At the 91探花 Harris Hydraulics Lab, an odd scene plays out. Over and over again, researchers from the 91探花and the (PNNL) pass a small rubber model of a marine animal through a large tank filled with flowing water and fitted with a spinning turbine. On some runs, the model bonks against the turbine blades; on others, it receives a glancing blow or sails past undisturbed. When bonks or knicks occur, a small collision sensor on one of the turbine鈥檚 blades detects the impacts and plots the interactions in a computer program.

The researchers are repeatedly simulating something that they hope will rarely happen in the wild: a collision between marine wildlife like a seabird, seal, fish or whale 鈥� or submerged debris like logs 鈥� and an underwater turbine.聽

鈥淲e want to make sure we鈥檙e minimizing the chances of a collision in the first place,鈥� said Aidan Hunt, a senior research engineer in mechanical engineering at the 91探花and member of the (PMEC). 鈥淏ut if a collision were to occur, we want to be able to detect it, and potentially avoid it, in real time. The available evidence suggests that collisions are rare, but we鈥檙e taking a 鈥榯rust-but-verify鈥� approach.鈥�

Marine energy 鈥� power harvested from tides, waves and currents 鈥� has enormous potential as a clean, renewable resource. But more information is needed about how large, commercial installations of underwater turbines or power-generating buoys could affect marine wildlife, whether through increased noise in the environment, habitat change or direct interactions with equipment.聽

The marine collision experiments are part of the , a collection of projects led by PNNL to study the environmental impact of marine energy.聽

The work at Harris Hydraulics follows a by PNNL and the 91探花Applied Physics Lab using a four-foot-tall prototype turbine installed at the entrance to Sequim Bay. In that study, researchers trained an underwater camera on the turbine for 109 days and then catalogued every instance of an animal approaching or interacting with the turbine. The camera captured more than 1,000 instances of fish, birds and seals approaching the turbine blades. There were only four collisions, and all were small fish.聽

鈥淭his study was a first step, but a promising one,鈥� said co-author , a research scientist at the 91探花Applied Physics Lab. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 see any endangered species in our study, and the risk of collision for seals and sea birds seemed to be quite low. We鈥檙e excited to get back out there with the camera and learn even more.鈥�

The Sequim Bay experiment generated hours of valuable data, but that degree of intense monitoring may not be practical in large commercial installations in the future. Cheaper impact sensors, like the ones logging bath toy impacts at Harris Hydraulics, could be a solution, researchers say.聽聽

The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy鈥檚 Hydropower & Hydrokinetics Office, through the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory鈥檚 Triton Initiative and the TEAMER program.

For more information, contact Hunt at ahunt94@uw.edu or Emma Cotter at emma.cotter@pnnl.gov.

NASA last week that both the 91探花 STRIVE team and the UW-affiliated EDGE team were selected to lead satellite missions to better understand Earth and improve capabilities to foresee environmental events and mitigate disasters.

STRIVE and EDGE were among four finalists as part of the agency鈥檚 Earth System Explorers Program, which conducts principal investigator-led space science missions as recommended by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2017 Decadal Survey for Earth Science and Applications from Space.

The total estimated cost of each mission, not including launch, will not exceed $355 million with a mission launch date of no earlier than 2030, stated NASA.

鈥淭his was fantastic news. We have been working on this concept for a few years now, and for many of us it is a dream come true. To be able to observe the atmosphere at this level of detail is a tremendous opportunity,鈥� said , a 91探花professor of atmospheric and climate science, who is leading the STRIVE mission.

Stratosphere-Troposphere Response using Infrared Vertically-resolved light Explorer

, which stands for Stratosphere-Troposphere Response using Infrared Vertically-resolved light Explorer, will examine the regions of the atmosphere where weather forms and the ozone layer sits, yielding new insights into temperature and trace gases in the atmosphere that affect aviation, long-range transport of volcanic smoke and air pollution.

The STRIVE instruments, compact enough to fit into the trunk of a midsize SUV, can make more than 400,000 observations each day. Instead of looking straight down at the Earth, like other missions, the STRIVE instruments angle sideways towards Earth鈥檚 surface to capture the atmosphere in greater detail.

鈥淲ith these observations, we won鈥檛 just get measurements of ozone but rather all the chemical species that affect ozone in the stratosphere,鈥� Jaegl茅 said.

The ozone layer, which absorbs ultraviolet radiation, after severe depletion in the early 2000s, but still requires careful monitoring.

STRIVE represents a technological and scientific quantum leap that will help researchers understand how air pollution circulates following a wildfire or volcanic eruption, for example. Importantly, STRIVE will also aid weather forecasting efforts beyond the typical 10-day window to give people time to prepare for extreme weather events.

鈥淚f we can see something propagating from high up 鈥� such as large shifts in winds 鈥斅爐hen we will know that several weeks later it will impact Earth鈥檚 surface. Our current weather models cannot predict this connection very well because we don鈥檛 really know what is going on at the interface of the stratosphere and troposphere,” Jaegl茅 added.

