402 projects

Date from new to old

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Avalanche Lidar Early Response and Tracking System

This project aims to test the reliability and efficiency of data transmission from a mobile sensoric unit designed for monitoring environmental conditions in rough terrain. The sensoric unit, equipped with the advanced LiDAR sensor Livox AVIA and other sensors, will be deployed in the extreme con...

Awarded: NOK 64,000

Project Period: 2025-2025

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Svalbard Radar Snow Penetration Experiment

The project shall carry out a three part fieldwork campaign on Svalbard targeting quantification of K-band microwave penetration of radar signal into snow. The radar penetration is one of the most important knowledge gaps for the snow on sea ice thickness measurement of the future CRISTAL satelli...

Awarded: NOK 0.10 mill.

Project Period: 2025-2026

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Svalbard’s lost biodiversity? Molecular study of the poorly known critters living inside sea ice

Sea ice is soon to become a lost habitat in Svalbard fjords within one or two decades, as the continued rise in winter temperatures may result in the complete absence of sea ice or its formation only during short periods.While sea ice’s importance to polar bears and seals is well-known, it also s...

Awarded: NOK 37,513

Project Period: 2025-2025

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Structural evolution of the Billefjorden Fault

Billefjorden Fault Zone (BFZ) in Spitsbergen is a north-south striking long-lived lineament that can be traced in the outcrops over 100 km distance (Harland et al., 1974; Haremo et al. 1990; Braathen et al., 2012; Bælum et al., 2012; Smyrak-Sikora et al., 2021). Multiple deformation events have s...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2025-2025

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

The structural evolution of pre-Devonian basement along the Billefjorden Fault Zone in Petuniabukta, Svalbard

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 0.11 mill.

Project Period: 2025-2026

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Core based fracture experiments in Van Mijenfjorden to study the fracture mechanics of sea ice.

The project intends to perform fracture tests on Svalbard during spring 2025 in collaboration with the UNIS course AT-311/AT-811 as part of the COLDHUB project. The course includes five days (including travel from Longyearbyen to Sveagruva) of field work on the sea ice near Sveagruva. Travel to b...

Awarded: NOK 79,269

Project Period: 2025-2026

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

The Effect of Belowground Biota and Soil Properties on Active Layer Depth

Soil ecosystems within the active layer may play a critical role in stabilizing permafrost in the High Arctic, yet its influence remains poorly understood. As climate change accelerates permafrost thaw, the stability of permafrost is increasingly influenced by biological drivers, including roots,...

Awarded: NOK 0.11 mill.

Project Period: 2025-2026

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Architecture and tectonostratigraphic development of the Late Carboniferous paleokarst systems, Billefjorden Trough, Svalbard

The extensive paleokarst systems within the Billefjorden Trough are preserved as horizontal stratiform breccias and vertical breccia pipes developed along uplifted fault blocks. The carbonate breccias occur in the late syn-rift and early post-rift deposits, particularly within the Minkinfjellet F...

Awarded: NOK 0.10 mill.

Project Period: 2025-2025

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

INSULATE: Bryophyte controls on permafrost thaw (RiS ID 12331)

Due to an enormous increase in anthropogenic emissions over the last decades the Earth's climate is changing. With an amplified effect in the arctic regions the landscape is rapidly degrading. Where the poles are known for the permafrost and ice cover, the increased global air - and sea temperatu...

Awarded: NOK 88,986

Project Period: 2025-2025

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Vegetation Impact on ThAw-depth progression in SvaLbard RiS ID: 12569

Svalbard is among the regions warming up fastest on earth. Where and to which extent the warming soils will impact the stability of the frozen soils remains uncertain. While the warming will speed up soil thaw over summer, the rate co-depends on surface conditions. For example, well-drained, vege...

Awarded: NOK 90,970

Project Period: 2025-2026

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Fjord Integrated CH4 Emissions

The Arctic region is experiencing climate change at a rate four times the global average. As a result, the environment is rapidly changing. The concern is that this could lead to a positive feedback loop in which higher temperatures lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions from Arctic landscape...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2025-2026

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Drone-based monitoring of spatio-temporal snowpack characteristics in the high Arctic

Rapid climate change, with increasing winter warm spells and rainfall, has already altered Svalbard’s snowpack properties and is expected to further shorten the snow-covered period. Despite the far-reaching implications on the terrestrial ecosystem, critical knowledge gaps remain across disciplin...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2025-2026

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

The Seidfjellet Formation: A Window into Miocene Volcanism and Tectonics in NW Spitsbergen (RiS ID 12567)

In the Andrée Land fault block of northwestern Spitsbergen, partly glaciated mountain plateaus reveal remnants of Miocene (i.e., 23.03–5.3 Ma) basaltic lava flows that overlie Devonian sedimentary rocks, collectively referred to as the Seidfjellet Formation. The regional tectonic implication of t...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2025-2025

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Geochemistry and geochronology of the High Arctic Large Igneous Province in Nordaust-Svalbard

This field campaign to Nordaust-Svalbard in 2025 will be a vital part of my PhD project. The aim of my PhD is to track the magmatic source of the Early Cretaceous High Arctic Large Igneous Province (HALIP) on Svalbard, temporally and compositionally. Detailed sampling for geochemical and geochron...

Awarded: NOK 0.11 mill.

