Research Objectives:
Antarctica represents perhaps one of the most carefully-tended and strictly-monitored habitats on Earth. Aside from the manifest desire to protect the flora, fauna and the atmosphere of a relatively pristine environment, there is the value the extreme southern latitudes provide as a virtual baseline barometer of global pollution. The Antarctic Treaty's Protocol on Environmental Protection, supplemented by the policies and practices of the nations who work and do science there, have combined to focus scrutiny on any anthropogenic impacts that can be foreseen or detected.
This project is collecting a system of observations that should enable scientists to be more aware of any such impacts - on both marine and terrestrial habitats - in and around McMurdo Station, locating them precisely and tracking them over time. Based on a three-year pilot program of sampling and data analysis, an initial environmental monitoring program is being initiated. The feasibility of this design will be evaluated in the current season. Point-data sampling grids at various spatial scales measuring a series of attributes indicative of change will be established. Our objectives are to determine:
+ The spatial and temporal scales of change, and its origin;
+ How efficiently this observational system documents relevant changes in important habitat characteristics; and
+ The usefulness of various approaches to reference or control locations.
We will use GIS-techniques and geostatistical methods to organize these diverse data sets into a coherent, coordinated framework. The results should provide additional fundamental scientific information for developing a long-term strategy to document and minimize the impacts of future science (and support operations) on antarctic resources and values.