The national-scale team includes partners from academia, industry and federal science labs. at the University of Iowa is the deputy principal investigator of STRIVE, and at NASA鈥檚 Goddard Space Flight Center is the project scientist. Several NASA Goddard scientists are also involved. Other 91探花members of STRIVE are professor , assistant professor and affiliate faculty member , all in the 91探花Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science.

The Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer聽

, or Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer, uses lasers to observe the three dimensional structure of Earth鈥檚 surface 鈥� including forests, glaciers, ice sheets and sea ice 鈥� as it changes. , a senior principal physicist and , a senior research scientist both at the 91探花 and , a 91探花associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, are part of the EDGE team, led by from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.

EDGE will be the first global satellite imaging laser altimeter system, according to . The system captures surface detail in high resolution by firing laser pulses at the Earth and recording how long it takes for them to return, making over 150,000 measurements each second. It can also precisely track changes in surface elevation over time to capture how ice sheets and glaciers are responding to climate change over seasonal and longer-term timescales.

“What’s really exciting about EDGE is the level of detail it will measure. Older laser altimetry measurements sample a coarse grid of points on the ground, but with the EDGE data we will be able to see individual trees around Seattle, and small cracks in glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica. Often, it’s the fine-scale processes that drive how the large-scale system changes,” Smith said.

Although the effort will focus on polar regions, forests and coastlines, EDGE is an 鈥渆verything mission,鈥� Shean said.

鈥淭hese precise surface elevation change measurements are essential for so many pressing scientific and engineering applications,鈥� he added. 鈥淭he EDGE data will have implications for sea level rise, natural hazards monitoring, water resource and forest management, and wildfire response. This is also a major milestone for UW, as it formalizes 91探花leadership and involvement on not one, but two NASA Earth Observation missions. I鈥檓 excited to bring students onto the EDGE team and train the next generation of 91探花researchers who will do amazing things with EDGE data in the coming decades.鈥�

For more information on STRIVE, contact Jaegl茅 at jaegle@uw.edu.

The 91探花 was awarded $2.5 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to fund 16 postdoctoral fellows in a number of fields across the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Engineering and the College of the Environment.

The 91探花is one of 30 U.S. research universities to receive the funding. The grants support work in a range of natural science disciplines supported by the foundation, including disciplines of astronomy, biology, chemistry, Earth and planetary sciences, ecology materials science, physics and quantum information. Post doctoral fellows will receive between $90,000 and $200,000 for work lasting nine to 24 months.聽

Gordon and Betty Moore established the Moore Foundation in 2000 to create positive outcomes for future generations. In pursuit of that vision, the Foundation advances scientific discovery and environmental conservation. It is one of the nation鈥檚 leading philanthropies with an endowment of approximately $12 billion and annual grantmaking exceeding $500 million.

In awarding the funds, officials with the Moore Foundation noted the 鈥渃ritical role postdoctoral fellows play in advancing scientific discovery and the importance of maintaining the talent pipeline for science.鈥�

The 91探花is well known for training future researchers and scientific leaders across disciplines. Many of the post-doctoral fellows in this cohort say they plan to pursue faculty positions, to inspire another generation of scientists.

鈥淭he work these postdoctoral researchers are doing will increase our understanding of the planet and the universe, helping to create a better future for all,鈥� said Cecilia Giachelli, associate vice provost for research and a professor of bioengineering. 鈥淲e are deeply grateful to the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for their generous support.鈥�

91探花News asked the cohort of Moore Foundation postdoctoral fellows to share their research goals. Here鈥檚 what they told us:

Arachaporn Anutaliya, Applied Physics Laboratory:

“I’m excited to receive this fellowship because it allows me to study large-scale equatorial waves that move heat through the ocean and shape global climate patterns. Understanding how these waves redistribute heat is essential for improving our understanding of climate variability and global warming. This fellowship supports my goal of building a career in ocean and climate science that connects fundamental research to broader climate understanding.”

Arpit Arora, Department of Astronomy:听

“I am thrilled to receive this fellowship, as it lets me collaborate with the 91探花experts leading the Rubin Observatory to study dark matter 鈥� the invisible substance making up 85% of all matter in the universe. I use computer simulations to model ‘stellar streams,’ which are long trails of stars being torn apart by our galaxy鈥檚 gravity. By comparing these simulations with new telescope data, I can use the motion of these stars to map out the hidden influence of dark matter and finally understand how it shapes our universe.”

George Brencher, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering:

“My research uses satellite data and machine learning to improve measurements of snow and ice that are needed for managing water resources and natural hazards. Rapid advances in Earth observation and machine learning are transforming the field, allowing us to push the limits of what we can observe on Earth from space. This fellowship will allow me to develop new approaches that translate these advances into meaningful, real-world impact.”

Leo Brody, Department of Chemical Engineering:听

“Receiving this fellowship gives me the flexibility to explore a new class of materials that could dramatically lower the cost of turning waste plastics and biomass into useful fuels and chemicals. I am especially excited about replacing rare, expensive catalysts with materials made from Earth-abundant elements like iron, aluminum and carbon. This support will help me prioritize making energy and chemical production cleaner, cheaper and more sustainable.”

