Pacer Initiative

In News

• The Polar Science and Cryosphere (PACER) scheme has been approved for continuation during 2021-2026.

About Pacer Initiative

• The Polar Science and Cryosphere Research (PACER) scheme comprises the Antarctic program, Indian Arctic program, Southern Ocean program and Cryosphere and Climate program.
• Implementation: It is implemented through National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Major achievements of the PACER scheme

• Expedition to Antarctica: Executed 39th& 40th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica. The 41st Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica is ongoing.
• Ice-sheet dynamics: Ten sediment cores were collected from lakes to reconstruct the past climate associated with the ice-sheet dynamics.
• Various glaciological and geophysical measurements were carried out in coastal Dronning Maud Land (cDML) to understand the modern snow accumulation patterns around the ice rises and the remote contribution to the glacial chemical processes.
• Field-based studies were conducted in the lakes of Larsemann hills, East Antarctica for understanding of biogeochemical processes in supraglacial environments.
• Clear-air atmospheric observatories containing automatic weather stations, a suite of sensors to measure aerosol and greenhouse gas concentrations have been established at Maitri and Bharati stations.
• Analysis of ice cores were carried out to understand dissolved organic carbon pathways and long-term climate variability over Antarctica.
• The IndARC mooring system along with the Hydrophone system was successfully retrieved and deployed in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard.
  • Coastal cruises were undertaken in the Arctic Svalbard archipelago to carry out biogeochemical and microbial research in the glacio-marine system.
• Glaciological field campaigns were carried out in six benchmark glaciers in Chandra basin of Lahaul-Spiti region of Western Himalaya. Winter snow accumulation over the glaciers was recorded using snow pits and snow corners.
  • Two new Automatic Weather Station (AWS) systems were installed at Baralacha La, a high elevation site in the arid Spiti region to strengthen infrastructure across the Chandra basin.
• Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveys were conducted.
• The 11th Indian Southern Ocean Expedition was executed successfully: Various atmospheric, geological, oceanographic and biological measurements were conducted in the Prydz Bay as well as across various fronts of the Southern Ocean.

Source: PIB