GLIMS Update: (1) Personnel. (2) U.S. Funding

[Jeffrey S Kargel]

Dear GLIMS Regional Center Chiefs and other GLIMS collaborators,

I would like to take this opportunity to wish each of you a Happy New Year,
make a request of GLIMS regional center chiefs, and offer some good news
from the American part of GLIMS.

I.  I am aware that the GLIMS website list of personnel associated with
GLIMS is incomplete and in some cases maybe there are some names that need
to be removed.  There are a lot of indications of regional centers that are
"pending" but they are really as confirmed as anything can be.  The RC map
also is outdated in several regards (it mysteriously regressed a couple
years during our recent website upgrade; we will correct this).  The RC
Chiefs should take a look at the RC personnel listing and your cooperating
institutions and forward to me additions, deletions, or other changes; if
specific tasks (geographic area of responsibility, algorithm design task,
or other task) are assigned to a steward, that information would also be
useful to have.  GLIMS of course is an evolving entity, and we strive to be
as inclusive as possible.  It is particularly important, where practicable
and useful, for regional centers to welcome young researchers, foreigners,
and your compatriots and fellow glaciology experts who may have been
displaced to other countries due to circumstances out of their control.
The key to success is continued development of a well-functioning body of
expertise and the energy to maintain forward progress; ultimately, it is
the regional center chiefs who must provide that guiding focus and
coordinate that forward-driving impulse.


II.  Some good news.
Good news from the American part of GLIMS!  After years of working on
dedication/adrenaline, but almost no financial support, GLIMS in the U.S.
has at last received a strong blessing from NASA and USGS.   There recently
have been four programmatic areas where funding has been solicited by
various U.S. institutions, and in three of these areas we as a community
have met with success.  Although two GLIMS-related OES-03
(Interdisciplinary Science)proposals were not successful this year, there
has been considerable support of GLIMS provided as follows: (1) As
previously reported, NSIDC (Boulder) was funded several months ago under an
Earth Science REASoN CAN (Research, Education and Applications Solutions
Network) to pursue GLIMS glacier database development.   (2) The U.S.
Geological Survey has provided significant support for the GLIMS
Coordination Center activities (USGS, Flagstaff) and U.S. glacier
monitoring based at Portland State University.  (3) Most dramatically,  of
five GLIMS proposals to the OES-02 solicitation (Terra investigations,
including ASTER Science Team memberships), all five were supported.  This
new support, just announced, includes the following investigations, which
have been coordinated with each other and other sources of funding:

Kargel,  Jeffrey,   U.S. Geological Survey, Global Land Ice Measurements
from Space (GLIMS) Core Functions: International Organization, ASTER
Glacier Image Data Management, and Glacier Hazard/Emergency Response

Armstrong,  Richard,   University of Colorado, Global Land Ice Measurements
from Space (GLIMS) Core Functions: Populating and Mining the GLIMS Glacier
Database to Assess Glacier Change with EOS Sensors

Hamilton,  Gordon,  University of Maine Institute,  Assessing Changes in
Arctic Glaciers and Ice Caps Using ASTER Satellite Imagery: Evidence for
Regional Climate Change

Bishop,  Michael,   University of Nebraska Omaha, Climate Forcing and
Glaciers in the Western Himalaya: Assessing Glacier Fluctuations Using
ASTER Data

Fountain,  Andrew,   Portland State University, Historic Glacier Changes in
the American West; Their Response to Climate and Effect on Stream Flow

Most of these are multi-institutional projects; it is accurate to say that
funding is spread fairly thinly, but also true that the sum of support
ensures a more robust U.S. contribution to several aspects of GLIMS.  There
were other relevant non-GLIMS but nonetheless highly relevant successes,
including projects dealing with clouds, temperature and emissivity
extractions from thermal data, cross-instrument calibration, snow cover,
and other topics of great concern to GLIMS.  Of special note also is a
funded project by Ted Scambos (University of Colorado, Boulder) on
"Improved Ice Sheet DEMs Using MODIS and Glas:  Applications to Ice
Dynamics and Surface Climate Parameters."   Thus, I can say that NASA has
made a strong commitment to global and regional remote sensing of glaciers,
development of certain needed analysis tools for more efficient and more
accurate multispectral terrain classification and glacier mapping,
temperature extractions, limited field validation tasks, and other relevant
tasks.  USGS, too, has shown a renewal of commitment to glacier studies
(both remote sensing and field studies), which we hope will be increased
and supplemented by funding from NSF.    For U.S. investigators hoping to
join GLIMS with funded work, I urge you to keep your attention on NASA and
NSF research solicitations.  Whether you are part of GLIMS or not, we wish
for your success in garnering funding to increase U.S. contributions to
glacier research, including field-based, theoretical, and remote sensing
approaches.

There remains a very sore point and a great weakness in present U.S.
funding, which I take as a personal/professional failure and something to
be corrected.  This is coordination of a means to inject funding support
(at least some minimal logistical support to assist with international
GLIMS meeting travel) into non-U.S. regional centers and steward
institutions.  An effort to achieve this failed with an OES-03 proposal,
but I hope to find some venue for resubmission.  I am keenly aware of the
difficult situation that some regional centers and stewards face, and I
seek your guidance on how you think the GLIMS Coordination Center might
better assist your funding solicitations or how we might develop joint
collaborations involving some form of funding for your regional center and
stewards.

Sincerely,

Jeff K

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Dr. Jeffrey S. Kargel
U.S. Geological Survey
2255 N. Gemini Dr.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
U.S.A.

Telephone (+1) (928) 556-7034
Fax (+1) (928) 556-7014
Email: jkargel at usgs.gov
Home email: jkargel at flaglink.com
Home phone: (+1)(928) 527-4196