Jamie Cochran, Department of Biology:

“I will study the physiology of the freshwater crustacean Hyalella azteca, which is used to understand the impact of aquatic stressors 鈥� such as metals or pesticides 鈥� on freshwater environments. Just like humans require a specific ratio of salt to water for survival, these shrimp-like crustaceans must regulate their internal balance of ions to water. My project involves trying to determine the mechanisms behind this balance, which could also help us understand other sensitive freshwater creatures. I am grateful to this fellowship for the opportunity to investigate this ecologically significant species.”

Debarati Das, Department of Chemistry:

“As a biochemist, I am keen on pursuing a career in industry or the government sector addressing questions at the interface of chemistry and biology. I find microorganisms particularly fascinating because they are able to live in diverse habitats, from the deep sea to the human body. With the support of the Moore Foundation, I will be able to develop new skills to study how microbes use unique chemistry to adapt to different environmental conditions. This work will help us to understand the critical roles of microorganisms in every ecosystem on our planet.”

Mateo Lopez Espejo, Department of Psychology:

“When we hear a sound, we turn our heads to focus our vision and hearing on the source. This is a process called active sensing. I am excited to investigate the mechanisms behind this process using the fruit fly as a model so that I can take advantage of its genetic tools and fully mapped brain connectivity. The support of this fellowship will be fundamental to help me establish this research plan during my postdoc, and to cement my future career.”

Cassandra Henderson, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering:听

“I am pleased to accept the Moore Foundation fellowship to support my essential research in preparing Washington communities for climate change. With this assistance, I will be able to continue work on the , which enables long term flood planning that addresses sea level rise.”

Sophia Jannetty, Department of Biology:听

“I use computer simulations to explore how the behavior of individual cells affects the health of our tissues and organs. I am honored to receive the Moore Foundation fellowship, which will allow me to apply this approach to better understand how aging cells and inflammation interact to influence disease. I hope my work can inform more thoughtful strategies for promoting healthy aging.”

Atsushi Matsuda, Department of Biology:

“Electron microscopy reveals extraordinary details inside living cells, but turning these images into accurate three-dimensional reconstructions remains a major challenge. My research aims to overcome this by combining physics-informed machine learning with computer vision to create tools that are broadly usable by biological researchers. I am excited to receive this fellowship because it gives me the freedom to pursue this highly interdisciplinary work at the intersection of biology, computational mechanics and artificial intelligence.”

Hikari Murayama, Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science:听

“Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions was a core pillar of my doctoral work, and this fellowship provides an opportunity to build off of that. We’ll be focusing on historical data: Tracking past methane emissions from oil and gas facilities can give us insight into how emission patterns fluctuate over time. I’m excited to continue developing as an interdisciplinary scholar while also forming my identity as a researcher as I pursue faculty positions.”

Dongmin Shi, Department of Materials Science & Engineering:听

“I am honored to receive support from the Moore Foundation fellowship, which will enable me to pursue innovative, foundational ideas with long-term impact in biomedical engineering. My research focuses on developing wearable biosensors that help monitor and better understand human health. In the future, I aim to become a faculty member who helps translate fundamental scientific discoveries into technologies that improve health care.”

Marta Ulaski, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences:

“Healthy rivers are the backbone of thriving salmon and trout populations but we don’t yet know if the places we protect are the ones most at risk from a warming climate. I鈥檓 looking forward to combining climate, policy and habitat information in a new way to better understand how river protections support salmon and trout. Ultimately I hope this work will help close the gap between research and conservation practice and provide evidence to guide future policy.”

Corinne Vietorisz, School of Environmental & Forest Sciences:听

“I am very excited to receive the Moore Fellowship, which will allow me to join the Willing Lab at the 91探花to study how fire-adapted microbes can aid in forest recovery following wildfire. I am continuously amazed by the enormous impacts microorganisms have on our world. My long-term goal is to study how soil microbes 鈥� including fungi and bacteria 鈥� can improve ecosystem restoration and land management outcomes.”

Samuel Wong, Department of Physics:听

“I am interested in proposing novel ways to test theories beyond the current understanding of fundamental physics, such as searching for new particles and forces. Specifically, my work involves finding ways to use precision measurement techniques to search for these tiny signals of new physics. The 91探花is a leading center for precision measurement, and the support from the Moore Foundation postdoctoral fellowship will allow me to do this work alongside , 91探花assistant professor of physics.”

Weiwang Zeng, Department of Chemistry:听

“I am excited to receive this fellowship because it gives me the freedom to take big scientific risks at a crucial stage in my career. I use ultrafast bursts of light in a special range of the electromagnetic spectrum to reveal and control new behaviors in atomically thin quantum materials. With this support, I can build toward an independent research program.”

Polar bears in some parts of the high Arctic are developing ice buildup and related injuries to their feet, apparently due to changing sea ice conditions in a warming Arctic. While surveying the health of two polar bear populations, researchers found lacerations, hair loss, ice buildup and skin ulcerations primarily affecting the feet of adult bears as well as other parts of the body. Two bears had ice blocks up to 1 foot (30 centimeters) in diameter stuck to their foot pads, which caused deep, bleeding cuts and made it difficult for them to walk.

