Permafrost hosts a potentially large pool of microorganisms, which is supposed to be the only life forms known to have retained viability over geological time. Thawing of the permafrost renews their physiological activity and exposes ancient life to modern ecosystems (Gilichinsky et al, 2008). The adaptation mechanisms of microorganisms, at species or population level, make them susceptible to extreme environmental conditions. The survival of microorganisms in permafrost raises the question of what constitutes the limit for microbial life (Steven et al., 2006; Wagner 2008).

Emerging COntaminants in Antarctic Snow: sources and TRAnsport (ECO AS:TRA) Prog. PNRA18_00229 Snow samples

The current vision of global climatic changes stresses on the interlinked action of many factors, often more evident at regional scales. Polar regions are among the areas most sensitive to perturbations of the climate: through connections involving ocean, atmosphere, biosphere, lithosphere and cryosphere, they respond to, amplify, and drive changes elsewhere in the Earth system, so that understanding their role is essential. Peculiar characteristics of Polar Regions contribute to modify the energy and radiation budget, and the characteristics of the polar atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), increasing relevance at regional level of coupling processes between components of the climate system, especially in the coastal region. In particular, the long polar night, the sea-ice and snow coverage, favouring the persistency of stable atmospheric conditions, and the local and mesoscale circulation interactions, all affect the status and variability at different time scales of components of the regional climate system. Predicting future conditions of the polar regions is the goal of the Polar Prediction Project and of one of its key elements, the Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP, http://www.polarprediction.net/yopp.html), scheduled to take place from mid-2017 to mid-2019). This requires the scientific knowledge of their present status as well as a process-based understanding of the mechanisms of change. The parameterization of physical processes in regional and global hydrodynamical numerical models of the atmosphere is not yet enough accurate for a correct representation of all components of the climatic system and of their connections, the knowledge of which is needed to determine the role of polar regions in the global climate. As an example, more extended and integrated dataset are required to improve the parameterization of the ABL, for complex orography areas such as the polar coastal regions. The general scope of this project is to improve the understanding of the surface-atmosphere mass and energy exchanges at an Antarctic coastal site in the Ross Sea through continuous and accurate measurements of the atmospheric parameters, and development and verification of multiscale modelling, and through these activities, to address some of the relevant questions included in the roadmap for Antarctic and Southern Ocean science for the next two decades and beyond. Measurements will be carried out year-round at the new Korean Jang Bogo Antarctic Research Station (JBS), located at the coast of Terra Nova Bay, in the vicinity of the Italian Mario Zucchelli Station. Measurement and analysis of radiation components, atmospheric constituents and energy fluxes, meteorological and micrometeorological parameters, will be implemented jointly by Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI), CNR and UNIFI, in a way similar to the collaboration already active in the Arctic. Such implementation will be very useful to close a gap in the global climate observation system (GCOS) and contribute to WMO programs providing scientific data and information on meteorological and radiation regimes, vertical structure and chemical composition of the atmosphere.

The main goal of our proposal is to characterize the surface radiative budget as well as cloudiness which features at the Argentine Bases Marambio and Belgrano II during the YOPP-SH Special Observing Period (SOP) as well as the YOPP Consolidation Phase. Specific objectives to secure our main goal during the SOP will be: 1 - develop a compact Radiation Measurement UNIT (RMU) robust enough to allow continuous measurements in harsh environment through which to make shortwave, longwave observations as well as to record status of the sky. 2 - secure UV measurements at both stations. 3 - develop specific tools to analyse on a daily basis (weakly for clouds) collected data and extract parameters of interest. For radiation these will include QA/QC SW and LW downwelling and upwelling fluxes, diffuse and direct components of solar radiation, UV spectral flux and doses. For clouds these will include, on a continuous base, cloud fraction derived both from radiometric measurement and sky camera observations, cloud type and cloud effect on SW radiation. In addition cloud base (or cloud ceiling) will be obtained by routine observations performed at the two stations. From UV measurements columnar ozone content will be also derived. Moving forward to YOPP consolidation phase, we plan to: 1 - extend dataset and its analysis, start to collect information on seasonal and inter-annual variability, determine Cloud radiative Forcing (CRF) 2 - perform extensive comparison between automatic and visual cloudiness observation methods. They being very useful to better understand quality and value of historical datasets at the two stationsù 3 - make comparison with cloudiness regime of Ross Sea and Antarctic Plateau. Make similar comparison for UV fluxes in the Peninsula and at Concordia.

The main goal of our proposal is to characterize the surface radiative budget as well as cloudiness which features at the Argentine Bases Marambio and Belgrano II during the YOPP-SH Special Observing Period (SOP) as well as the YOPP Consolidation Phase. Specific objectives to secure our main goal during the SOP will be: 1 - develop a compact Radiation Measurement UNIT (RMU) robust enough to allow continuous measurements in harsh environment through which to make shortwave, longwave observations as well as to record status of the sky. 2 - secure UV measurements at both stations. 3 - develop specific tools to analyse on a daily basis (weakly for clouds) collected data and extract parameters of interest. For radiation these will include QA/QC SW and LW downwelling and upwelling fluxes, diffuse and direct components of solar radiation, UV spectral flux and doses. For clouds these will include, on a continuous base, cloud fraction derived both from radiometric measurement and sky camera observations, cloud type and cloud effect on SW radiation. In addition cloud base (or cloud ceiling) will be obtained by routine observations performed at the two stations. From UV measurements columnar ozone content will be also derived. Moving forward to YOPP consolidation phase, we plan to: 1 - extend dataset and its analysis, start to collect information on seasonal and inter-annual variability, determine Cloud radiative Forcing (CRF) 2 - perform extensive comparison between automatic and visual cloudiness observation methods. They being very useful to better understand quality and value of historical datasets at the two stationsù 3 - make comparison with cloudiness regime of Ross Sea and Antarctic Plateau. Make similar comparison for UV fluxes in the Peninsula and at Concordia.

The lidar observatory at Mcmurod, was one of the primary stations of the NDACC network (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change) from 2004 to 2010. The lidar observes polar stratospheric clouds at a height between 12 and 26 km typically, from early June until the end of Settember. These PSCs play an important role in the ozone chemistry and promote the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer. The lidar can detect even very thin PSC layers and can provide important information about their chemical composition. The lidar can be used to study formation and dynamical processes and to provide long term records useful for climate studies.