2012 PCC Summer Institute "Atmosphere-Ocean-Ice Shelf Interactions"

Start Date/Time: Sunday, September 16, 2012, 3:00 PM
Ending Date/Time: Tuesday, September 18, 2012, 12:00 PM
Location: Friday Harbor Labs, Friday Harbor, San Juan Island


Happy participants at the 2012 PCC Summer Institute

Talk and Poster Abstracts (Updated 9/14/2012)
Summer Institute Agenda (Updated 9/14/2012)
Participant List (Updated 9/14/2012)



The PCC held its 11th annual Summer Institute, again a Friday Harbor Labs Centennial Symposium, from September 16-18 on the topic of Atmosphere-Ocean-Ice Shelf Interactions. Eric Steig (ESS) and Mark Warner (Ocean) lead the conference. Key questions on the topic included:

  • What progress is being made in both field measurements and satellite measurements of the evolving ice- shelves and outlet glaciers in both Greenland and Antarctica? What is still needed?
  • What progress has been made in modeling the physics of ice-sheet/ocean interactions? What obervations are needed to constrain the models?
  • What does the observational record tell us about changes in the oceans near the ice-shelves and outlet glaciers? What role does ocean warming and ocean circulation change play?
  • What role does the atmosphere play in driving ocean and ice-sheet change? What is forcing the atmospheric change? How much can be attributed to anthropogenic climate change?
  • What do we know about how much sea level has risen owing to melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice-caps? How well can we predict this in the future?

    • Graduate Student Discussion Sessions

    Eric Steig (ESS) and Mark Warner (Ocean), organizers of the Summer Institute, led graduate student discussion sessions prior to the institute. These serve to broaden understanding of the SI topic, and give you a better grasp of material presented. These sessions are ONLY for graduate students, and all graduate students registered for the SI are expected to attend.

    Session 1. Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012
    1:30-3:00 in OSB 425
    Readings:
    1. Pritchard et al (2012). Antarctic ice sheet loss driven by basal melting of ice shelves. Nature. 484: 502-505.
    2. IPCC (2007) Chapter 4.6: Changes and stability of ice sheets and ice shelves.

    Session 2. Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012
    1:30-3:30 in OSB 425
    Readings:
    1. Little et al., On the coupled response to ice-shelf basal melting. Journal of Glaciology, Vol. 58, No. 208, 2012 doi: 10.3189/2012JoG11J037

    2. Hulbe, C. and Fahnestock, M.2007, Century-scale discharge stagnation and reactivation of the Ross ice streams, West Antarctica. JGR vol 112 112, F03S27, doi:10.1029/2006JF000603,

    Session 3. Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012
    1:30-3:30 in OSB 425
    Readings:
    1. Purkey and Johnson, 2010. "Warming of Global Abyssal and Deep Southern Ocean Waters between the 1990s and 2000s: Contributions to Global Heat and Sea Level Rise Budgets"

    2. Thompson et al. 2011 "Signatures of the Antarctic ozone hole in Southern Hemisphere surface climate change"

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