The led by the 91探花 was published Oct. 22 in the journal Ecology. It鈥檚 the first time that such injuries have been documented in polar bears.

The researchers suggest several mechanisms for how the shift from a climate that used to remain well below freezing to one with freeze鈥搕haw cycles could be causing ice buildup and injuries.

鈥淚n addition to the anticipated responses to climate change for polar bears, there are going to be other, unexpected responses,鈥� said lead author , a senior principal scientist at the 91探花Applied Physics Laboratory and a professor in the 91探花School of Aquatic and Fishery sciences. 鈥淎s strange as it sounds, with climate warming there are more frequent freeze-thaw cycles with more wet snow, and this leads to ice buildup on polar bears鈥� paws.鈥�

Between 2012 and 2022, Laidre and co-author , a wildlife veterinarian, studied two populations of polar bears living above 70 degrees north latitude and saw the injuries.

In the Kane Basin population, located between Canada and Greenland, 31 of 61 polar bears showed evidence of icing-related injuries, such as hairless patches, cuts or scarring.

In the second population in East Greenland, 15 of 124 polar bears had similar injuries. Two Greenland bears at separate locations in 2022 had massive ice balls stuck to their feet.

鈥淚’d never seen that before,鈥� Laidre said. 鈥淭he two most-affected bears couldn’t run 鈥� they couldn’t even walk very easily. When immobilizing them for research, we very carefully removed the ice balls. The chunks of ice weren’t just caught up in the hair. They were sealed to the skin, and when you palpated the feet it was apparent that the bears were in pain.鈥�

Researchers have studied these two polar bear populations since the 1990s but haven鈥檛 reported these types of injuries before. Consultations with lifetime Indigenous subsistence hunters and a survey of the scientific literature suggests this is a recent phenomenon.

Polar bears have small bumps on their foot pads that help provide traction on slippery surfaces. These bumps, which are larger than those on the pads of other bear species like brown and black bears, make it easier for wet snow to freeze to the paws and accumulate. This problem also affects sled dogs in the North.

The authors hypothesize three possible reasons for increasing ice buildup on polar bears鈥� paws 鈥� all related to climate warming. One is more rain-on-snow events, which creates moist, slushy snow that clumps onto paws and then freezes to form a solid once temperatures drop.

A second possibility is that more warm spells are causing the surface snow to melt and then refreeze into a hard crust. The heavy polar bears break through this ice crust, cutting their paws on its sharp edges.

The final possible reason is that both these populations live on 鈥溾�� connected to the land, near where freshwater glaciers meet the ocean. Warming in these environments leads to thinner sea ice, allowing seawater to seep up into the snow. This wet snow can clump onto bears鈥� feet and then refreeze to form ice. Also, unlike other areas, polar bears living at glaciers鈥� edges rarely swim long distances in spring, which would help thaw and dislodge accumulated ice chunks because the water is warmer than the air.

While the bears are clearly affected by the ice buildup, the researchers are cautious regarding broader conclusions about the health of the two populations.

鈥淲e鈥檝e seen these icing-related injuries on individual polar bears,鈥� Laidre said. 鈥淏ut I would hesitate to jump to conclusions about how this might affect them at a population level. We really don鈥檛 know.鈥�

, a research scientist at UW鈥檚 Applied Physics Laboratory, recently published a separate analyzing snow cover on Arctic sea ice over recent decades.

鈥淭he surface of Arctic sea ice is transforming with climate change,鈥� Webster said. 鈥淭he sea ice has less snow in late spring and summer, and the snow that does exist is experiencing earlier, episodic melt and more frequent rain. All these things can create challenging surface conditions for polar bears to travel on.鈥�

Asked what can be done to help the polar bears, Laidre had a simple response: 鈥淲e can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and try to limit climate warming.鈥�

The field observations of polar bears were funded by the governments of Canada, Denmark, Nunavut and Greenland. Laidre is also affiliated with the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources.

For more information, contact Laidre at klaidre@uw.edu.

Scientists have yet to find evidence of life on Mars, but a new study from researchers at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the 91探花 and other universities suggests microbes could find a potential home beneath 聽layers of ice known to exist on Mars鈥� surface.

In the , published Oct. 17 in Communications Earth & Environment, authors showed that enough sunlight shines through surface ice for photosynthesis to occur in shallow subsurface pools of meltwater. Similar subsurface meltwater pools that form within ice on Earth have been found to teem with life, including algae, fungi, and microscopic cyanobacteria, all of which derive energy from the sun via photosynthesis.

鈥淚f we鈥檙e trying to find life anywhere in the universe today, Martian ice exposures are probably one of the most accessible places we should be looking,鈥� said lead author at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who will join the 91探花Applied Physics Laboratory as a senior research scientist in November.

Unlike Earth, Mars has two kinds of ice: frozen water and frozen carbon dioxide. The new study focused on water ice, largely formed from snow mixed with dust that fell during a series of Martian ice ages during the past million years. That ancient snow has since solidified into ice, still peppered with specks of dust.

Those dust particles are key to explaining how subsurface pools of water would form within ice when exposed to solar rays: dark dust absorbs more sunlight than the surrounding ice, causing the deeper ice to warm up and melt up to a few feet below the surface.

