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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

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

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

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

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

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

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Monitoring seawater CO2 release from thawing permafrost mobilized by Bayelva proglacial stream, RiS ID 11654

The Bayelva river (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard) represents a key site where to unearth the patterns of carbon release from thawing permafrost into coastal waters. For this reason on September 2023 the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council (ISP-CNR) of Italy, in the framework of ...

Awarded: NOK 0.10 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The importance of observation error in reindeer population modelling (RiS ID 12376)

My project explores the intricate dynamics of Svalbard reindeer (R. t. platyrhynchus) populations in response to rapid climate change. Through fieldwork, including paired observations of various populations based in Reindalen, Adventdalen, and Ny-Ålesund, I aim to investigate the nuanced impacts ...

Awarded: NOK 95,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Longterm consequences of one year of draining on biodiversity in Arctic ponds

In 2019, 19 ponds in Kongsfjorden were sampled, however, due to an extremely warm summer in 2020, 8 out of 19 completely dried out. In 2021 all ponds contained water again. We expect that due the high temperatures, increased evaporation and a deeper active layer have caused the desiccation. As cl...

Awarded: NOK 61,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Investigation of temperature inversion and lapse rates on Beerenberg, Jan Mayen, RiS 12336

This project investigates temperature inversion and lapse rates on the flanks of the glacier-covered volcano, Beerenberg (2277 m a.s.l.), on the remote island of Jan Mayen. The high humidity often leads to cloud formation, non-linear lapse rates, and temperature inversion. However, little is know...

Awarded: NOK 98,999

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Invertebrate contributions to Arctic ecosystem services

The project "Invertebrate contributions to Arctic ecosystem services" will be part of a master thesis in the Climate Change Management programme at Høgskulen på Vestlandet (Western Norway University of Applied Sciences). The aim of the project is to sample the Arctic invertebrate necrobiome and i...

Awarded: NOK 62,999

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Drone-based and ground-Magnetic Archeological studies in Svalbard (MAS)

Within the framework of one internally funded project coupled with an AFG (Arctic field grant), Archephysics project initiated in 2022 to monitor archeological sites at Russekeila, Svalbard. In close collaborations with University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) and Norwegian Institute for Cultural Her...

Awarded: NOK 74,999

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Long term monitoring of polar bears on Svalbard RIS-12380 (linked to RIS 2381)

Environmental conditions have changed dramatically in the Svalbard region; sea-ice is declining in extent and thickness; glacier fronts are reduced, and anthropogenic activities are increasing in intensity and extent. These changes impact polar bear habitat use and potentially their fitness throu...

Awarded: NOK 48,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Glacier Surface Topography Mapping for Satellite Radar Altimetry

Radar altimeter satellite missions such as CryoSat-2, Sentinel-3, and the upcoming CRISTAL are widely used for monitoring key parameters of land ice such as glacier mass balance change. The uncertainties of the data from these satellites produced over more complex ice caps and glaciers are poorly...

Awarded: NOK 96,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Field validation of spatially predictive reindeer carrion distribution models, RiS ID 11512

Carrion is a patchy resource in ecological systems, and assessing the distribution and biomass quantity in a system is a fundamentally unanswered question. Our project has gathered spectral data in previous field campaigns in an attempt to detect reindeer carcasses in open, treeless systems by th...

Awarded: NOK 56,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Nordland - Nordlánnda

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The geomorphic signature of ancient ice shelves in Isfjorden, Spitsbergen, RiS ID12367

This research project aims to explore the historical presence of ice shelves along Isfjorden, Svalbard, and their impact on regional and global climate systems. It plans to investigate unexplored topographies that indicate to reveal the interaction between an ice shelf with an ice-free coast duri...

Awarded: NOK 57,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

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

Calanus species complexity in the transitional fjord system Isfjorden: from cold Arctic to warm Atlantic climate.

The West Spitsbergen Current carries warm and salty Atlantic water (AW) northwards, and with high input of AW, more Calanus finmarchicus is transported to the Arctic. Isfjorden is strongly impacted by Atlantic inflow and is ice-free year-round, except the innermost part, Billefjorden, with a sha...

Awarded: NOK 0.11 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Arctic CH4 consumption responses to future vegetation regimes, RiS ID: 11990

The Arctic tundra is currently undergoing rapid changes with thawing permafrost and changing vegetation. One of the most pronounced effects among the vegetation is a shift towards taller plant communities and higher biomass, which can lead to increased evapotranspiration and drier soils. Methane ...

Awarded: NOK 79,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Assessing Jan Mayen past fauna and flora through sedimentary ancient DNA (RiS ID 12341)

Here, we aim to collect sediment cores in Nordlaguna (freshwater lake) and in Sørlaguna (lagoon) to analyze the DNA and pollen left by past fauna and flora in the sediments. Sediment coring will be performed using a Nesje piston corer in Nordlaguna and universal core sampler in Sørlaguna, and sed...

Awarded: NOK 77,999

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Oslo

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