SitS NSF-UKRI: Collaborative Research: Sensors UNder snow Seasonal Processes in the evolution of ARctic Soils (SUN SPEARS)

SitS NSF-UKRI：合作研究：雪下传感器北极土壤演变的季节性过程（SUN SPEARS）

• 批准号: 1935689
• 负责人: Steven Schmidt
• 金额: $ 37.72万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1935689&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SitS; NSF; UKRI; Collaborative; Research

This project was awarded through the "Signals in the Soil (SitS)" opportunity, a collaborative solicitation that involves the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) and the following United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) research councils: 1) The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), 2) the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), 3) the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).Melting ice sheets and glaciers are exposing vast landscapes dominated by seemingly barren post-glaciation soils. These new habitats support specialized and resilient microorganisms and, after many years, even lichens and plants. However, access to and measurements of these remote sites are typically restricted to the summer and, thus, seasonal effects including prolonged cold, dark winters are under-studied. This collaborative effort between U.S. (University of Utah; University of Colorado, Boulder) and U.K. (Queen Mary University of London; British Geological Survey) researchers will measure biological, hydrologic, and chemical activity under the winter and spring snowpack in soils near a retreating glacier in Svalbard, Norway, via continuously operated sensors and repeated field measurements. This will enable scientists to understand how under-snow processes contribute to the functioning and development of these unique soil ecosystems now and into the future. Additionally, project researchers will bring interactive lessons to classrooms in underserved areas in rural Colorado and Utah, remotely reach classrooms and podcast audiences around the world, provide research training for high school students from rural Colorado, and training for two university students and three postdoctoral researchers.The spatial extent of Arctic soils is rapidly expanding due to glacier retreat. These soils are of ever-increasing importance as a climate mediator and provider of ecosystem services and are also experiencing the effects of the polar amplification of climate change. Despite previous efforts to trace the development of soils following glacier retreat, it remains unknown to what extent seasonal processes affect their evolution on annual to multi-decadal timescales. Due to the inaccessibility of most Arctic regions outside of a brief summer period, the seasonal dynamics of pioneer Arctic soil systems are largely unexplored. To resolve these challenges, the project's goal is to achieve continuous year-round monitoring of dynamic processes across an age gradient of Arctic soils using a network of buried geophysical sensors in a High-Arctic glacier forefield. This effort will be coupled with repeated field monitoring of soil biogeochemical processes via state-of-the-art molecular techniques, and development of a microbially-explicit biological-geophysical model to describe soil evolution. Using a space-for-time chronosequence approach that for the first time captures intra-annual (i.e. seasonal) variability, this project aims to improve understanding of how seasonal processes contribute to long-term development of Arctic soils. This cross-disciplinary collaboration among researchers with expertise in geophysics, engineering, microbial ecology, biogeochemistry, and Earth system modelling, will permit mechanistic inference and projections, and transform the capacity to conduct year-round research in remote and complex environments. Data and model code will be shared via web-based archives, enabling a new generation of soil models. Findings will be disseminated to the scientific community through publications and conferences, and communicated more broadly through public engagement.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目是通过“土壤中的信号（坐）”机会授予的，这是一个合作招标，涉及美国农业部国家食品和农业研究所（USDA NIFA）以及以下英国研究与创新（UKRI）研究理事会：1）自然环境研究委员会（NERC），2）生物技术与生物科学研究委员会（BBSRC），3）工程与物理科学研究委员会（EPSRC）以及科学技术机构委员会（STFC）。融化的冰盖和冰川正在暴露以看似贫瘠的冰川后土壤为主的广阔景观。这些新的栖息地支持专门的和弹性的微生物，并且在多年后甚至是地衣和植物。但是，这些远程站点的访问和测量通常仅限于夏季，因此，包括长时间的寒冷，黑暗冬季的季节性影响不足。美国（犹他大学；科罗拉多大学，博尔德大学）和英国（伦敦皇后大学；英国地质调查局）之间的合作努力将衡量在冬季和春季雪堆下的生物学，水文和化学活动通过连续操作的传感器和重复的现场测量，挪威斯瓦尔巴德的冰川。这将使科学家能够了解现在和未来这些独特的土壤生态系统的运作和发展如何促进和发展。此外，项目研究人员将把互动课程带到科罗拉多州和犹他州农村地区服务不足的地区的教室，远程到达教室和播客的观众，为来自科罗拉多州乡村的高中生提供研究培训，并为两名大学生和三名博士后研究员提供培训北极土壤的空间范围由于冰川静修而迅速扩大。作为气候调解人和生态系统服务的提供商，这些土壤越来越重要，并且也正在经历气候变化极地扩增的影响。尽管以前努力追踪冰川静修后的土壤发展，但季节性过程在多大程度上影响了它们对多年时间尺度的年度演变。由于大多数北极地区在夏季短暂的时期之外的难以接近，因此北极土壤系统的季节性动态在很大程度上没有探索。为了解决这些挑战，该项目的目标是使用在高北极冰川前景中的埋入地球物理传感器网络进行全年对北极土壤年龄段的动态过程的持续监测。这项工作将与通过最先进的分子技术重复对土壤生物地球化学过程的现场监测，并开发微生物解释的生物怪异物理模型，以描述土壤的进化。该项目采用时间上的时间表方法，该方法首次捕获了年度内（即季节性）变异性，该项目旨在提高人们对季节性过程如何有助于北极土壤的长期发展的理解。具有地球物理学，工程，微生物生态学，生物地球化学和地球系统建模方面具有专业知识的研究人员之间的跨学科合作将允许机械推理和预测，并改变在偏远和复杂环境中进行全年研究的能力。数据和模型代码将通过基于Web的档案共享，从而实现新一代的土壤模型。调查结果将通过出版物和会议传播给科学界，并通过公众参与进行更广泛的沟通。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准，被认为值得通过评估来获得支持。