How do modes of Arctic atmospheric & oceanic circulation affect biological & socio- economic components of the Arctic system? WG 1

What are modes? Discussion circled around; we moved on without emphasizing this concept

1—Data discovery & access Need for widely available/measurable key indicators –Indicator species (polar bears, capelin, caribou, …) –Socioeconomic indicators (some long-running time series in certain places; broad demographic info) –“Key indicators” may differ from place to place

1—Data discovery & access Effects on biology & social systems multivariate, dynamic, nonlinear Need long time series, multiple time series, careful analysis to estimate actual effects Pan-Arctic focus requires comparability and international data, e.g. not just Alaska but Russian territorial waters—can be problematic

1—Data discovery & access Problem with Google Earth is that it’s not searchable. Data centers are doing their archiving job, but we also need simple analysis tools How do you discover data that are already in the archive? How do you access them? A tweak to what Google does could be helpful—not only find data, but rank their importance/quality

2—Data integration Data might be in point, grid or polygon formats. We need tools to transform one to another. Impediments—no mechanisms in place to inventory what’s out there On some social-science topics, there is not enough data out there to begin with Simplified tools needed to extract data and do preliminary analysis. Are variables correlated?

2—Data integration We need students who have training in multiple disciplines… And training in data archiving and retrieval

3—Output & practical applications New written formats, e.g. “policy briefs” aimed at general public or policymakers, in a different style than science reports How to describe uncertainty for broader audiences? Archives should be able to include models, and model output

4—Cultural and organizational issues “If you build a data platform, the data will come” –Applies to data that exist, but not to data that do not exist, or are only in scattered, hard- copy files

4—Cultural issues Funding agencies may be ahead of some institutions or departments, in their understanding/support of interdisciplinary research. Local incentive structures need to encourage interdisciplinary work Differences in language between researchers and cyberinfrastructure community