Project Period: 2025-2026

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Tracking Toxicants: Unveiling the Biogeochemical Fate of Toxic Metals and Organic Matter in Arctic Snow

This project deals with studying metals of environmental concern (like lead, cadmium, mercury, zinc, copper etc.) and natural organic matter (OM) present in snow samples from coastal areas in the Arctic region. The main objective is to increase the understanding of the properties and the role of ...

Awarded: NOK 93,731

Project Period: 2025-2026

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

ROV Mapping of Marine Terminating Glacier Fronts

The Arctic is transforming rapidly as glaciers melt and surge into the ocean, carrying with them historical records preserved in ice. While aerial surveys have provided insights from above, the submerged portions of marine-terminating glaciers remain largely uncharted. This project will address t...

Awarded: NOK 0.10 mill.

Project Period: 2025-2025

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

The impact of the viscous-elastic properties on the long-term bearing capacity of sea ice

The study will progress through the following phases: literature review, cold lab experiments, small-scale model testing, and full-scale field testing. The literature review will examine the mechanical and thermal properties of sea ice, establishing a foundation for the experimental phases. Labo...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2025-2026

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

AI-driven sensor placement for arctic weather forecasting

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing weather forecasting, outperforming traditional methods in various areas. However, AI-based weather prediction remains underexplored in the Arctic, a region where conventional forecasting often performs poorly. This project aims to improve Arctic wea...

Awarded: NOK 62,849

Project Period: 2025-2026

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Dispersal of Svalbard reindeer in a changing climate

Rapid climate change in Svalbard has already resulted in sea-ice loss, increased frequencies of rain-on-snow events, and icing of vegetation. The loss of sea ice reduces dispersal options while wintering herbivores are increasingly subject to potentially dispersal-triggering changes on land. Henc...

Awarded: NOK 90,970

Project Period: 2025-2025

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Isfjord Radio Sky-Camera for solar energy forecasting

Following a switch from coal to diesel in 2023, Longyearbyen is now working to implement a hybrid system using diesel, batteries, solar, and eventually wind. The project faces challenges from unpredictable Arctic weather, particularly clouds, which affect solar energy production. This project aim...

Awarded: NOK 96,662

Project Period: 2025-2025

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Cryosphere Topographic Survey for Radar Altimetry Validation 2

This project addresses a critical gap in existing radar altimetry validation studies by targeting small, complex glaciers and ice caps—terrain underrepresented in existing datasets that focus on large, flat ice caps. Over the course of 14 field days based from Ny-Ålesund, Petuniabukta, and Longye...

Awarded: NOK 73,620

Project Period: 2025-2025

Location: Svalbard

POLARTEMA-POLARTEMA

Thawing Arctic permafrost, emerging risks: managing critical infrastructure, cultural heritage, and mountain slopes under climate change

Temperatures in the Arctic have risen nearly four times faster than the global average over the last few decades, leading to a cascade of consequences. Longyearbyen (LYR), the largest settlement in Svalbard, represents a critical case study for understanding these effects as it is located at a ho...

Awarded: NOK 11.5 mill.

Project Period: 2025-2027

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Integrating wildlife and snow-ice expertise across the high Arctic

In the Arctic tundra, snow and ice conditions critically determine whether wildlife populations thrive or decline. Factors such as snow depth, hardness, the timing of snowfall and spring melt, and the occurrence of solid ground ice can significantly impact the survival and reproduction of various...

Awarded: NOK 0.25 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2026

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Merging ecological and evolutionary methods to understand adaptation to climate change in Svalbard’s tundra ecosystem

Climate change is rapidly altering the environment to which animal and plant species have adapted to, especially in the Arctic. Given the speed of change, it is important to understand how the different Arctic species will respond, both in the short-term (for example through immediate changes in ...

Awarded: NOK 0.25 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2026

Location: Svalbard

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 63,890

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

SVALCLIME - Deep-time Arctic climate archives

Svalbard’s rocks record the Earth’s history over many millions of years and can inform us about how the climate changed in the “deep-time”. These include some of the world’s major mass extinctions, such as the one that occurred around 252 million years ago at the end of the Permian period, the la...

Awarded: NOK 0.50 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2026

Location: Svalbard

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 75,339

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

The Heer Land overabundance of Thermal-switch surges

Glaciers around the world are losing mass at an accelerated rate (Hugonnet et al., 2021), and Svalbard experiences this even faster than the global average, largely due to its strong interaction with warm Atlantic ocean currents (Piechura and Walczowski, 2009). The latest IPCC reports present mod...

Awarded: NOK 0.11 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2026

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Snowdrift at the solar park of Isfjord Radio, RiS ID 12308

The adaptation of renewable energy in the Arctic requires knowledge of the Arctic climate's influence on energy installations such as solar panels. Therefore, snowdrift is investigated at the recently installed solar photovoltaic array at Isfjord Radio. For this, observations from a weather stati...

Awarded: NOK 54,784

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Spatio-temporal habitat use of Svalbard reindeer (RiS ID 12152)

Understanding the Habitat of Svalbard Reindeer: Climate Change and Our Research Introduction The Arctic is one of the most fragile environments on Earth, and it is experiencing rapid changes due to climate change. Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, is warming faster than almost anywher...

Awarded: NOK 76,079

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Svalbard

1 2 3 4 5 14