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SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The role of energy budget in a changing world: Are forecasts missing an important aspect for Arctic insects?

The ongoing climatic changes will have undisputable effects on biodiversity and ecosystems. For small ectotherms (e.g. insects) the current state-of-the-art focusses on physiological performances (often measured as critical thermal limits), warming tolerance (resilience) and phenotypic and evolut...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

From winter time to summer time – what ends the "hunger gap" for Svalbard reindeer?

The term "hunger gap" (no: “vårknipa”) traditionally used in agricultural communities, refers to the period at the end of winter when winter provisions are depleting, yet the growing season has not yet started. In contemporary usage, the term also describes the food situation for wild animals, wh...

Awarded: NOK 58,999

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Akershus

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Characterising geogenic nitrate source areas in Adventdalen

There has been great emphasis on quantifying the release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane from melting permafrost. However, research on links between melting glaciers and permafrost and nitrogen release has been limited, despite its potential as a direct or indirect greenhou...

Awarded: NOK 78,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Breeding phenology of Svalbard snow buntings in relation to arthropod abundance

In my master thesis, I will investigate the reproductive success of a Svalbard breeding population of the snow bunting Plectrophenax nivalis in relation to food abundance. The snow bunting is the world’s northernmost breeding passerine species. Assessing how species like the snow bunting are able...

Awarded: NOK 75,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Intertidal ecosystem response to an increasingly ice-free Arctic

Warming temperatures and a reduction of sea-ice scour opens the Arctic intertidal as habitat for colonization by both seaweeds and marine invertebrates. Indeed, large increases in the biomass of seaweeds and invertebrates on Arctic coasts have already been documented in the past decades and are p...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Mercury dynamics in Arctic fjord marine food webs

Marine chemical pollution poses known threats to human health and to biodiversity, ecosystem and societal services. The Arctic region is a major sink of global mercury (Hg) pollution. Arctic sediments, sea and glacial ice constitute vast Hg reservoirs. Recent studies raise concerns about their ...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Drone surveys of ice associated seals hauled out on sea-ice during the moulting period (part of ARK)

The most recent population survey of Arctic ringed seals conducted in Svalbard was in 2003. Over the past 5 years, the Norwegian Polar Institute has been developing the techniques, methodologies and field competence to survey marine mammals using UAV. In 2023 a full-scale survey of all ice-cover...

Awarded: NOK 96,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Arctic kelp production and fate (BlueArc field sampling) RIS 12373

Over 20% of the world’s kelp forests occur along Arctic coastlines, yet shifts in the structure and ecological function of these habitats as a result of climate change are poorly understood. Kelp forests are highly productive ecosystems and are expected to contribute significantly to global carbo...

Awarded: NOK 98,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Arctic Cosmic Ray neutron Observations for large-Scale Sensing of SWE (ACROSS-SWE), RiS ID 12378

The project ACROSS-SWE aims to implement a snow calibration on a Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensor (CRNS) that is placed above the snow cover on the Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard. Up to this point the approach has never been applied to an Arctic CRNS station and will provide valuable insights into Arcti...

Awarded: NOK 0.11 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The effect of grubbing and heavy winter rainfall on mycorrhizal mycelium production

Mycorrhizal fungi play a crucial role for both plant nitrogen uptake and ecosystem carbon dynamics and storage. Most of the stored carbon in Arctic soils could be derived from mycorrhizal mycelium rather than from plant litter. As the Arctic carbon storage is suspected to be a crucial factor for ...

Awarded: NOK 51,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The role of vegetation distribution on facies architectural and sequence stratigraphic development of the Palaeocene Firkanten Formation.

The study focuses on how coastal environments control or are controlled by vegetation distribution; collectively, these are particularly sensitive to climate change, with the geomorphology and position of the shoreline being closely linked with local hydrology and associated vegetation distributi...

Awarded: NOK 63,999

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Who is where? - Unravelling the biodiversity of sympagic meiofauna in and around Svalbard

Sympagic (=ice) meiofauna is an indispensable part of a very complex food web in the Arctic, playing a crucial role for many ice-associated organisms and the whole Arctic ecosystem since sympagic meiofauna comprise primarily of larval stages of seafloor and open-water living animals. But Arctic s...

Awarded: NOK 76,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Improving Snow Data Assimilation with Satellite Altimetry

Despite its vital role in modulating the energy and water balance budget, snow distributions in time and space remain poorly understood. The project aim is to improve the current snow data assimilation state-of-the-art methods by adding snow depth observations from the satellite altimeter ICESat-...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Investigation of the mercury cycle in the Arctic snowpack for model development (ris id: 12321)

The aim of this project is to investigate the processes involving mercury (Hg) at the snow-air interface in the polar regions. The dynamic exchange of Hg between the snow surface and the overlaying atmosphere in polar regions is not fully understood and not yet constrained into the one-dimensiona...

