Objective For the past 50 years, our use of ice core records as climate archives has relied on the fundamental assumption that the isotopic composition of precipitation deposited on the ice sheet surface determines the ice core water isotopic composition. Since the isotopic composition in precipitation is assumed to be governed by the state of the climate this has made ice core isotope records one of the most important proxies for reconstructing the past climate.New simultaneous measurements of snow and water vapor isotopes have shown that the surface snow exchanges with the atmospheric water vapor isotope signal, altering the deposited precipitation isotope signal. This severely questions the standard paradigm for interpreting the ice core proxy record and gives rise to the hypothesis that the isotope record from an ice core is determined by a combination of the atmospheric water vapor isotope signal and the precipitation isotope signal. The SNOWISO project will verify this new hypothesis by combining laboratory and field experiments with in-situ observations of snow and water vapor isotopes in Greenland and Antarctica. This will enable me to quantify and parameterize the snow-air isotope exchange and post-depositional processes. I will implement these results into an isotope-enabled Regional Climate Model with a snowpack module and benchmarked against in-situ observations. Using the coupled snow-atmosphere isotope model I will establish the isotopic shift due to post-depositional processes under different climate conditions. This will facilitate the use of the full suite of water isotopes to infer past changes in the climate system, specifically changes in ocean sea surface temperature and relative humidity.By establishing how the water isotope signal is recorded in the snow, the SNOWISO project will build the foundation for future integration of isotope-enabled General Circulation Models with ice core records; this opens a new frontier in climate reconstruction. Fields of science natural sciencesearth and related environmental scienceshydrologyisotope hydrology Keywords Ice core records Water stable isotopes Snow-air exchange Post-depositional snow processes Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-2017-STG - ERC Starting Grant Call for proposal ERC-2017-STG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-STG - Starting Grant Host institution UNIVERSITETET I BERGEN Net EU contribution € 1 497 260,00 Address MUSEPLASSEN 1 5020 Bergen Norway See on map Region Norge Vestlandet Vestland Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 497 260,00 Beneficiaries (2) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all UNIVERSITETET I BERGEN Norway Net EU contribution € 1 497 260,00 Address MUSEPLASSEN 1 5020 Bergen See on map Region Norge Vestlandet Vestland Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 497 260,00 KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET Participation ended Denmark Net EU contribution € 0,00 Address NORREGADE 10 1165 Kobenhavn See on map Region Danmark Hovedstaden Byen København Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost No data
