Members of the IASC Atmosphere Working Group (AWG) convened at the Laboratoire Atmosphères Et Observations Spatiales (LATMOS) to advance implementation of work related to the group’s strategic plan. Additionally, the group worked to refine priorities and discuss concepts to strengthen collaboration within the international Arctic science community. The workshop brought together AWG leadership, three AWG fellows, and two additional AWG members from France.
Day 1: Key Themes and Discussions
Strengthening Implementation and Impact: The AWG reaffirmed its four strategic goals: advancing Arctic atmospheric science, fostering researcher networks, supporting IASC priorities, and promoting ethical research. Members emphasized the need for efficient implementation, clearer and more automatic tracking of progress, and more opportunities for early career researchers (ECRs). A regular review of the implementation plan will be done during the Arctic Science Summit Weeks (ASSWs).
Proposal Review Process: The group reviewed recent improvements to the IASC proposal review system. Suggestions included refining evaluation criteria, introducing online tools for more efficient review tracking, and exploring the use of AI to summarize reviewer feedback. A key priority remains ensuring fair and transparent assessment across nations.
National Scientific Updates: Participants discussed enhancing coordination of national research updates, ensuring consistent reporting, and providing thematic overviews (e.g., on dust, Arctic observatories, or atmospheric field campaigns). A structured template for national updates will be developed to improve comparability and usefulness.
Value of the AWG: Feedback from a recent AWG value survey highlighted that members value staying informed about international research priorities and shaping IASC’s scientific agenda. The group will work to expand survey participation and prepare a summary report ahead of the ASSW 2026. To broaden engagement, the AWG will enhance the ability to provide science updates, both through presentations and through mechanisms for sharing references of recent work.
Inter-Working Group Collaboration: Members emphasized a desire to have stronger ties with other IASC Working Groups, recognizing the benefits of cross-disciplinary science. Planned actions include sharing meeting summaries with other groups, organizing joint discussions, and proposing icebreaker events at ASSW.
Early Career and Community Engagement: The AWG reaffirmed its commitment to supporting ECRs and building community. Plans include social and networking events at major conferences, quarterly newsletters featuring science highlights, upcoming conferences/meetings and member spotlights, and the development of an AWG “protocol” for community-building activities.
Day 2: Strategic Discussions
Looking Ahead: Preparing for the Next International Polar Year (IPY 2032–33)
A central theme of the second day of the workshop was preparing for the next IPY. The group explored ideas for large-scale atmospheric initiatives, including integrating Arctic observatories, advancing cloud and aerosol research, and harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) for Arctic science. Some publications where AI is used in Arctic atmospheric science were shared among the group (Harder et al. 2022; Ramandhan et al. 2023). The group will consider developing white papers and/or supporting targeted workshops toward IPY to engage broader scientific communities and funding partners. A focus on an atmospheric component, e.g., at bigger research efforts involving icebreakers, was emphasized.
The AWG also began revisiting its Strategic Work Plan to ensure that our priorities reflect emerging topics such as AI, Arctic amplification, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. There was broad agreement that the current plan feels dated and needs an update. Revisions will be drafted for discussion at ASSW 2026. Our Strategic plan should also be aligned with the outcome of the ICARP-IV research priority teams (RPTs).
Finally, the group discussed AWG member engagement. Suggestions for increasing meeting participation included recognition of members (member spotlights in the newsletter), regular regional scientific updates and include short scientific highlights at quarterly meetings.
Resulting Action Items (main responsible member in brackets)
- Review the current AWG Implementation Plan prior to next ASSW [all AWG members).
- Develop an online form for a more efficient proposal review tracking [S. Murto].
- Develop a structured template for national scientific updates, and solicit updates by region or theme to distribute information across participating nations and enhance broader engagement [JC. Raut].
- Circulate AWG Value Survey results and evaluate opportunities to increase group relevance to expand participation [G. N. Petersen].
- Improve inter-WG collaboration through sharing AWG meeting summaries with other WGs and organizing more cross-disciplinary discussions [G. de Boer].
- Develop an AWG “protocol” for social community-building networking activities for targeted conferences/meetings [R. Lapere].
- Consider opportunities for broader community discussions to organize work associated with IPY 2032–33 [J. Thomas].
- Draft revisions to the Strategic Work Plan with forward-looking priorities [P. Winiger].
- Launch a quarterly AWG newsletter to enhance group communication and visibility, including information on upcoming meetings and events, member spotlights, IASC deadlines, and community-relevant information (e.g., recent publications). Provide a summary of the newsletter at each AWG meeting [A. Hall].
Date and Location
25–26 September 2025 | Paris, France
IASC Working Group funding the Project:
AWG
Project Leaders:
Gijs de Boer (AWG Chair)
Year funded by IASC:
2025