The Arctic region is shrouded in mystery even for many of the world's leading scientists.

The International Polar Year (IPY), a large scientific program by a coalition of scientists from more than 60 countries, aims to break through this obscurity and bring some knowledge of this area to the forefront.

Beginning this month, more than 120 projects will be worked on by thousands of scientists in the Arctic and Antarctic through Spring 2009. These undertakings will seek to answer many of the questions posed by this ambiguous area of the world.

Research will include the examination of physical, biological and social issues.

The first IPY was in 1882, followed by another in the 1930s and a third in the 1950s. During the subsequent years, researchers tracked changes in polar conditions. Changes in large ice sheets impact the global sea level and affect coastal cities, while snowfall and glacier shrinkage impacts those who get their drinking and agricultural water from snowpack and glacial sources.

Researchers from multiple departments at the UW will play key roles during the IPY. Scientists from an array of disciplines such as geography, oceanography and atmospheric sciences will attend. Glaciologists, biologists, chemists and computer modelers will also participate in this large-scale program.

Ice-camp logistic experts from the Applied Physics Laboratory will establish a runway and camp on Arctic ice with a dozen tents and buildings, according to the UW's IPY Web site.

Other UW researchers will camp beside glaciers and serve as co-principal investigators on Canada's $40 million flagship project.

Michael Steele, a senior oceanographer with the Polar Science Center in the Applied Physics Laboratory is leading a team of researchers focusing on circulation in the freshwater switchyard of the Arctic Ocean.

"Our main goal is to figure out which way the water and overlying sea ice pack are moving in the area between Greenland, Ellesmere Island (Canada), and the North Pole — what we call the Freshwater Switchyard," Steele said. "This is important because ... if lots of cold, fresh arctic water mixes with the cold, salty North Atlantic water, it can suppress the sinking, which drives the global ocean conveyor circulation."

The Global Ocean Conveyor Belt is a system that transports heat from low to high latitudes in the North Atlantic. This is driven by fluxes of heat and freshwater through the ocean's surface.

This process is important because it partially helps regulate climate.

"As everyone knows, Ireland and Scotland have very similar climates to Seattle, yet they are much farther north than we are," Steele said. "Part of that is this warm ocean current."

Ice in the region also contributes to environmental changes.

"Decreases in Arctic ice cover affect the radiation balance of the whole planet by allowing more solar radiation to be absorbed, rather than [be] reflected at the surface in a vicious cycle we call ice-albedo feedback," said James Morison, a principal oceanographer with the Polar Science Center at the UW's Applied Physics Lab. "The rate of sea-ice production and circulation of freshwater has the potential for throttling the heat exchange that drives the global ocean conveyer belt of heat ... what happens in the polar regions can affect global climate."

When permafrost heats up, vast reserves of frozen carbon will be released, some of which, as methane, will increase the global greenhouse effect.

"The focus of the Polar Science Center at the Applied Physics Lab is understanding the polar regions mainly through largely, but by no means exclusively, through observations," Morison said.

This is not only a research opportunity, but also a unique chance for scientists to do hands-on work in the field.

"For a number of years, I was doing more theoretical work in my office; I got a bit bored and realized I needed to get back out into the field," Steele said. "The Arctic is a beautiful place and we get to fly around in helicopters and small airplanes, land on the floating sea ice pack, and take measurements. The work has an aspect of pure exploration that is quite appealing to me."

The excursion welcomes many scientists with a variety of research experience.

"Not only will IPY attract seasoned polar researchers, it will introduce new methods and people to polar work. Ideally these will lead to more enlightened long-term observations," Morison said.

Innovation and breakthrough remain themes of the expedition.

"For a majority of participants, IPY stimulates a sense of urgency and discovery," reported IPY's official Web site. "What secrets, what clues to the planet's past, lie under the ice?"

Reach reporter Sarah Greenleaf at news@thedaily.washington.edu.