0 projects

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Thaw consolidation of permafrost soils in high-Arctic environments; RiS ID: 11815

The stability of permafrost soils is highly affected by the prevailing thermal regime. With warming ground temperatures and deepening of the active layer, thaw consolidation and associated ground subsidence are likely to occur. This is also expected for the surroundings of Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. ...

Awarded: NOK 76,222

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Spatial and temporal shifts in Arctic fjord biodiversity caused by climate changes. RiS ID 11834

This PhD thesis aims to research how the shifts in the cryosphere caused by climate change are affecting fish abundance and distribution. This project will complement the work that took place in 2021, in which we had an extensive field campaign in Billefjorden, where we used innovative and sustai...

Awarded: NOK 95,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Stress-coping strategies in a changing world: how do ground-nesting birds adapt to unpredictive predation threat?

In the Arctic, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) rely on sea ice to hunt seals. However, sea ice is decreasing due to climate warming, and bears are changing their foraging behavior, increasing egg consumption. This shift in diet can put ground-nesting bird species, such as common eiders (Somateria m...

Awarded: NOK 94,286

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

GLAcier front Mapping with automotive lidar, RiS ID 11860

The goal of the GLAM project is to provide a proof of concept that automotive lidar sensors may be used for mapping of glacier fronts, e.g. at Tunabreen, Mohnbukta, or Nordenskiöldbreen. For that purpose, our developed sensorbox including an automotive lidar sensor, a DGPS and an IMU will be moun...

Awarded: NOK 65,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Implications of terrestrial run-off on kelp ecosystems RiS-ID: 11849

Habitat forming large brown seaweeds (kelps) are dominating many Arctic rocky shore coastlines, structuring benthic and pelagic species communities. On Svalbard, global warming is occurring at a rate far beyond the global average. The increasing terrestrial run-off leads to a darkening of the wat...

Awarded: NOK 92,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Assessing the timing of paleo fluid circulation within the Longyearbyen CO2 Lab: a comparison between field, laboratory, and core data.

The main aim of this project is to constrain the spatio-temporal paleo fluid circulation within the Agardhfjellet Fm., along part of the Billefjorden fault zone, and associated to the early Cretaceous magmatic intrusions of the Diabasodden suit, assessing the long-term permeability behavior of th...

Awarded: NOK 59,000

Project Period: 2022-2023

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The effects of warming climate on parasite-reindeer dynamics in the Arctic.

An ecosystem is shaped by species that interact with each other (herbivory, predation, and parasitism), but species dynamics can be influenced by abiotic conditions as for example increasing temperature due to climate change. However, how climate change affects parasites and consequently their ho...

Awarded: NOK 40,177

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Akershus

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

PERSISTENT, BIOACCUMULATING AND TOXIC COMPOUNDS (PBTS) IN SNOW SAMPLES FROM THE SURROUNDINGS OF LONGYEARBYEN, SVALBARD. (SOL)

This master project will study the contribution of different sources for pollutants in snow in the area surrounding Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Local sources of interests to study are the coal power plant, snow mobile activity, airport, boat and car traffic. Additionally, long-range atmospheric trans...

Awarded: NOK 21,416

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

From Svalbard to Mars: subsurface investigation of periglacial landforms with the WISDOM/EXOMARS GPR, RiS ID 11854

On June 2023 the ESA (European Space Agency) rover of the ExoMars mission will land on Mars. The missions’ goal is to search for the existence of past life on Mars. Its payload is equipped with WISDOM (Water Ice Subsurface Deposits Observation on Mars), a shallow Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) ...

Awarded: NOK 87,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Estimation of snow depth and snow water equivalent based on GNSS-IR method

Global Navigation Satellite System interferometric reflectometry (GNSS-IR) is a method that can enable the determination of many characteristics of the environment that surrounds the measuring antenna. It is based on the characteristics of the reflected radio waves, which vary depending on the ty...

