Science and earth science

Polish Polar Research

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Polish Polar Research | Accepted articles

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Abstract

The paper presents the potential of combining satellite radar data and neural networks for quasi-automatic detection of glacier grounding lines. The conducted research covered five years and was carried out in the area of the Amery Ice Shelf. It has a very complex shoreline, so its grounding-line location is uncertain. Thus, it has always been the subject of much research. The main objective of our work was to find out if Synthetic Aperture Radar data combined with a deep learning implementation would enable rapid detection of ice shelf grounding lines over large areas. For this purpose, 290 radar images from the Sentinel-1 satellite covering 46 000 km2 were used. Processed by the Differential Interferometry of Synthetic Aperture Radar four-pass method, the images formed a time-consistent series between 2017 and 2021. As a result of performed calculations, a total length of 1280 km of grounding line was determined. They were validated by comparing with other independent data sources based on manual measurements. It has been demonstrated that the combination of satellite radar data and automated data processing allows for obtaining high-precision results continuously in a very short time. Such an approach allows monitoring of grounding line position in the long term with intervals of less than one week. It enables analysis of the dynamics changes with unprecedented frequency and the identification of patterns.
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Authors and Affiliations

Michał Tympalski
1
ORCID: ORCID
Marek Sompolski
1
ORCID: ORCID
Anna Kopeć
1
ORCID: ORCID
Wojciech Milczarek
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Faculty of Geoengineering, Mining and Geology, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Na Grobli 15, 50-421 Wrocław, Poland
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Abstract

Significant increasing trends in the air temperature were found both in the surface station of Svalbard Lufthavn and in the low-tropospheric temperature field over the Atlantic Arctic. The variability in temperature, as well as the multiannual trend, is at least three times bigger in the winter months than in summer. An attempt was made to explain the high day-to-day variability in the winter air temperature by the daily variability in the regional pressure field and circulation conditions. Six regional-scale circulation patterns were found by applying the principal component analysis to the mean daily sea level pressure (SLP) reanalysis data and their impact on the low-tropospheric air temperature variability was determined. A bipolar pattern, with a positive center over Greenland and a negative center over the White Sea, dominates in the region and strongly influences the air temperature field at 850 hPa geopotential height (correlation coefficients up to –0.65). The second pattern that impacts the temperature field in the Atlantic Arctic is the one with a center of action over Svalbard (mostly a low-pressure center in winter), strongly influencing the air temperature over the Barents Sea. The remaining circulation types, explaining only 5–8% of the total variance of the SLP field each, do not modify significantly the air temperature at 850 hPa geopotential level over the Atlantic Arctic, and none of the circulation types seems to influence the multiannual temperature trends.
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Authors and Affiliations

Ewa Bednorz
1
ORCID: ORCID
Arkadiusz M. Tomczyk
1
ORCID: ORCID
Bartosz Czernecki
1
ORCID: ORCID
Miłosz Piękny
1

  1. Department of Meteorology and Climatology, Institute of Physical Geography and Environmental Planning, Adam Mickiewicz University, B. Krygowskiego 10, 61–680 Poznań, Poland
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Abstract

Although Svalbard archipelago is considered as a natural laboratory for the environmental studies in the High Arctic, the knowledge on the transport and diversity of bioaerosols (aeroplankton) in the atmosphere is poorly recognized. To improve our knowledge about the aeroplankton over the Svalbard, we conducted a short-term study in the central part of the archipelago with a special focus on two important, but understudied in this region, airborne components: pollen grains and invertebrates. Aerobiological traps, three impact-type samplers and 12 pitfall-type water traps, were operated for a week of July 2022 at three sites located near Longyearbyen, the largest settlement of Svalbard. These sites, that is, Platåfjellet, Longyearbreen Glacier, and glacier valley, varied in the local sources of biological material and altitude. In total, 11 pollen taxa were isolated from pollen impactors. Most of them (68%) belonged to non-native plants, for example, Alnus sp., Betula sp., Picea abies, or Pinus sylvestris-type pollen. In pitfall-type water traps, we found invertebrates representing Acari (Prostigmata, Endeostigmata and Oribatida), Collembola ( Agrenia bidenticulata), Tardigrada (Eutardigrada) and Rotifera (Bdelloidea). The most taxa-rich site, both for pollen and invertebrates, was Platåfjellet, characterized by open landscape dominated by small cryptogams, mainly lichens and mosses, and sparse patches of vascular plants. Even though our sampling was short-term, we found diverse taxa belonged to native and alien species, indicating that both local and long-range transport shape aeroplankton composition and seeding of Arctic habitats. Long-term aerobiological monitoring in diverse ecosystems of Svalbard is needed to understand spatio-temporal influence of aeroplankton on ecosystems.
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Authors and Affiliations

Łukasz Grewling
1
ORCID: ORCID
Ronald Laniecki
1
Mikołaj Jastrzębski
1
Julia Borkowska
1
Zofia Marek
1
Katarzyna Kondrat
1
Zofia Nowak
1
Michał Zacharyasiewicz
1
Marcelina Małecka
1
Barbara Valle
2 3
ORCID: ORCID
Beata Messyasz
1
ORCID: ORCID
Krzysztof Zawierucha
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, ul. Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
  2. Department of Life Sciences, Università degli Studi di Siena, Via A. Moro 2, 53100 Siena, Italy
  3. NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, Italy
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Abstract

Proteases play a key role in cell defense mechanisms to cold-induced oxidative stress. Data on the relationship between cold stress, growth phase, and temperature preferences of the fungal strains isolated from different habitats are very scarce. Here, we report changes in the intra- and extracellular protease activity of three fungal Penicillium strains (two Antarctic and one temperate) under transient temperature downshift during exponential- and stationary growth phases. The results indicated enhanced enzyme levels in both growth phases depending on the degree of stress and strain thermal class. In order to explain the obtained data, we compared them with our previous results on the protein carbonyl content, accumulation of oxidative-stress biomarkers, and antioxidant enzyme defense in the same three fungal strains. The cell response was affected by the temperature preference of the strain, but not by the climatic distance between the locations of isolation.
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Authors and Affiliations

Jeny Miteva-Staleva
1
ORCID: ORCID
Ekaterina Krumova
1
ORCID: ORCID
Boryana Spasova
1
ORCID: ORCID
Maria Angelova
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Department of Mycology, The Stephan Angeloff Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Academician G. Bonchev str. 26, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
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Abstract

Temperature rise together with resultant ice cover retreat in Svalbard, changes in hydrology and geomorphology of fjords and coastal waters is presented as forming force for the marine habitats. Satellite data show increase of habitat complexity following the tidal glaciers retreat and emergence of new (315 km) and complex shoreline. Most evident changes occur in the inner-fjord settings of the west coast of archipelago, while habitats of exposed marine shores and eastern sector of Svalbard remains little changed. It is hypothesized, that decrease in ice cover opens more space for life compared to the cold period.
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Authors and Affiliations

Jan Marcin Węsławski
1
ORCID: ORCID
Jacek A. Urbański
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstańców Warszawy 55,Sopot 81-712, Poland

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