It鈥檚 a matter of debate whether ice can actually melt and exist as a liquid on the surface of Mars due to the planet鈥檚 thin, dry atmosphere, where water ice is believed to sublimate 鈥� turn directly into gas 鈥� the way dry ice does on Earth. But the atmospheric effects that make melting difficult on the surface wouldn鈥檛 apply below the surface of a dusty snowpack or glacier.

This new paper uses computer modeling to suggest that dusty ice lets in enough light for photosynthesis to occur as deep as 10 feet (3 meters) below the surface. In this scenario, the upper layers of ice prevent the shallow subsurface pools of water from evaporating while also providing protection from harmful radiation. That鈥檚 important given that, unlike Earth, Mars lacks a protective magnetic field to shield it from both the sun鈥檚 ultraviolet rays and radioactive cosmic ray particles zipping around space.

The water ice that would be most likely to form these subsurface pools would exist in Mars鈥� midlatitudes 鈥� between the latitudes of 30 degrees and 60 degrees 鈥� in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

鈥淭his latest paper examines the propagation of solar radiation into the ice, showing that just below the surface there is a zone that is safe from ultraviolet but still gets enough visible light to support photosynthesis,鈥� said co-author , professor emeritus of Earth and space sciences at the UW. 鈥淏ut of course photosynthetic organisms won鈥檛 survive unless the ice in that zone can melt, at least occasionally.鈥�

At the UW, Khuller plans to continue working to determine where liquid water is likely to exist on Mars. The next step, Khuller said, will be to recreate some of Mars鈥� dusty ice in a lab setting. Meanwhile, he and others are beginning to map out the most likely spots on Mars to look for shallow meltwater 鈥� scientific targets for possible human and robotic missions in the future.

at the University of Colorado Boulder is also a co-author on the new paper.

For more information, contact Khuller at akhuller@uw.edu and Warren at sgw@uw.edu.

Adapted from a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory .

A project led by the 91探花 to better understand our atmosphere鈥檚 complexity is a finalist for NASA鈥檚 next generation of Earth-observing satellites. The space agency this week the projects that will each receive $5 million to advance to the next stage and conduct a one-year concept study.

seeks to better understand the troposphere that we inhabit and the stratosphere above it, where the ozone layer is, as well as the interface where these two layers meet. That interface, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) above the surface, is where important atmospheric chemistry, circulation and climate processes occur.

In addition to STRIVE, two other teams among the finalists also include researchers from the UW.

The four teams that reached the proof-of-concept stage will spend the next year refining their proposals. NASA will then review the concept study reports and select two for implementation. Projects that reach the final stage will have a budget of up to $310 million to build the instruments, which NASA will launch into orbit in 2030 or 2032. The satellites are expected to have an initial working life of two to three years.

, professor of atmospheric sciences at the UW, is principal investigator of STRIVE, or 鈥淪tratosphere Troposphere Response using Infrared Vertically-Resolved Light Explorer.鈥� The national-scale team includes partners from academia, industry and federal science labs.

The two instruments aboard the STRIVE spacecraft would observe temperature, ozone, water vapor, methane, reactive gases, smoke and other aerosol particles. They will collect 400,000 sets of observations every day 鈥� hundreds to thousands of times more than what鈥檚 possible now. Instead of looking straight down at the Earth, the STRIVE instruments point at an angle to Earth鈥檚 surface, allowing them to capture the atmospheric layers in greater detail.

These observations could help to monitor how the UV-absorbing ozone layer is rebuilding or deteriorating in the atmosphere; how smoke particles from volcanoes, wildfires or human emissions travel through the atmosphere and influence air quality; and how water vapor, ozone, and high-elevation clouds influence the climate system.

The STRIVE system would also support longer-range weather forecasts.

鈥淏efore a major weather event at the surface, there can be precursor signs that happen in the stratosphere,鈥� Jaegl茅 said. 鈥淎nd we see those weeks ahead of time. Observing the stratosphere and how these signals propagate down will be key to getting better weather forecasts on subseasonal to seasonal scales, so two weeks to two months in advance.鈥�

As several NASA satellites of their working lifetimes, the agency is looking for future possibilities to continue their legacy of tracking Earth鈥檚 changes.

鈥淔or observing the Earth, before we’ve had these multibillion-dollar instruments and platforms that take much longer to design and to put in operation. I think the overall idea is to move to a nimbler, faster set of satellite missions that will be designed more quickly and cost less,鈥� Jaegl茅 said. 鈥淣ASA will still pursue the bigger missions, but these smaller missions are another tool that they鈥檙e moving forward with.鈥�

at the University of Iowa is the deputy principal investigator of STRIVE, and at NASA鈥檚 Goddard Space Flight Center is the project scientist. Several NASA Goddard scientists are also involved. Other 91探花members of STRIVE are professor , assistant professor and affiliate faculty member , all in the 91探花Department of Atmospheric Sciences.

Other institutions include the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, NorthWest Research Associates, Science Systems and Applications, NASA鈥檚 Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the University of Colorado-Boulder, the University of Toronto and Morgan State University.

