforts to:
- Explore the potential for astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology from Antarctica
- Enhance existing observatories and programs in Antarctica
- Support the development of new facilities