This Polar Science special issue, "SuperDARN / Studies of Geospace Dynamics - Today and Future," originated from an international SuperDARN (Super Dual Auroral Radar Network) annual workshop held in Japan in June 2019, and is focused on studies of geospace dynamics particularly related to SuperDARN. Its purpose is to overview recent wide and active research, new scientific results and future perspectives

Antarctic continent comprises diverse ecosystems like snow, glacier ice, sea ice, melt pools, glacial soils, supraglacial and subglacial lakes that accommodate numerous microbial and algal communities. These biotic groups secrete matrices of biomacromolecules called Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPSs), which enhance their ability to withstand extreme environmental conditions. EPSs are mainly

Amidst changing seasonal snow-covered periods and extents in northern high latitude regions, winter CH4 oxidation is susceptible to drastic climate change, all of which modulates an accurate assessment of regional carbon balance. The importance of winter CH4 oxidation to the soils in these regions has previously been recognized; in this study, concentrations of CH4 and 222Rn were observed in the snowpack

In this paper, echo occurrence rates for the Dome C East (DCE) and the new Dome C North (DCN) radars are studied. We report the ionospheric and ground scatter echo occurrence rates for selected periods around equinoxes and solstices in the final part of the solar cycle XXIV. The occurrence maps built in Altitude Adjusted Corrected Geomagnetic latitude and Magnetic Local Time coordinates show peculiar

Ice drilling systems with near-bottom hot water circulation can be used for many challenging scientific tasks in the study of ice sheets, glaciers, and subglacial environments. These systems melt ice using water jets heated directly at the bottom of the hole, thus eliminating the use of long heavy hoses and surface pumps. To investigate the influence of the drill tip shape and nozzle diameter on the

The Sakha Republic is the largest region of the Russian Federation by territory. At the same time, it is also considered one of the most sparsely populated regions. Because of the Republic's size and relatively small population, the Russian government included the Republic in the Far-Eastern Hectare Law (FEHL) in 2016 in order to repopulate and render productive the region. According to this law, any

This study documents multi-proxy data representing surface water productivity and AMS 14C dates of box (BC3) and gravity (GC2) cores in the Central Basin of the northwestern Ross Sea. Based on AMS 14C dates, a comparison of sediment properties between BC3 and GC2 reveals that BC3 records the complete Holocene (i.e., interglacial) history, which is correlated to the uppermost part of GC2. The lithostratigraphic

A national Arctic research project of “Japan's national project of Arctic Challenge for Sustainability (ArCS)” finished in March 2020. A special issue for ArCS was prepared to summarize performances of ArCS through fourteen invited articles that were reviewed activities and achievements of ArCS. In this Editorial, major facts and the structure of ArCS are shown. Also, each invited article is introduced

This research note describes how the Japanese five-year Arctic research program “Arctic Challenge for Sustainability (ArCS)” was implemented, focusing on its activities that supported the research, with a brief introduction of the background of Japan’s Arctic research. There were two shifts in the style of Japan’s Arctic research during the last 10–15 years: from small research projects by individual

The Arctic climate system is very sensitive to external perturbations, which results in more rapid surface air temperature (SAT) changes in the Arctic compared to lower latitudes. This study aims at assessing the performance of global climate models from the phases 5 and 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5 and CMIP6) in reproducing the periods of Arctic warming and cooling known from

We report the history and progress of the Japanese contribution to the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) project; especially focusing on the initial stage of SENSU (Syowa South and East HF Radars of NIPR for SUperDARN) project. The SENSU Syowa South HF radar operated by NIPR was one of the starting members of the initial SuperDARN radar operating at Syowa Station in Antarctica in 1995. It

We have been operating remote high frequency (HF) wave receivers for the SuperDARN Hokkaido East radar in Nagoya (1092 km away from the radar) and Rikubetsu (a few tens of m away from the radar antenna) since 2014 to monitor the ionospheric environment and its changes. One receiver set consists of USRP-N210 receiver unit, Ubuntu Linux PC and dipole/loop antenna. Using the remote receiver data it is

Green spaces have recently received wide acknowledgement for urban sustainability benefits and are mentioned in the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs Target 11.7. The article aims to address the knowledge gap on indicators used for assessment of green spaces for urban sustainability in the Arctic using an example of Nadym, Russia which is illustrative of compact cities built during the Soviet time

We found a statistically significant relationship between the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and Antarctic sea ice concentration (SIC) in austral winter. SIC differences between the easterly phase of the QBO (EQBO) and westerly phase of the QBO (WQBO) show positive anomalies of SIC in the following regions: over the Ross Sea, Weddell Sea, and around 90°E. This wave-3 pattern is clearly

Understanding of the coastal waters of Antarctica is crucial in determining the ocean-ice system response to climate change. In this study, using hydrography observations we have provided the observational evidence of anomalous warming (>1 °C) in the Prydz Bay during austral summer. Even though the warming was centred at 68°S, 74°E, the presence of warmer waters were also noticed close to the Amery

Extreme microorganism has gained interest because of their special contribution to the environmental and industrial biotechnology, particularly psychrophilic microorganisms which can live and thrive at lower temperatures. They produce enzymes with great potential to adapt to extreme conditions. In this study, a novel psychrophilic bacterial strain designated as TaeBurcu001 grew (optimally at 5 °C)

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) play important roles in the survival of microorganisms existing in the cold environment. One of the several AFPs from an Arctic glacier bacterial strain which in our previous study showed thermal hysteresis (TH) and ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) activities has been characterized partially in the present study. The cry-c AFP from the Svalbard Arctic cryoconite strain

Black Carbon (BC) absorbs the radiation and alters snow/ice albedo, which influences the Earth - Atmosphere radiation balance over the Arctic region. BC masses are estimated using Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry (WRF-CHEM) over the Arctic region during the boreal winter and summer seasons of 2018. The meteorological parameters such as near surface temperature and relative humidity in

The Arctic is one of the regions where the effect of global change is most evident. Associated with warming are changes in snow, sea ice and hydroclimate, all which have significant impacts on environments and society. However, due to short observational records, it is difficult to set the current climate in a long-term context. Arctic driftwood (DW), available throughout the Holocene, is a paleoclimate

A total of 362 marine core samples from 200 m below the sea-floor (mbsf) were examined through the International Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), Hole U1325B, Northern Cascadia Margin. The diversity parameters increased at ∼200 mbsf during the Early Middle Pleistocene Transition (EMPT) period and gradually decreased towards ∼165 mbsf. The diversity pattern is also notable, which projects the termination

The role of antennas in the detection of atmospheric conduction current has been discussed since the beginning of the 20th century. Propriety of the antenna design needs to be reviewed from time to time as the measurements experience different problems on various terrains. The present work deals with such issues and brings out a suitable antenna design to detect the conduction current observed at the

The maximum peak of the directional derivative of the SuperDARN convection flow has been proposed as a proxy for the open/closed magnetic field line boundary (OCB) and this has been evaluated using data from the ultraviolet imagers collected during the steady southward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) condition. However, the technique ignores the contribution of ionospheric vorticity in determining

Recent changes in the near-surface air temperature (nSAT) in the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) suggests that the absence of 21st century warming on Antarctic Peninsula may be coming to end. To examine this, the long-term annual and seasonal variability of the nSAT at eight Antarctic stations located in the AP are analyzed using available data from the SCAR Reader database, complemented with data from the

High-resolution data on spatial variations in the productivity of bryophytes and the mass of the organic layer are important components in geochemical models for northern forests. We investigated spatial variations in growth rates of the feather moss Hylocomium splendens and the thickness of the organic layer in relation to environmental factors on a north-facing slope in Interior Alaska. The forest

The sediments of shallow marine waters and lakes around Antarctica provide valuable records of sea-level changes. Understanding the timing and amplitude of Antarctic Ice Sheet changes during the last deglaciation is essential to assess the effect of glacial isostatic adjustments on the present ice-sheet mass balance. However, the difficulty in accessing Antarctica makes it challenging to obtain field-based

Ground surface elevation changes are closely linked to the dynamics of the active layer and near-surface permafrost. GNSS interferometric reflectometry (GNSS-IR), a technique utilizing reflected signals regarded as noise in the GNSS applications, such as positioning and navigation, can measure surface elevation changes in permafrost areas. In this study, we screen seven major open-data GNSS networks

Continued global warming and the increase in climate extremes have mostly been identified in Northern and Arctic areas of Russia. Investigation of natural and climatic conditions in these regions was conducted using the method of zoning that is based on the environmental conditions of human life. This method estimates the relatively slowly changing landscape component and the rapidly changing climate

Arctic and boreal permafrost ecosystems in Eastern Siberia, considered crucial to the climate system and global carbon cycle, are particularly vulnerable to climate change. This study investigates carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange fluxes over northeastern Siberia from 2013 to 2015 in a taiga–tundra boundary ecosystem for which such measurements are scarce. The growing season (May–September) net CO2 exchange

Drilling fluid in Arctic permafrost needs to have good ultra-low temperature rheology, shale inhibition, hydrate inhibition and environmental protection performance. In this work, the properties of ultra-low temperature drilling fluid and additives have been evaluated by using rheology and fluid filtration tests, shale inhibition tests, hydrate inhibition tests, thermal conductivity measurements and

The early Alpine glaciation is known from few sources detailing initial growth of ice either during the late Oligocene or early Miocene, localities limited to high summits of East Antarctica. The Ant-831 paleosol, developed in moraine emplaced during the Alpine event, has been studied with respect to its pedogenesis and to rinds recovered from its pebble pavement. This pedostratigraphic section is

Outcrops of East Antarctic shield exposed along the coast of Princess Elizabeth Land (PEL) provide a peek into its Neoproterozoic evolution. The terrain comprises of interleaved pelitic, felsic and mafic granulites. Examination of mafic granulites from Sostrene Islands - Larsemann Hills - Brattstrand Bluffs terrain indicates multiple sources for their protolith. The ensemble of mafic rocks intimately

This research executed biomonitoring of anthropogenic changes in the fragile ecosystems of the Arctic by implementing a system of repeated observations of several coastal areas in the Barents Sea that differ in their geographical location, anthropogenic load and seawater salinity level. The level of metal pollution (Cu, Cd, Pb) was determined by their concentrations in brown algae of the genus Fucus

A medium-scale travelling ionospheric disturbance (MSTID) was observed concomitantly by SANAE and Halley SuperDARN HF radars during the period 02–06 UT 17 March 2013. The event occurred during a geomagnetically quiet time where no substorm or storm activities were observed. Both radars (at similar geomagnetic latitudes of 61.80S (SANAE) and 62.10S (Halley)) are well placed for observing the sporadic

The influence of the height of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) on its climate is investigated through numerical modeling, using NCAR-CESM-CAM5, which is found to be one of the best performing models over the region. The investigation reveals that on the reduction of its height, the troposphere over Antarctica will become warmer and wetter, annual precipitation and snow accumulation would enhance, and

The cause of cold events over central Asia was investigated. Since 1958, surface air temperature (SAT) has gradually increased over central Asia, but SAT has shown very strong multidecadal fluctuations, with cooling dominant in the 1960s–1970s and recent decades but warming dominant in the 1990s. SAT in February in central Asia has decreased by more than 7 °C compared to that in normal years. Analysis

Ocean observation research theme under ArCS project, “Theme 4: Observational research on Arctic Ocean environmental changes”, aimed to elucidate the status and trends of ongoing Arctic Ocean environmental changes and to evaluate their impacts on Arctic marine ecosystem and the global climate system. For these purposes, we conducted field observations, mooring observations, laboratory experiments, numerical