The STRIVE team will spend the next year developing a report with an in-depth engineering, cost and technical analysis.

鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely exciting. This was a team effort, with many people involved,鈥� Jaegl茅 said. 鈥淎lso a bit daunting because the next year will be a very busy one, but very exciting for how to make these concepts become a reality.鈥�

Two other projects among the four finalists also involve 91探花scientists

The proposal, led by the University of California, San Diego, proposes a new laser instrument to measure the height of vegetation, glaciers and polar ice sheets.

鈥淭he current state-of-the-art for satellite laser altimetry, the satellites that measure surface height, is ICESat-2, which has six laser beams. GEDI, on the International Space Station, has eight beams. EDGE will have 40 laser beams, so the level of detail is just much, much higher,鈥� said , a research scientist at the 91探花Applied Physics Laboratory who鈥檚 a member of the ICESat-2 science team and is an investigator on the EDGE proposal.

The EDGE satellite would collect data for the world鈥檚 forests with the ability to resolve individual trees. Unlike existing satellites it would span all latitudes, from the boreal forests to the equator, surveying dense rainforests to sparser temperate woodlands. EDGE would also observe polar ice sheets and glaciers worldwide, including in the Western U.S., Alaska and the Himalayas, where populations rely on meltwater for hydropower, agriculture and household use.

鈥淚t’s very nimble, so it can be off-pointed to collect very dense 3D measurements over priority areas,鈥� said , a 91探花assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering who is also involved with EDGE. 鈥淪o for example, we could scan the entire Nisqually Glacier on Mount Rainier, and potentially many other Pacific Northwest glaciers, in a single pass.鈥�

STRIVE science team member Alex Turner is also a member of the proposal led by CalTech and NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Carbon-I would sample carbon dioxide and methane gases, tracking both emissions and sinks in places like the Amazon rainforest. It would have a global resolution of 300 meters, or about the length of three football fields, and could zoom in to a resolution of just 100 feet (30 meters) to investigate particular sources.

鈥淲e suspect that for methane in particular there are 鈥榮uperemitters,鈥� or a small number of sources that emit massive amounts of methane,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淔rom a regulatory perspective, if you can find and fix those superemitters in a timely manner, you can cut your emissions by a pretty large amount.鈥�

The awards are part of NASA鈥檚 new Earth System Explorers Program. The other finalist proposal is , led by the University of California, San Diego.

鈥淎s we continue to confront our changing climate, and its impacts on humans and our environment, the need for data and scientific research could not be greater,鈥� said Nicky Fox, associate director at NASA headquarters. 鈥淭hese proposals will help us better prepare for the challenges we face today, and tomorrow.鈥�

For more information on STRIVE, contact Jaegl茅 at jaegle@uw.edu.

Ocean temperatures and their connections to weather trends have been making news. Five 91探花 experts offer their perspectives on the current El Ni帽o 鈥� a climate pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean that affects weather worldwide. 91探花researchers comment on the current El Ni帽o, its effect on weather in the Pacific Northwest, as well as on regional and global ocean temperature trends.

, a 91探花research scientist at the , comments on the developing El Ni帽o:

“This El Ni帽o has evolved in a really interesting way. Since spring, the dynamical models have very confidently predicted an El Ni帽o event. But while the key region of the tropical Pacific has warmed quickly, the typical atmospheric response has lagged. The atmosphere in the tropical Pacific is only now becoming more typical of an El Ni帽o event, although it is still not fully matching the ocean surface. That鈥檚 unusual, because the tropical ocean and atmosphere tend to evolve together.

“It will be interesting to see how this El Ni帽o continues to evolve over the next few months, which will help determine the extent of impacts on our upcoming winter weather. Remote impacts in places like Seattle tend to be stronger for stronger El Ni帽o events. While sea surface temperature has typically been the main measure, the impacts might very well depend more on the atmospheric response. So the evolution of the system over the next few months will be key to the eventual local impacts in places like Seattle.”

Dennis Hartmann, professor of atmospheric sciences at the UW, on El Ni帽o and its effects:

“The impact of El Ni帽o on the Pacific Northwest varies a lot from one event to the other, depending on the spatial structure and size of the sea surface temperature changes in the tropics, and on the state of the atmosphere between the tropics and the Pacific Northwest. For that reason, the predictions of Pacific Northwest impacts based upon El Ni帽o events that happened in the past are quite uncertain.

“In addition, the climate has warmed significantly in both the tropics and outside the tropics since some of the prior big El Ni帽o events, in the 1970s and 1980s. That may add an additional complication to making an accurate forecast of how this winter will be different because of the current El Ni帽o event.”

Nick Bond, a research scientist at CICOES and Washington鈥檚 state climatologist, on El Ni帽o and its effects on Washington鈥檚 weather:

“El Ni帽o conditions are present now in the tropical Pacific Ocean, and they are very likely to persist through the coming winter. The effects on Washington鈥檚 weather are expected to feature relatively warm, and perhaps drier, weather than usual after Jan. 1, and ultimately a lower-than-normal snowpack in our mountains at the end of winter. El Ni帽o’s impacts on the weather in Washington state tend to be more consistent in the middle to latter part of the winter.