Awarded: NOK 64,124

Project Period: 2022-2023

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Sedimentary facies analysis and architecture of alluvial fan systems within a rift basin, Billefjorden Trough, Svalbard, RiS ID 11611

The two main targets of the fieldwork are outcrops exposing alluvial fan deposits at the slopes of the Svenbrehøgda and the Mumien mountains. The focus will be given to a detailed structural and stratigraphical description and acquisition of 3D photogrammetry. The dataset collected in the field w...

Awarded: NOK 35,524

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Shining light on the nutritional status of sea-ice algae in response to changing light in landfast ice, using IR-microspectroscopy.RiS 11869

Through investigating changes in sea ice algae nutrient content and shifts in community composition, this project studies the impacts of sea ice decline on energy transfer within the Arctic marine ecosystem. It is critical that our understanding of the potential consequences of these changes are ...

Awarded: NOK 71,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Gravity profiling across the Central Spitsbergen Basin

The aim of this project is to produce geological profiles across the Central Spitsbergen Basin in Svalbard, by collecting gravity data and integrating it with existing seismic, borehole and geological data. From the integrated data the location of basins, structural heights and the geometry of th...

Awarded: NOK 50,503

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Effect of glacial recession on N2O fluxes in high arctic lakes and catchments, RiS ID 11818

Ongoing global warming particularly effects Arctic ecosystems with increased glacial retreat and associated changes in run-off. However, how aquatic nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes will change in High Arctic lakes and catchments remains uncertain. As the third most important greenhouse gas and major o...

Awarded: NOK 68,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Seasonal mercury concentrations and the microbiome (de)methylation gene expression profile in the Svalbard reindeer

This project aims to study the contributions of the Svalbard reindeer to mercury concentrations in the terrestrial trophic chain. We hypothesize that the reindeer are exposed to mercury loads via their diet and that both seasonal variations in mercury intake and microbial processes in its digesti...

Awarded: NOK 13,179

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Nutrient availability through decomposing plant litter (litterbag). Ris ID 11863

Arctic breeding barnacle geese affect the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients by providing an accelerated pathway of decomposition through digestion and the return of plant matter in the form of faecal pellets and so affecting the transfer of nutrients to their forage species. As such, geese chan...

Awarded: NOK 53,652

Project Period: 2022-2023

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Billefjorden Group Sediments on Bjørnøya and Hornsund, RiS ID 11764

This project is the backbone of my PhD topic for which I investigate the tectonic and climatic forcing on Upper Paleozoic rift basin sequences on Bjørnøya and Hornsund. The main goal for the fieldwork is to visit exposed outcrops, acquire sedimentary descriptions, logs, collect samples and to acq...

Awarded: NOK 87,669

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Fungal diversity in soil affected by cadaver decomposition in the Arctic tundra of Svalbard

Cadavers of large mammals can function as biodiversity hotspots and facilitate many interactions between many species. Little is known, however, about carrion ecology in the Arctic, and how such cadavers impact the fungal community in the Arctic is not known. Using both an experimental and observ...

Awarded: NOK 40,545

Project Period: 2022-2023

Location: Nordland - Nordlánnda

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Obtaining important permafrost information from central Longyeardalen valley for developing a full-scale sedimentological model-RiS ID 11876

This project aims to drill and sample a borehole in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, in order to create a sedimentological model for the sedimentary infilling of the Longyeardalen valley. Five boreholes were drilled in Longyeardalen in the fall of 2021 as part of the project “Developing a permafrost and m...

Awarded: NOK 79,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Cenozoic magmatic-hydrothermal activity in northern Spitsbergen, with implications for offshore hydrothermal mineral systems (RiS-11825)

The geologic evolution of the High Arctic during the Cenozoic is critical for our understanding of continental breakup mechanisms and opening of marine ‘gateways’. These processes control exchange of deep-water between the world’s oceans and therefore influence climate patterns. Opening of the Fr...

Awarded: NOK 0.10 mill.

