0 projects

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

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Predicting plant trait plasticity in response to warming across a changing tundra biome in the high Arctic, RiS ID: 11498

Predicting how plant communities will respond to environmental change has been described as the ‘holy grail’ of ecology. Understanding which factors determine whether a species responds positively or negatively to a particular environmental change allows us to anticipate future shifts in communit...

Awarded: NOK 72,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Subglacial mercury cycling and associated export from Jan Mayen to the North Atlantic, RiS ID 11817

The MerJM project looks to establish baseline concentration and temporal behavior of the toxic element mercury (Hg) in natural streams emerging from glaciers overlying an active volcano on Jan Mayen. The importance of natural sources of Hg in regional mercury cycling in the North Atlantic will be...

Awarded: NOK 72,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

HAPPINESS IN TIMES OF CHANGE: "FRILUFTSLIV" AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN SVALBARD

The project «Happiness in times of change: 'Friluftsliv' and climate change in Svalbard» is a collaboration between social anthropologists Tomas Salem (University of Bergen) and Alexandra Meyer (University of Vienna). Through ethnographic research we will examine how climate change in Svalbard is...

Awarded: NOK 26,000

Project Period: 2022-2024

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Climate change drives fluctuations of glacier lakes in Svalbard - Crammebreane case study, RiS ID 11620

Since the 1990's, the number and size of glacial lakes have been observed to increase as a consequence of climate warming. Most research on glacial lakes has focused on high mountain areas such as the Himalayas or along the margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet. To date little is known about the deve...

Awarded: NOK 77,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Svalbard coastal zone pollution with microplastics from local and distant sources

This project is devoted to sampling microplastic in the coastal waters of Svalbard using the same technology that is used in the ongoing projects “Model-based mapping of marine litter and microplastic in the Barents Sea (MAMBA)“ funded by Klima- og miljødepartementet KLD and NFR/SSF project "Harm...

Awarded: NOK 93,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Climatic shifts derived from lacustrine sediment cores, Richardvatnet, nw Spitsbergen. RIS ID 11652

The overarching aim is to contextualise glacier activity across a transect of the Svalbard Archipelago to reconstruct and infer the past climatic and atmosphere-ocean interaction during the Late Quaternary, thus enabling the determination of temperature and precipitation gradients across the arch...

Awarded: NOK 80,000

Project Period: 2022-2023

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

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

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

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

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

The Arctic already shows many signs of global change, including warming, reduced sea-ice cover, permafrost thawing and related changing in freshwater and organic carbon flux from rivers. It remains to be determined how these changes will enhance or mitigate rates of air-sea CO2 flux and acidifica...

Awarded: NOK 53,000

Project Period: 2022-2023

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

PLasticizers, Additives, miCroplastics in sEawater in SvalBard ArchipealgO (RIS ID: 11842)

Microplastics (> 100 µm - MPs) have been analysed in several studies while small microplastics (< 100 µm - SMPs), additives and plasticizers (APs) presence in the seawater of the Svalbard has not yet been investigated in detail. Surface and bottom samples will be collected along the Kongsfjorden ...

Awarded: NOK 70,289

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Drivers of flagellate dominance in Arctic fjords, RiS ID 11813

The project aims to identify drivers of phytoplankton community structures in Arctic fjords. In particular, I study under which conditions a bloom is dominated by flagellates and under which conditions by diatoms. I will combine multivariate statistics on existing time series data in Greenland an...

Awarded: NOK 98,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Long-term exposure to contaminants of Arctic seabirds

Arctic seabirds, as migratory species, spend summer in the Arctic and winter in marine environment in southern areas. Therefore, they are exposed to contrasted concentrations of pollutants like Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and mercury (Hg). In Kongsfjorden, the five glaciers have all been...

Awarded: NOK 99,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Valley sea breeze in Adventdalen, RIS ID 11839

Renewable energy research is a developing field in the Arctic and especially at UNIS. The environmental and meteorological conditions are different from lower latitudes. In my PhD, I investigate meteorological phenomena which are relevant to renewable energy. One aspect of this are local wind cir...

Awarded: NOK 58,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The Svalbard-political field: power and interests in Norwegian Svalbard politics. Field study 2022.

The research question of this thesis is: Which interests prevail in Norwegian Svalbard politics, and in what ways do they prevail? The thesis aims to 1) describe how Svalbard politics is made and map its key actors, thus contributing to increased knowledge production and better understanding of S...

Awarded: NOK 26,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Nordland - Nordlánnda

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Ice-Free Arctic Ocean: Dead end or new opportunities for Calanus finmarchicus (DENOC), RiS ID 11850

The Arctic Ocean is changing to a warmer and ice-free state, which may lead to substantial changes in biodiversity and ecosystem structures. An Atlantification of the zooplankton community is ongoing, but at which rate is poorly known at present stage. The aim of this project is to 1) determine t...

Awarded: NOK 74,041

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

AZKABAN experiment for light reaction, RiS ID 11578

Hydroacoustic surveys may be underestimating or overestimating biomass due to species avoidance of vessel light. Therefore we propose a controlled environment experiment to quantify the effect of light on fish behaviour. A small change in the orientation of fish can cause large changes in biomass...

Awarded: NOK 60,000

Project Period: 2022-2022

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa