Sea salt aerosol (SSA) may influence regional climate directly through scattering of radiation or indirectly via its role as cloud-forming particles. While it is well known that SSA can be cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) forming cloud droplets, it has been shown only recently that SSA can also be a source of ice nucleating particles (INP) forming ice crystals, depending on its chemical composition and surface shape. Arctic clouds are poorly represented in climate models, which is partly due to a lack of understanding of source and nucleating capability of natural aerosol in the high Arctic. Aerosol models for example do currently not capture aerosol maxima in the Arctic winter/spring observed at high latitudes. Recent field campaigns provide first evidence of a hypothesized source of SSA from salty blowing snow (BSn) above sea ice. During storms salty snow gets lofted into the air and undergoes sublimation to generate SSA. Additional but minor SSA sea ice sources are frost flowers and open leads. The impact on radiation and clouds of SSA from this new source of SSA above sea ice is not known. However, a quantitative understanding of natural aerosol processes and climate interactions is needed to provide a baseline against which to assess anthropogenic pollution reaching the Arctic and evaluate the success of mitigation measures. We therefore propose to determine the SSA source, fate and potential impact on Arctic climate associated with blowing snow above sea ice and other sea ice sources. To do this we seek funding to participate in the year-long Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) to observe aerosol processes in the central Arctic ocean throughout all seasons. Proposed measurements on the sea ice and on-board "FS Polarstern" include particle size and concentration (sub-micron to snow particle size), INP concentrations, and a range of chemical properties using aerosol filters. Sampling of snow on sea ice, brine, frost flowers will constrain the local source of SSA. Tethered balloon launches will yield information on the fate of particles formed near the sea ice surface as they get lofted to heights where clouds may form.

The proposed new network will generate interdisciplinary research collaboration and bring together mechatronics/robotics researches from the UK and Japan, to share experiences and formalise discussions for defining a common strategy for future R&D and collaborations at all level of research, teaching and technology transfer. Such a network is vital if the different communities in Japan and UK are to work together for mutual benefit. The network will also act as a knowledge base from the existing mechatronics/robotics community to create a new research community in human adaptive mechatronics able to address the many common challenges (e.g. Pollution / CO2 issue, Aging population issue, etc) in UK and Japan. In particular, the network will explore a number of key challenges: such as a) Investigating the modelling of a man-machine system that explicitly includes all necessary functions of humans as machine operators with sufficient accuracy; b) Implementation of human adaptive behaviour in autonomous systems; c) Application of human adaptive mechatronics to upgrade UK high-tech products; d) Development of human adaptive mechatronics into biomedical applications; e) Development of mathematics to model and analysis human adaptive mechatronic processes in productions.

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Small particles (known as aerosol) in the atmosphere play several critical roles. They affect the transmission of sunlight to the underlying surface; they affect the formation of clouds, and they host and enhance important chemical reactions. When they are deposited on ice they leave a record of past conditions that can be accessed by drilling ice cores. The most significant aerosol component over marine areas is sea salt aerosol. Over most of the world's oceans this is created by bubble bursting in sea spray. However there is strong evidence that another source of sea salt aerosol is important in the polar regions, and that this ultimately derives from the surface of sea ice. The existence of this source forms the basis for a proposed method using ice core data for determining changes in sea ice extent over long time periods. Additionally sea salt aerosol, along with salty sea ice surfaces, is the host for the production of halogen compounds which seem to play a key role in the oxidation chemistry of the polar regions. It is therefore important to understand the sources of polar sea salt aerosol and therefore to be able to predict how they may vary with, and feedback to, climate. It was recently proposed that the main source of this polar sea salt aerosol was the sublimation of salty blowing snow. The idea is that snow on sea ice has a significant salinity. When this salty snow is mobilised into blowing snow, sublimation from the (top of) the blowing snow layer will allow the formation of sea salt aerosol above the blowing snow layer, that can remain airborne after the blowing snow has ceased. First calculations suggested that this would provide a strong source of aerosol (greater than that from open ocean processes over an equivalent area). It was proposed that this would have a strong influence on polar halogen chemistry and a noticeable influence on halogens at lower latitudes. However, this was based on estimates of the relevant parameters as there were no data about aerosol production from this source, and almost no data about blowing snow over sea ice in general. Here we propose to take advantage of a very rare opportunity to penetrate the Antarctic sea ice zone during winter, as we have been allocated spaces on an unusual winter cruise into the sea ice zone on the German icebreaker Polarstern. During this cruise, we will be able to confirm that the blowing snow sea ice source exists, and make measurements that will provide a soundly-based parameterisation of the source. This will be done by making measurements of the snow on sea ice, of the blowing snow itself, and of aerosol above the blowing snow, as well as before and after such episodes. Measurements will include salinity, chemistry (looking at the amount of bromine present in each medium), and for blowing snow and aerosol, the amounts and size distributions. By combining our data with meteorological data, and by comparing them to satellite observations that have recently attempted to identify blowing snow episodes, we will be able to make estimates of the spatial and temporal distribution of sea salt aerosol from this source over the entire Antarctic sea ice zone. This will allow us to assess the importance of this source of sea salt (and of halogens) compared to others that have been proposed. We will then use existing models to assess how important such a source is to sea salt deposition in Antarctica, allowing us to determine how sea salt in ice cores is related to sea ice extent. This opens the possibility of turning a qualitative sea ice proxy into a quantitative one. Models will also be used to re-assess the importance of this source for halogen chemistry in the polar regions and globally. In summary this proposal will provide the first targeted measurements of the parameters needed to assess the importance of blowing snow sublimation as a source of sea salt, and to quantify its most relevant impacts.

Malaria mosquitoes mate in swarms. They use their antennal ears to detect the mating partners through their flight tones. Because the swarm is noisy, and the mosquito flight tones faint, mosquito auditory organs are highly sensitive and complex. We discovered a few years ago that the mosquito ear is innervated by a complex neuromodulatory network of neurotransmitters that are released from the brain, what is called an efferent system. This system is unique as mosquitoes are the only insect where auditory efferent activity has been described. Because mosquito hearing is necessary for mosquito reproduction, we hypothesize that disrupting the efferent system could be an innovative target for mosquito control. In the initial fellowship period, we focused on studying two of there neurotransmitters, octopamine and serotonin, to analyse their auditory roles in the swarm context and the implications for mosquito mating. For the second fellowship period, we would like to build on these results and provide a better understanding of the underlying fundamental biology mechanisms and explore implications for malaria control. We will also study the auditory role of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, which extensively innervates the auditory nerve. We aim at providing a comprehensive understanding of the role of individual neurotransmitters modulating mosquito audition and swarming behaviour and of the emergent properties of the system. We will also explore specific tools to disrupt mosquito audition and swarming behaviour and model the effects on malaria transmission.