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Tectonics, uplift and long term landscape evolution and inheritance onshore the western Svalbard margin

The Eocene to Oligocene Forlandsundet basin likely records the transition from transpression and orogeny to transtension and rifting along the western Svalbard margin. Basin sediments are exposed onshore parts of the eastern coast of Prins Karls Forland, making it an ideal site to study the kinem...

Awarded: NOK 0.10 mill.

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Do snowshoes influence movement and route choice of Svalbard rock ptarmigan over snowy ground? (RiS ID 11821)

We are aiming to determine how changes in snow properties influence the function of a key adaptation for Arctic animals - the evolution of a snowshoe foot. Whilst increases in foot area are well known to provide extra support during movement over snow there is currently no data examining the rela...

Awarded: NOK 85,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Depositional and Paleoenvironmental Evolution of the Forlandsundet Graben, Prins Karls Forland, Svalbard RIS ID: 11671

The Fram Strait, situated between Svalbard and northeast Greenland, is the only deep oceanic gateway connecting the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. Our modern climate system in Europe, Greenland, and the Arctic is strongly influenced by the thermohaline circulation through the Fram Strait....

Awarded: NOK 91,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Resource partitioning by Arctic scavengers in Svalbard

Dead organic matter from animals represents a central ecological resource in many food webs globally and promotes biodiversity, landscape heterogeneity, and ecosystem stability. Little knowledge currently exists about the ecological significance of carcasses in terrestrial ecosystems, particularl...

Awarded: NOK 49,877

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Nordland - Nordlánnda

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Rehabilitation of cableway posts, cultural herritage in Longyearbyen as a part of PCCH-Artic, Ris ID 11866

Rehabilitation of cableway posts in Longyearbyen. Find a better and more economical solution for the rehabilitation that may be used on more than one structure. Do temperature measurement and soil investigations for design of the foundation. For further information see the project description (...

Awarded: NOK 20,995

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

STUDY OF METALS IN ARCTIC MARINE SEDIMENTS (MArS) RiS ID: 11837

The glacial fjord Kongsfjorden (Spitsbergen, Svalbard Islands) is particularly suitable for studying the effects of the global anthropogenic activity on the Arctic ecosystem. In particular, the town of Ny-Ålesund is one of the world’s northernmost human settlements.The aim of the project is to st...

Awarded: NOK 28,694

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Understanding the physiological costs of behavioural plasticity in response to climate change in Arctic Seabirds, RIS ID 11820

The extent to which individuals demonstrate flexibility in behaviour (i.e phenotypic plasticity) is likely to be a key determinant of a species ability to adapt to climate change. However, altering behaviours to match new environments comes at a cost to individuals when they divert resources away...

Awarded: NOK 81,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Glacial and Permafrost Interactions: The Origins of Ice in Svalbard (RiS ID:11836

GAPOI seeks to close the knowledge gap between glacial & permafrost interaction within Svalbard’s glacial moraine landscapes, with particular attention to the uncertainty & potential of permafrost aggradation due to anthropogenically forced warming climate in the Arctic. Glacier forefields are ho...

Awarded: NOK 53,000

Project Period: 2022-2023

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Coastal Erosion modelling in Hiorthhamn, Longyearbyen (Svalbard)

The field work activities will be located in the shoreline of Hiorthhamn, to the northeast shore of Adventfjord, 3 km far from Longyearbyen. This area retains the archaeological remains of coal-mining activities dating from 1902. One of the objects of cultural heritage in Hiorthhamn is Taubanesta...

Awarded: NOK 33,313

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Mercury Levels in Svalbard Reindeer's Tissue and Faeces in Relation to Diet and Season

Mercury (Hg) is toxic and a concern for the terrestrial Artic environment due to potential release of Hg from the thawing permafrost. For this master thesis the levels of Hg in summer and winter faeces sample form Svalbard reindeers (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) will be compared to investigat...

Awarded: NOK 15,335

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage