Sandra Starkweather

• University of Colorado Boulder

Arctic observing and data systems have been widely recognized as critical infrastructures to support decision making and understanding across sectors in the Arctic and globally. Yet due to broad and persistent issues related to coordination, deployment infrastructure and technology gaps, the Arctic remains among the most poorly observed regions on...

Rapid Arctic environmental change requires improved collaboration across observing activities that support adaptation and response from local to pan-Arctic scales. The Research Networking Activities in Support of Sustained Coordinated Observations of Arctic Change (RNA CoOBs), in partnership with the Food Security Working Group (FSWG), supports an...

Rapid Arctic warming drives profound change in the marine environment that have significant socio-economic impacts within the Arctic and beyond, including climate and weather hazards, food security, transportation, infrastructure planning and resource extraction. These concerns drive efforts to understand and predict Arctic environmental change and...

Given the sensitivity of the Arctic climate to short-lived climate forcers, long-term in situ surface measurements of aerosol parameters are useful in gaining insight into the magnitude and variability of these climate forcings. Seasonality of aerosol optical properties – including the aerosol light-scattering coefficient, absorption coefficient, s...

Given the sensitivity of the Arctic climate to short-lived climate forcers, long-term in-situ surface measurements of aerosol parameters are useful in gaining insight into the magnitude and variability of these climate forcings. Seasonality of aerosol optical properties, including aerosol light scattering coefficient, absorption coefficient, single...

Women have made outstanding contributions to polar research in recent decades, though full engagement may be hindered by persistent inequities, including notably the prevalence of workplace harassment. Remote field settings, such as those pervasive in polar research, have been identified as particularly susceptible to cultures of harassment. It was...

Several types of filter-based instruments are used to estimate aerosol light absorption coefficients. Two significant results are presented based on Aethalometer measurements at six Arctic stations from 2012 to 2014. First, an alternative method of post-processing the Aethalometer data is presented, which reduces measurement noise and lowers the de...

The 2015 Arctic Observing Open Science Meeting (AOOSM), held in Seattle, WA, 17–19 November, provided the research community with a forum to discuss the advances supported by sustained, broad, contemporaneous observations in the Arctic and to identify areas for integration into an Interagency Arctic Observing Network.

Several types of filter-based instruments are used to estimate aerosol light absorption coefficients.Two significant results are presented based on Aethalometer measurements at six Arctic station from 2012–2014. First, an alternative method of post-processing the Aethalometer data is presented which reduces measurement noise and lowers the detectio...

Recent studies suggest that the atmosphere conditions arctic sea ice properties in spring in a way that may be an important factor in predetermining autumn sea ice concentrations. Here, the role of clouds in this system is analyzed using surface-based observations from Barrow, Alaska. Barrow is a coastal location situated adjacent to the region whe...

Abstract The Arctic is a sentinel of global change. This region is influenced by multiple physical and socio-economic drivers and feedbacks, impacting both the natural and human environment. Air pollution is one such driver that impacts Arctic climate change, ecosystems and health but significant uncertainties still surround quantification of these...

The Arctic Observing Open Science Meeting (AOOSM) held in Seattle, Washington during 17-19 November 2015 provided an opportunity for the Arctic science community to present and discuss findings and advances in Arctic observing. A diverse agenda of plenary presentations, parallel sessions with extended discussion, and a poster session provided a for...

International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere (IASOA) activities and partnerships were initiated as a part of the 2007-09 International Polar Year (IPY) and are expected to continue for many decades as a legacy program. The IASOA focus is on coordinating intensive measurements of the Arctic atmosphere collected in the United States, Can...

For the International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere (IASOA), a consortium of ten independently-funded, atmosphere observatories encircling the Arctic, a lack of integrated data management across observatories was hindering collaborative science. In response, IASOA used a highly-leveraged approach to design and populate its data access...

Radiosonde data from weather balloons are critical because they are essential inputs for numerical weather prediction models and are used for climate research. However, radiosonde programs are costly to maintain, in particular in the remote regions of the Arctic. The climate of this data-sparse region is poorly understood and forecast data assimila...

Executive Summary: This white paper focuses on issues of Arctic observing network design, coordination and sustainability for the large, independently-funded Arctic atmospheric observatories (often co-located with substantial cryospheric observations). The International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere (IASOA) was initiated as an Interna...

Cloud observations over the past decade from six Arctic atmospheric observatories are investigated to derive estimates of cloud occurrence fraction, vertical distribution, persistence in time, diurnal cycle, and boundary statistics. Each observatory has some combination of cloud lidar, radar, ceilometer, and/or interferometer for identifying and ch...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Colorado, 2004. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 195-202).

Clouds have an enhanced role in governing surface radiation balances in the dry polar atmosphere, yet their frequency, thermodynamic properties and radiative properties are poorly understood over the high plateau of Greenland. This research investigates the seasonal and diurnal variability in cloud base heights over one year at Summit Camp, Greenla...

The annual mean air temperature for the central part of the Greenland ice sheet is 2 degrees Celsius warmer for the time period 1995-1999, as compared earlier station observations standardized to the 1951-1960 period. This annual mean temperature change decreases to approximately 1 degree Celsius for elevations between 1000-2000 m. The analysis is...

Clouds play an enhanced role in governing surface radiation balances in the dry polar atmosphere, yet their frequency, thermodynamic properties and radiative properties are poorly understood over Greenland. In the dry snow regions of Greenland, a net warming effect is expected from cloud cover - the effect known as the radiation paradox. This resea...