Awarded: NOK 0.11 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Hornsund’s and Storfjorden DOM Data Acquisition Campaign and Virtual Field Guide Development for Educational Research. RiS ID - 12339

This project aim to perform a systematic digitalization of eastern Spitsbergen coast, due to its excellent cretaceous sediments' exposures, and western Barentsøya-Edgeøya for their important HALIP exposures. Collecting these types of data from Hornsund’s and Storfjorden’s surroundings can provid...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The transition from ductile to brittle deformation in pre-Devonian basement of the Billefjorden Fault Zone, Svalbard (RiS: 12317)

The Billefjorden Fault Zone (BFZ) is a N-S striking regional-scale long-lived lineament cropping out in central Spitsbergen. This lineament exposes multi-deformational evolution that initiated with ductile deformation preserved in the metamorphic basement. Following several phases of brittle def...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

DyNAflow: Colonisation dynamics of Arctic endemics across glacial landscapes

Warming in the Arctic is causing glacial retreat, which exposes deglaciated terrains to biotic colonisation. Ecological studies can provide insights into the local processes (microclimate, biotic interactions) driving the development of soil communities after glacier retreat. However, community d...

Awarded: NOK 0.10 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Arctic marine mammals in a time of climate change: a Kongsfjorden Case Study. RiS ID: 11501

The fieldwork is a component of the NFR ARK (Arktisk Klima forandring Konsekvenser) project, which focuses on impacts of global warming on Arctic endemic marine mammals. The project is using a “case-study” approach based on the Kongsfjorden-Krossfjorden ecosystem, where the objective to examine h...

Awarded: NOK 0.11 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Linking past and present surge dynamics at Borebreen from drone surveys

Svalbard has a high density of surging glaciers – marine and terrestrial glaciers which undergo cyclical changes between fast (active) and slow (quiescence) flow. During the active phase, ice discharge accelerates and mass loss increases which significantly impacts glacier mass balance. However, ...

Awarded: NOK 79,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Akershus

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Geomorphology and process-interaction in previous and present climate as exemplified by Bjørndalen, Svalbard (RiS 12312)

This M.Sc. thesis project has a primary objective of mapping the geomorphology of Bjørndalen, Svalbard, to contribute to our understanding of this unique Arctic valley system. The research aims to characterize the long-term and short-term geomorphologic processes shaping the valley and analyze ho...

Awarded: NOK 54,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Chemical composition and conditions of cryoconite hole water and melting channels on glaciers with runoff to the Kongsfjorden System

Main objective of this project is a detailed analysis of snow and supraglacial meltwater, including potential alterations in the transition of supraglacial snow to water, as well as potential alterations in the transition of water in isolated to connected cryoconite holes to meltwater channels. C...

Awarded: NOK 31,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Microbial communities in ice over methane sources: a comparative study. RiS ID: 10341

The fieldwork is an integral part of my PhD project, which aims at understanding the microbiological role of the ice forming above Arctic emerged cold seeps in mitigating methane release. This fieldwork project includes sampling both terrestrial pingos in Svalbard (of which Lagoon Pingo, Adventda...

Awarded: NOK 64,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Human performance in the cold, RiS ID 12375

The purpose of the project is to verify the performance effect of the newly developed field rations, Energon Arctic Field rations (EAF) by EnergonX and its consortium, both the food content, but also packaging, which will potentially reduce waste by 70% in the Norwegian Armed Forces and offer nut...

Awarded: NOK 94,999

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Alternative life-history and thermoregulation strategies in the Svalbard reindeer and the implications for population dynamics

With the Arctic warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the globe (Rantanen et al., 2022), resilience of Arctic ecosystems and population dynamics of Arctic species are raising concern among scientists. Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) is an ideal species to study the...

Awarded: NOK 67,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Akershus

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Sustainability for cultural heritage – cultural heritage for sustainability. Interdisciplinary field research at Kvitøya

The project is an interdisciplinary collaboration involving NIKU, Luleå University of Technology, Karolinska Institute, Svalbard Museum, and the Swedish National Heritage Boardaims. It aims to explore and document archaeological source material, as well as register and document the cultural envir...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Hiding in the shadows: effects of environmental stressors on male calanoid copepods - An insider's view

Polar ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to effects caused by environmental stressors of anthropogenic origin, such as ocean acidification (OA) and ocean warming (OW), both of which are disproportionally affecting the Arctic region. Calanoid copepods of the genus Calanus are key species in th...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

PEbbles, ice and TalitroidS – checking overlooked beaches in the frame of autecology - RiS ID 12381

The project involves researchers part of both Amphipodologists group and editors for the Worls Registrer of Marine Species (WoRMS); for tighter collaboration and extension towards the ecology of sandy shores, it intends: To check for presence of talitroid amphipods on polar cobble beaches and as ...

Awarded: NOK 94,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Evaluating the maximum photosynthetic depth limit using coralline algae as a model organism, RiS ID 12351

This master’s thesis aims to better understand polar ecosystems by shedding light on the photosynthetic limitations of red coralline algae. We will use a mini remotely operated vehicle (Blueye X3) with a grabber attachment to locate and sample coralline algae from Van Mijenfjorden. We will collec...

Awarded: NOK 87,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Active Scattering in Sea Ice for Measuring Internal Properties

Sea ice is filled with small brine pockets because the salt is rejected by the crystal lattice during the freezing process. These brine pockets have a significant influence on several aspects of sea ice, including its bearing capacity, the remote sensing of it, as well as the amount of solar ener...

Awarded: NOK 53,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Monitoring Active Layer Thickness from Space – Creating a Validation Dataset around Ny-Ålesund, RiD ID 12361

The active layer thickness is one of the most important variables characterizing the state of permafrost, but we still lack the possibility to determine it over large areas, especially from satellites. Seasonal thawing and freezing cycles of the active layer cause the ground surface to heave in w...

Awarded: NOK 0.11 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Oslo

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