My Arctic CareerSara Crepinsek

sara.crepinsek@noaa.gov

Where is the Arctic?

Map image: https://pixabay.com/en/globe-world-map-earth-32299/Globe image: https://pixabay.com/en/earth-blue-planet-globe-planet-11015/

You are here! US

A

Arctic vs Antarctic

Photo credit: https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/polar-opposites-arctic-and-antarctic

Ocean vs Land

• Temperature (thermal) differences• Land will heat faster than water• Land will cool faster than water• Water takes more energy to heat or cool

• Ice melt differences• Ice on land that melts will contribute to sea level rise• Ice in water that melts will not contribute to sea level rise

Arctic Database Manager

• Collect data• Move data (flow process)• Organize and interpret data files• Make data available to public• Document data information• Analyze data• Publish results from data

Photo credit: http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/994392-penguins

Arctic Scientist & Technician

• Collect and move data• Install instrumentation in the field

• Mechanics and electrical work

• Instruments to transmit data to server• Transmit between international servers

• DON’T GET HURT IN THE FIELD!• Tower training• Arctic survival training• First Aid/Wilderness survival training

Harsh Conditions & Strange Transportation

Installing Instruments

Instrumentation

Data Collection

Back to the office…

…time to process our data!

Arctic Datagrams

DataInformation

Raw Data

Ingested Data

Product Data

Plotted Data

Publications!

• Prepare and organize your results• Submit results to scientific journal• Results are peer reviewed by

other scientists in your field• Results are either accepted/not

accepted by journal• Results are published• Educate the world!

Love What You Do!

From Wonder Woman to Arctic Scientist

• Born and raised in Montrose, Colorado• Attended University of Colorado at Boulder, graduated

2010• Bachelor Degree in Environmental Science/Climatology

• Started at NOAA in 2010• Geomagnetism Division, 2010• Ozone department/Global Monitoring Division, 2010 - 2012• Polar Observations & Processes/Physical Sciences Division, 2012

- present

• Attending University of Colorado at Boulder, 2018• Masters Degree in Physical Geography/Arctic Sciences

Climatology

• Weather vs Climate• Weather = short term

(days)• Climate = long term

(decades)

• Our world is changing• Arctic amplification

• Arctic will see changes first

• What changes do you see?

“As the Northern Hemisphere's refrigerator, the Arctic influences climate patterns well beyond the boundaries of the Arctic itself. The loss of the ice cover changes the refrigerator, and climate patterns in turn. How does Arctic amplification work? Sea ice helps to keep the Arctic atmosphere cold. Its whiteness reflects much of the Sun's energy back to space, and it physically insulates the Arctic atmosphere from the underlying Arctic Ocean. With less sea ice, the refrigerator door is left open: more dark open water is exposed, which readily absorbs the Sun's energy in summer, heating the ocean and leading to even more melt. With less sea ice there is also less insulation, so that heat from the ocean escapes to warm the atmosphere in the autumn and winter.” - Serreze, M.C., A.P. Barrett, J.C. Stroeve, D.N. Kindig, and M.M. Holland. 2009. The emergence of surface-based Arctic amplification. The Cryosphere 3, 11-19, 2016, nsidc.org/about/monthlyhighlights/2009/09/arctic-amplification. Accessed 2 November 2016.

Alert, Canada

Tiksi, Russia

Questions?