We compare the sediment magnetic properties of two lakes in Schirmacher Oasis, East Antarctica and discuss the intensity of pedogenesis during the Late Quaternary. The magnetic minerals are land-derived with no obliteration of the signal due to bacterial or anthropogenic sources. The magnetic grains of Lake L-49 are much smaller in size compared to Lake Sandy's (IRM20mT/ARM, S20 ratios). The iron oxide

The high frequency radars in the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) estimate the elevation angles of returned backscatter using interferometric techniques. These elevation angles allow the ground range to the scattering point to be estimated, which is crucial for the accurate geolocation of ionospheric measurements. For elevation angles to be accurately estimated, it is important to calibrate

Black carbon (BC) aerosols and methane are considered as a part of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), and the uncertainty of the emission, removal processes, and its impact on global change is quite large. This paper reviews studies of SLCPs and CO2 performed during the Arctic Challenge for Sustainability (ArCS) project focusing on the Asian influx into the Arctic. For a more detailed understanding

The polar region is the gateway of the magnetospheric processes induced due to the solar events; through which Sun-illuminated plasma enter into the polar ionosphere. In this paper we are presenting the comparative study of the South Pole B-spline ionospheric scintillation model and ionospheric scintillation/total electron content (TEC) comparison tool (that uses only observed data) associated with

Raven appears as an important character in many Alaskan Athabascan myths. He is depicted as a powerful shaman who transforms the world through magic. In this chapter, I analyze an often-neglected motif of Alaskan Athabascan Raven stories: Raven as Dog-eaters. I use mythological texts and ethnographic data collected in prior studies and from my fieldwork in the community of Nikolai, Alaska. In some

Geese can profoundly affect arctic ecosystems directly (e.g., by grazing vegetation) and indirectly (e.g. by changing nutrient cycling resulting from faces inputs and by reducing plant litter). In the Arctic, behavior and abundance of geese have changed due to climate and land-use change. While the short-term effects of increased goose populations on tundra ecosystems are known, there is a knowledge

Environments along the coast of Greenland are rapidly changing under the influence of a warming climate in the Arctic. To better understand the changes in the coastal environments, we performed researches in the Qaanaaq region in northwestern Greenland as a part of the ArCS (Arctic Challenge for Sustainability) Project. Mass loss of ice caps and marine-terminating outlet glaciers were quantified by

The method for calibrating elevation measurements at EKB ISTP SB RAS radar obtained for the period 20/09/2019–18/11/2019 is presented. The calibration method is a modernization of the method for calibrating radar by meteor trails. The main difference of the method is the use of not a statistically processed FitACF data, but the full waveform of the signals scattered on the meteor trails. Using the

A review of researches related to ultra low frequency (ULF) waves studied using a midlatitude coherent decameter radar located near Ekaterinburg (EKB), Russia is presented. The radar was constructed similar to SuperDARN radars. During the experiment conducted in 2013–2015 three of its beams were surveyed successively with the integration time of 6 s providing time resolution of 18 s at each beam. In

The sea ice coverage in the summer Arctic Ocean from the Beaufort to Laptev Seas continues to decrease, and the largest waves in the western Arctic open waters are increasing year by year. By looking into the historical wave events in the ERA-Interim reanalysis data, we discovered that more than half of the extreme events are caused by cyclones that are originating in the Arctic Ocean as well as in

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is becoming a practical passage for transport during the warm season due to Arctic sea ice reduction. There is a need for new navigational support as LNG shipments are increasing in recent years. In this research, a non-heuristic optimal route search is attempted near the New Siberian Islands. The assumption is that an optimal route is related to the surrounding conditions

The direct collisions that thermospheric neutral particles experience with convecting ionospheric ions is the primary way in which energy from the solar wind is deposited into the Earth’s atmosphere. Because of these collisions, the neutral gas polewards of middle latitudes (∼±40∘ geomagnetic) is often set into motion due to ion-drag, and Joule heated due to friction. Transient ionospheric phenomena

Emergence of pancake ice in the western Arctic Ocean is understood to be an effect of the increasing wave activity. During the 2018 R/V Mirai field campaign in the refreezing Chukchi Sea, we obtained observational evidence of sea ice formation that resembled the pancake cycle—frazil/pancake/consolidated pancake ice—first discovered and known to be ubiquitous in the Antarctic. Apparently, R/V Mirai

Time series measurements of ocean ambient sound were carried out using an autonomous passive acoustic measurement system deployed in Kongsfjorden, Arctic Ocean, between July 2015 and April 2016. Geophysical soundscape components, particularly that of sea ice melting and wind noise, were identified. The biological sounds produced by walruses in the form of knocking and tapping sequences fall in the

We examined the shock effects on 12 basaltic and 4 cumulate eucrites, using the petrographic and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. Petrographic and XRD measurements were conducted on the same polished sections of the eucrites. On the basis the ranges of undulatory extinction angles and occurrence of maskelynite, we defined five shock degrees: A (unshocked to very weakly shocked), B (weakly shocked)

We evaluated, in two consecutive austral summers, the biochemical composition, sources, distribution and degradation state of particulate organic matter (POM) in surface coastal waters of Collins Bay, King George Island, Antarctica. Bulk elemental and stable isotope analyses were combined with molecular-level proxies (fatty acids and amino acids) to obtain more comprehensive evidence about POM characteristics

This article focuses on the social representations of permafrost thaw among people who were born in different regions of the Sakha Republic (Russia) and live in the regional capital city of Yakutsk. Our research aims to obtain a better understanding of the new risk patterns associated to permafrost thaw through the collection and subsequent analysis of narratives of personal experiences in order to

Global climate change is one of the main problems facing humans at the beginning of the 21st century. In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), it has led to significant social consequences, especially those caused by flooding, which is very common in the region. One way of protecting settlements from catastrophic floods is to relocate them to non-flooded terraces. In the article, the author examined the

While most studies using a Person-Environment (P-E) fit approach focus on commonplace work settings, the present study adopts this approach to explore an extreme and unusual setting; specifically, Antarctic research stations. People who had been deployed for a year in Antarctica (n = 59) were asked to reflect on their experience and to report their perceived fit with the environment. Other measures

We present textural evidence of spinel (low-Zn) and quartz from two samples of quartzofeldspathic rocks from the Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica. The present occurrence is unusual for the fact that the direct grain contact is preserved unlike most other occurrences where these two phases are separated by reaction products during retrograde and/or prograde metamorphic stages. Textural features further

We summarize U–Pb age data for the Lützow–Holm Complex (LHC) in East Antarctica and propose the following geological subdivisions based on protolith ages, along the coast of Dronning Maud Land from southwest to northeast: the Innhovde Suite (INH, 1070–1040 Ma) composed mainly of felsic orthogneiss; the Rundvågshetta Suite (RVG, 2520–2470 Ma), mostly felsic orthogneiss with minor mafic and metasedimentary

Myxomycetes (Protista - Amoebozoa) are worldwide distributed organisms, but still poorly known from the Antarctic. While working on fungi and similar organisms found in Stinker Point, Elephant Island - Antarctica in January/February 2018 we found 24 sporangia of Dianema nivale, which is cited for the first time to the Antarctica.

Aerosols and clouds play important roles in the Arctic climate. Conversely, aerosol emissions and cloud formation are affected by changes in the Arctic climate. This paper reviews studies of aerosols and clouds performed during the Arctic Challenge for Sustainability (ArCS) project carried out by the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) in Japan and collaborating institutions. The ArCS project

The aim of the present study is to assess the full effect on the albedo of both sea ice extent decrease and snowline retreat in the Arctic during the last three decades. Averaged over the globe, the overall warming effect due to Arctic land and ocean albedo change corresponds to adding about 44% to the direct effect of human CO2 emissions during the same period. In fact, the area and thickness of Arctic