“But this is not written in stone 鈥� there has been variability among past El Ni帽os in terms of effects on Washington鈥檚 winter weather.”

Jan Newton, senior principal oceanographer at the 91探花Applied Physics Laboratory and director of the UW-based , on what oceanographers are seeing in regional waters:

“Conditions off Washington鈥檚 outer coast have varied and are mainly influenced by changes in coastal upwelling and downwelling in the Pacific Ocean. Temperatures off the outer coast are now 4 degrees Fahrenheit (about 2 degrees Celsius) above normal, though variable.

“In Puget Sound, we鈥檙e starting to see surface water temperatures shift from cooler than normal, or normal, to consistently warmer than normal, but only by less than one degree Fahrenheit (half a degree Celsius). Given the large-scale warmth in the satellite-measured sea surface temperatures offshore, I do expect that we will continue to see warmer-than-normal sea temperatures in Puget Sound.聽 However, it鈥檚 hard to predict if these differences from the average will stay small or will increase. What happens next will depend on ocean conditions and local weather.”

LuAnne Thompson, 91探花professor of oceanography, on the :

“The recent acceleration of ocean warming in the Atlantic is unprecedented in the historical record, and has created an Atlantic-wide marine heat wave. The ability of the ocean to absorb and store vast amounts of heat makes these types of events last longer. I study marine heat waves with a focus on their evolution in time and space. However, with more long-lasting, basin-wide events, such as the one we are seeing now in the Atlantic Ocean, we will need to reevaluate our approach.

“At a particular location, a marine heat wave occurs when the sea surface temperature is above a threshold, defined by what is typical for that time of year, and lasts for at least five days. However, with the global warming projected over coming decades, these dangerous hot water events will no longer be localized and of finite duration 鈥� they will no longer fit the traditional definition of marine heat waves. Instead, these marine heat wave events will become more persistent and widespread, and eventually will cover entire ocean basins.”

For more information, contact Levine at aflevine@uw.edu, Hartmann at dhartm@uw.edu, Bond at nab3met@uw.edu, Newton at janewton@uw.edu and Thompson at luanne@uw.edu.

The U.S. National Science Foundation Sept. 21 that it is awarding a coalition of academic and oceanographic research organizations a new five-year cooperative agreement to operate and maintain the . The 91探花, Oregon State University and project lead Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will continue operating the OOI, a science-driven ocean observing network that delivers real-time data from more than 900 instruments to address critical science questions regarding the world’s oceans. The coalition was previously funded in 2018.

Under this new $220 million total investment, each of the three institutions will continue to operate and maintain the portion of the observatory for which it is currently responsible. The award amount for the 91探花is $52.4 million.

鈥淚 am extremely excited about this next five years of operations and the continued opportunities that the Regional Cabled Array will provide for unparalleled environmental data throughout entire ocean depths in some of the most dynamic environments on Earth,鈥� said , a 91探花professor of oceanography and director of the Regional Cabled Array. 鈥淒ecade-long measurements from more than 150 instruments sampling every second make this a perfect system to captivate users with 鈥榥ew eyes鈥� and AI applications, which will undoubtedly lead to important new discoveries and predictive capabilities.鈥�

91探花operates what鈥檚 now known as the , an underwater observatory 聽on the seafloor of the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate 鈥� a small tectonic plate off Newport, Oregon, that鈥檚 home to an active underwater volcano and deep-ocean life 鈥� at 1 to almost 2 miles depth. The array also has instruments that move up and down to monitor properties in the ocean above. More than 500 miles (900 kilometers) of submarine fiber-optic cable provide power, real-time data transmission and live, two-way communication between the observatory and computers back on shore.

The Regional Cabled Array is the largest component of the full OOI network that collects and shares measurements from more than 900 instruments on the seafloor and on moored and free-swimming robotic platforms. The instruments are maintained with regular, ship-based expeditions to the equipment sites. All data are freely available to users worldwide, including members of the scientific community, policy experts, decision-makers, educators and the public.

“We’re so pleased to have the opportunity to continue providing streaming, real-time ocean data for all to use as part of the OOI,” said , the Maggie Walker Dean of the 91探花College of the Environment. “This support will allow the global research community to conduct multi-faceted, cutting-edge science for years to come, which is vital to understanding and protecting our oceans.鈥�

Oregon State University will continue to operate the Endurance Array in the coastal waters near Oregon. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, which is based in Massachusetts, will operate projects outside the Pacific Northwest region, inluding the Pioneer Array off the North Carolina coast, subject to environmental permitting, and two global arrays, off the southern tip of Greenland and at a long-term ocean observing station in the Gulf of Alaska.

鈥淥OI has proven to be an exceedingly valuable source of information about the ocean. Its freely available data are contributing to better understanding of ocean processes and how the ocean is changing,鈥� said NSF Program Officer for OOI George Voulgaris.聽 鈥淪cientists are using OOI data as the source of cutting-edge scientific discoveries 鈥� everything from getting close to predicting underwater volcanic eruptions to changing ocean circulation patterns that have real life implications for weather and fishing patterns.

