27 March 2025 | 13:30 - 15:30 (MDT)
Open Session - HYBRID
Room: UMC Second Floor - 235
Organisers: Christopher Jeffery (Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA); Keith Groves (Boston College Institute for Scientific Research, USA); Wojciech Miloch (Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Norway)
Session Description:
The Arctic environment is rapidly changing. An expanding human presence and growing geopolitical activity is driving a pressing need to communicate and sense without disruption. In particular, Search And Rescue (SAR) operations, disaster response, enforcement of international norms and agreements, and the maintenance of reliable lines of communication at times of high geopolitical tension, all require new communication and sensing strategies that are resilient to disrupting factors: the harsh Arctic operating environment, geomagnetic activity and other natural and anthropogenic drivers of ionospheric disturbances.
In the arena of communications and sensing, Arctic research planning for the next decade should be cognizant of, and leverage, new developments in next-generation predictions of both the terrestrial and space environments, including high-fidelity earth-system and magnetospheric modeling and deep learning approaches.
We solicit participation in an ICARP IV Summit session with three main goals:
- Anticipate the transformative role of high-performance computational tools and deep learning techniques in driving new research directions for resilient Arctic communication and sensing.Key Research Planning Question: What new Arctic observations will be needed over the coming decade to inform and validate next-generation models, emerging technologies and new machine learning approaches?
- Map out and plan for observations supporting new Arctic-specific strategies to communicate and sense through challenging environments and ionospheric disturbances.
- Promote a common understanding of the need for resilient communications and supporting collaborations--including data sharing to support disaster response, research cooperation to improve disaster response, and collaborative observing to enforce international norms and agreements--while being mindful of geopolitical constraints.
Instructions for Speakers: Oral presentations in this session should be at most 12-minutes in length, with an additional 2-3 minutes for questions (unless more detailed instructions are provided by session conveners). See more detailed presenter instructions here.
Oral Presentations:
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unfold_moreArctic Ionosphere Monitoring – Research and Applications — P. T. Jayachandran
P.T. Jayachandran 1
1 University of New BrunswickFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
The Arctic Ionosphere, one of the most dynamic regions of the Earth’s atmosphere, comprises structures of varying temporal and spatial scales produced mainly through solar-terrestrial (ST) interactions. Interactions within the ST system drive the energetics and dynamics of the Earth’s atmosphere and ionosphere. Mass and energy exchange by electrodynamic processes constantly occurs throughout the ST system, powered and modulated by solar photons, the solar wind, and its embedded interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Variability of the plasma content, electrodynamics, and plasma structuring within the ST system is commonly called “space weather”. Space weather impact on critical technology includes interference on the ground and satellite-based radio communication links, Over-The-Horizon-Radar (OTHR) systems through signal fading, scattering and absorption processes, and producing positioning errors and outages in Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) based applications. These impacts are high-priority safety, security, and economic concerns for circumpolar aviation, military operations, positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) applications. The effect of the ionosphere on radio frequency systems (RFS) is scale-dependent, and understanding these structures and mitigating their impact on RFS requires continuous monitoring of the Arctic ionosphere. The talk will outline the scale-dependent effect of the ionosphere on RFS and the infrastructure that exists and needs in the Arctic to mitigate the impact.
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unfold_moreIonospheric Sensing for Responsiveness to Emerging Arctic and Polar Space Weather Impacts — Jeffrey Holmes
Jeffrey Holmes 1; Magnar Johnsen 2
1 Space Vehicles Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory; 2 University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of NorwayFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
The auroral and polar ionosphere are the most dynamic regions of the near-Earth space environment. While rarefied and often invisible, severely disturbed ionospheric and neutral atmospheric conditions above 50km altitude can result in impacts to satellites in low Earth orbit, trans-ionospheric radio signals, and even ground-based RF communications. Intense geomagnetic storming, whose effects are magnified near the poles, can happen at any time in the solar cycle, not just around solar maximum. We ignore the effects of storm time ionospheric dynamics, and the space weather effects they produce, at our own peril.
Owing to the changing Arctic and polar environments, and their increased geopolitical importance, space weather effects on communications and sensing will be much more impactful on military, civil, and commercial activities. We can address these increasingly important needs in high-latitude ionospheric sensing through multiple prongs, such as: proposing innovative, ground- and space-based solutions to the endemic data sparseness problem; providing new physical modeling, data aggregation/assimilation, and ensemble nowcast/forecast frameworks; and addressing the need to share data, and then actually doing it, among Arctic nations with a minimum of latency.
