This activity will continue support for an office that assists the community of scientist that uses an international research site on the summit of the Greenland ice sheet. Over 20 groups from the U.S. and Europe are using the site and others have projects pending. One key to success of this shared facility is to closely coordinate measurements, share facility resources and exchange data of common interest between investigators to make most efficient use of the facility and resources. Since this coordination goes well beyond what individual investigators can efficiently do through one-to-one interactions, NSF has supported a Science Coordination Office (SCO) since 1999 to work with scientists, the logistic contractor and others to plan both near and long term activities that require strong involvement from the science community.
This proposal provides for continuation of the SCO, which has three main objectives:
Plan and coordinating measurements including sharing of facilities and personnel, data and requests to funding agencies for upgrades and maintenance to facilitate science;working with the logistics contractor and NSF to plan, develop and operate the station to serve a growing international and multidisciplinary community while maintaining scientific integrity of the site during the transition; and carrying out strategic planning, working with international and national agencies who are involved with supporting activities at Summit, facilitating communication between investigators and reporting to funding agencies.