鈥淥OI data also are serving as inspiration for students in the classroom, who are excited about learning about the ocean with access to real-time ocean data. We at NSF are proud of our continued investment in making these data available.鈥�

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will continue to lead operations and management of OOI through 2028, and OSU will continue to house and operate the data center that ingests and delivers all OOI data.

For more information about the Regional Cabled Array, contact Kelley at dskelley@uw.edu.

Adapted from a from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

, a researcher at the 91探花Applied Physics Laboratory, appears in the film doing fieldwork on Wrangel Island, an island off the northeast coast of Russia that is home to the world’s highest concentration of polar bears. He and 91探花glaciologist will field audience questions after of the film, which focuses on the changing Arctic environment.

91探花News asked Regehr a few questions about his research studying a population of polar bears that traverse the waters between Alaska and Russia.

When do you typically go to Wrangel Island, and how long do you spend there?

I鈥檝e been leading polar bear research on Wrangel Island since 2016. I typically spend about one month there each fall, although the entire trip takes two months because the island is so remote. Unfortunately, everything has been on hold since early 2022 due to the political situation with Russia.

Who are your usual collaborators? What was it like to have a film crew with you?

The research project is a collaboration between the 91探花, the UNESCO Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve, the U.S. government, and others. Having a film crew was fun. The only downside was that it meant keeping track of more people, to make sure they didn鈥檛 wander off and bump into a bear.

How did you come up with the technique, shown in the film, that uses a wire enclosure to collect polar bear fur for DNA analysis?

A colleague in Alaska developed the first 鈥渉air snare鈥� traps for polar bears, and then engineers here at the 91探花Applied Physics Laboratory improved the design to make the traps lightweight and collapsible. I came up with the secret polar bear sauce (it鈥檚 really old fish, old cheese and walrus blubber) that we put inside the traps as a scent attractant.

What do you wish people knew about polar bears?

Actually, I鈥檓 constantly amazed by how much the public knows about polar bears 鈥� especially kids. It鈥檚 great. But if there was one thing I鈥檇 emphasize, it鈥檚 that polar bears are directly connected to the people that live and work in the Arctic. Climate warming is rapidly changing things for both bears and humans.

Why is important to study polar bears on Wrangel Island?

The U.S. and Russia share a polar bear population, most of which ends up on Wrangel Island each fall to wait for the sea ice to reform. I鈥檝e tagged a bear in Alaska in April, and then stood 10 feet from that same bear on Wrangel Island in October. Polar bears don鈥檛 recognize political boundaries, so it’s critical that the U.S. and Russia work together to conserve these awesome animals.

Previously, Regehr also worked on the BBC series , narrated by David Attenborough, where he appears in episode 6. That series is available on Amazon Prime and Google TV.

For more information, contact Regehr at eregehr@uw.edu.

Jacob Davis, a 91探花doctoral student in civil and environmental engineering, (right) releases a wave-monitoring sensor from a U.S. Navy aircraft on Sept. 26 off the coast of Florida. Data from this instrument developed at the 91探花Applied Physics Laboratory will be combined with other observations to try and improve hurricane forecasts around the world.

Researchers dropped technology developed at the 91探花 off the coast of Florida on Monday to measure ocean waves in the path of Hurricane Ian. The test is one part of a broad effort to improve forecasts for these fast-moving and deadly systems.

The team, including , a 91探花doctoral student in civil and environmental engineering, and members of the U.S. Navy鈥檚 VXS-1 Squadron deployed the devices in the path of Hurricane Ian, before the hurricane made landfall. The five instruments developed at the 91探花are now sending back data that can be viewed on this .

The UW-built sensors are known as the , or SWIFTs. For this project, the team used a smaller version, known as microSWIFTs. The sensors can drift with the waves to gather detailed measurements of waves and currents at the ocean鈥檚 surface. Past deployments used the sensors to study waves in the changing Arctic Ocean and near potential sites for marine turbines.

The current effort in the path of Hurricane Ian aims to understand how the extreme low-pressure storm system affects the ocean and, ultimately, coastal areas.

鈥淭he goal is to understand the details of wave generation in hurricanes, which are unique in how fast they move and how strong the winds are. This causes rapid wave evolution that鈥檚 not well described by current forecast models,鈥� said Jim Thomson, an oceanographer at the 91探花Applied Physics Laboratory and a 91探花professor of civil and environmental engineering. 鈥淭he end goal is to improve the forecasts for when and where waves will impact the coasts, including storm surge.鈥�

Researchers emphasize that the deployment is part of a . The microSWIFT observations at the ocean鈥檚 surface will be combined with other observations, including technologies deployed on the same flight by Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Sofar Ocean Technologies.

This work was done with the National Oceanographic Partnership Program鈥檚 Hurricane Coastal Impacts program with supporting flights by the U.S. Navy鈥檚 Scientific Development Squadron. The research was funded by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program and managed by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research.

For more information contact Davis at davisjr@uw.edu or Thomson at jthomson@apl.washington.edu. (Note: Thomson is on a ship in the Arctic and his responses will be delayed)

Photo and video available .