he key objective of this three-year award is to further the international and multidisciplinary development of the terrestrial Circumarctic Environmental Observatories Network (CEON, www.ceoninfo.org). CEON's mission is to strengthen the capacity for emerging monitoring, research and policy needs at high northern latitudes by making data available that is adequate and suitable for addressing a series of well defined key scientific questions and uncertainties. As a priority, this award aims to satisfy the immediate developmental needs identified by the CEON stakeholder community and, where relevant, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA). This award will also support several other initiatives with a strong Arctic and environmental observation focus, including the second International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP II), the US National Academy of Sciences blue ribbon panel designing an Arctic Observation Network (AON), and the International Polar Year (IPY).
Specifically, this award will: 1. Establish a joint US-Swedish CEON Science Coordination Office (SCO). This is critical for CEONs transition to becoming a fully implemented and multi-laterally funded international network. 2. Convene annual CEON stakeholder and working group meetings to foster the community-based decision making necessary for the development of CEON. Annual stakeholder meetings are likely to attract up to 150 arctic and non-arctic specialists and will encourage CEON partners to convene meetings before or after the CEON meeting and hold and/or participate in workshops that will be used, for example, to offer instruction on standardized sampling protocols and technologies. 3. Continue the development of novel web-based information portals and visualization tools that improve the capacity for transferring scientific, logistic, and educational knowledge and information both within and outside of CEON. These include a CEON email list, the CEON-Internet Map Server (CEON-IMS - www.ceonims.org), the capacity to build regionalized IMS applications centered on focal observatory platforms partnered to CEON, a methodological and standards database, and novel visualization tools that enhance education, outreach and information interactivity.
