Proceedings of the Arctic System Science Program All-Hands Workshop. Held in Seattle, Washington on February 20-23, 2002.

摘要

The Arctic is a complex, tightly coupled system. Research funded through the National Science Foundation's Arctic System Science (ARCSS) Program is diverse and has a thematic rather than disciplinary approach to scientific investigation. In our quest to understand the Arctic as a system, we face the challenging task of further integrating and coordinating research, both within the U.S. and across the global community. During the six years since the 1996 All-Hands Workshop, the ARCSS research community has moved toward a theme-based, integrated, and interdisciplinary approach to studying the arctic system. The 1998 ARCSS science plan, Toward Prediction of the Arctic System, introduced five broad thematic questions arising from the need for more integrative research. At the 2002 ARCSS All-Hands Workshop, there was a broad consensus to continue highly integrated research efforts and to coordinate ARCSS research around science-driven questions and research initiatives, rather than through the existing disciplinary components. This summary introduces three science questions based on the initial five, and a summary of the currently active or planned research initiatives.