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unfold_moreDetecting Seismoacoustic Events in the Arctic Ocean Under Climate Change Conditions — Siobhan Niklasson
Siobhan Niklasson 1
1 Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico TechFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Global climate change is forcing rapid changes to the Arctic Ocean, including its acoustic environment. As the Arctic warms, the soundscape is modified by changes to the thermohaline stratification of the water column as well as changes in the distribution and morphology of sea ice. Sea ice attenuates sound through scattering and absorption, emits sounds as it deforms, and exerts control over the generation of sea surface waves and the distribution of sound-producing marine wildlife populations and industrial activity. Geophysical modeling and sensing on seasonal and decadal scales are needed to track changes in the Arctic soundscape and their impacts on our ability to detect sound sources of interest. We examine changing propagation and noise conditions in the Arctic Ocean using projections from the US Department of Energy’s Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) as well as in situ data from the Beaufort Sea including passive recordings from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hydroacoustic station and an active acoustic experiment. We present progress toward understanding ice-affected acoustic propagation in parts of the Arctic as well as mapping seasonal sound patterns recorded at the NOAA hydrophone. Moreover, we evaluate the impacts on our ability to detect underwater acoustic sources arising from the evolving Arctic Ocean environment.
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unfold_moreExpanding the Arctic Lens: Innovations in Communication, Sensing, and Infrastructure — Shelley Johnson
Shelley Johnson 1
1 The MITRE CorporationFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
The Arctic region is at a pivotal moment, experiencing rapid environmental changes and growing geopolitical interest. This session will emphasize the crucial role of international collaboration in developing technologies to tackle the Arctic's unique challenges. We will focus on three key areas: communication, sensing, and infrastructure. The discussion will explore the latest technological advancements in these fields and how collaborative efforts can integrate these technologies to improve situational awareness, safety, and resillancy in the Arctic.
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unfold_moreHigh Latitude Data Telemetry from Deployed, Autonomous Seismic Sensor Stations: Lessons Learned and Considerations for Radiological Detection — Avilash Cramer
Avilash Cramer 1; Kirsten Arnell 2; Susan Stanford 2
1 Los Alamos National Laboratory; 2 Earthscope, Inc.Format: Oral in-person
Abstract:
High latitudes present specific challenges for data telemetry in remote areas: few satellite networks have coverage at very high polar latitudes; temperatures and wind speeds in the winter can be truly extreme; and there is no sunlight half the year. Furthermore, the difficulty of accessing remote areas can often place limits on size and weight
In the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 austral summer seasons, we designed and deployed a network of seismic, infrasound, and strong motion sensors on Mt. Erebus, Antarctica (Cramer et al, European Geosciences Union 2023), the world’s southernmost active volcano. This included one station that was built for near real-time, year-round satellite telemetry of seismic data. At 77 degrees south and elevations ranging from sea level to almost 12,000’, the network is subject to extremely harsh conditions analogous to those found in the Arctic. All of the sites were accessed by helicopter.
In this presentation I will discuss the design of this network, with a special focus on the telemetry, power, and thermal considerations. The network has several design elements specific for its geographic constraints and could serve as a sensor-agnostic platform for year-round data collection near the poles.
Finally, I will discuss specific considerations and difficulties of extending this design for radiological detection sensor suites, and applications for monitoring against radiological and nuclear threats in an era of rising geopolitical tensions in the Arctic.
Poster Presentations (during Poster Exhibit and Session on Wednesday 26 March):
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unfold_moreSegmentation and Edge Detection of Shoreline and Bluff Edges in the Arctic using Deep Learning — Craig Tweedie
Harshavardhini Bagavathyraj 1; Sergio A Vargas 1; Sasha Peterson 1; Olac Fuentes 1; Craig Tweedie 1
1 The University of Texas at El PasoFormat: Poster in-person
Poster number: #535
Abstract:
The Arctic is highly sensitive to climate change, with rising temperatures accelerating permafrost thaw, sea ice decline, and sea level rise. These changes exacerbate coastal erosion, underscoring the need for accurate detection of shoreline (instantaneous water line) and bluff edge (typically where vegetation transitions to a bluff, each, or waterline) features to monitor coastal dynamics. Deep learning techniques have shown promise in detecting these features in high-resolution satellite imagery.
In this study, we applied U-Net, a widely-used supervised learning model, to segment shorelines and bluff edges in WorldView-2 imagery. Given U-Net's reliance on extensive annotated data, we also explored Differentiable Feature-based Clustering (DifFeat), an unsupervised learning approach that performs segmentation without manual labels. Our results show that DifFeat achieved higher accuracy and precision compared to U-Net, making it particularly valuable in regions like the Arctic, where labeled data is scarce. To our knowledge, this is the first implementation of unsupervised deep learning methods for such tasks in the Arctic. Beyond segmentation, we used the Holistically-Nested Edge Detection (HED) model to enhance feature delineation through edge detection. A comparative analysis revealed that the HED model produced more precise edges than the segmentation approaches. Ultimately, this research aims to contribute to an enhanced analytical toolkit for Arctic coastal change detection, an essential capacity for improving coastal management and safeguarding vulnerable coastal communities adapting to change.
Keywords: Deep learning, satellite imagery, segmentation, edge detection, shoreline, bluff edge, supervised learning, unsupervised learning