Call for Papers
Land-Atmosphere Interactions in Northern Eurasia
European Geophysical Union General Assembly
13-18 April 2008
Vienna, Austria
Abstract Submission Deadline: Monday, 14 January 2008
For further information, please go to:
http://meetings.copernicus.org/egu2008/
Papers are invited for "Land-Atmosphere Interactions in Northern
Eurasia" (session BG2.8) to be convened at the European Geophysical
Union General Assembly on 13-18 April 2008, in Vienna, Austria.
Session description:
Northern Eurasia is undergoing significant changes associated with
warming climate and with socioeconomic changes during the entire 20th
century. Climatic changes over this vast landmass interact and affect
the rate of global change through atmosphere-terrestrial-cryosphere
feedbacks and through strong biogeophysical and biogeochemical
couplings. Current and future interactions and feedbacks to the global
system of this carbon-rich, cold-region component of the Earth system
remain to a large extent unknown. The Northern Eurasia Earth Science
Partnership Initiative (NEESPI) is an interdisciplinary program of
internationally supported Earth systems and science research that
addresses large-scale and long-term manifestations of climate and
environmental change focusing on the area of Northern Eurasia that
comprises ~20% of the land area (http://neespi.org). The major NEESPI
science question is: How do Northern Eurasia's terrestrial ecosystems
dynamics interact with and alter the biosphere, atmosphere, and
hydrosphere of the Earth?
There are still large uncertainties in model representation of both
precipitation and underlying processes that drive the carbon, hydrology,
and energy cycles of the northern high latitudes. Model representation
of snow, snow redistribution, permafrost, and effects of lakes and
wetlands are marginal, a problem that is compounded by large
uncertainties in observations. Many of the global modeling groups are
developing Earth system model components that represent processes
specific to the high-latitudes, including organic soils, permafrost,
wetlands, ice sheet dynamics, and/or biogeography; however, there is no
robust or rigorous methodology for testing and evaluating model
implementation. Session organizers invite presentations on this topic,
as well as presentations linking observations at the surface, remote
sensing, and modeling, essential for model validation.
Session organizers specifically invite presentations devoted to
IPY-related research across Northern Eurasia. Organizers also invite
papers on all areas of NEESPI science, including biogeochemical cycles
in Northern Eurasia, the surface energy budget and water cycle in
Northern Eurasia, climate and terrestrial ecosystems interactions in
Northern Eurasia (land cover and land use, atmospheric aerosols, soil,
and, in particular, permafrost changes that affect and are being
affected by climate and ecosystems changes), human dimensions that
include, in addition to regional impact studies of environmental
changes, the feedback studies of societal and land use changes on
regional and global environment and climate, and tools to address the
Northern Eurasia studies (paleoclimatic reconstructions, present and
past field campaigns, remote sensing, and modeling). This session is
organized in collaboration with AIMES and iLEAPS, core projects of IGBP,
the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme.
Convener: Pavel Groisman
Co-Conveners: Pavel Kabat and Kathy Hibbard
For further information and to submit an abstract, please go to:
http://meetings.copernicus.org/egu2008/