0 projects

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

RiS#3689 Monitoring seabirds in Kongsfjorden.

Genotoxic effects of persistent organic pollutants and oil components in egg from common eider (Somateria mollissima) and glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus). 14 days field work in Kongsfjorden collecting common eider eggs. The eggs will be used for chemical analysis of parent and metabolites of p...

Awarded: NOK 19,389

Project Period: 2015-2016

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Outcrop-scale faults and micro-structures affecting the LYB C02 Reservoir

Extensive water injection tests in the Longyearbyen C02 reservoir show the presence of flow barriers. The most likely cause is the presence of impermeable faults too small to be imaged by seismics. This proposed study will take a closer look at these faul ts and investigate their influences on fl...

Awarded: NOK 7,403

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Present and future tourism development of Russian settlements on Svalbard: Exploring practices, perspectives and possibilities

Russia's vast Arctic territories are playing a vital role in the process of country's overall socio-economic development and not least when it comes to tourist development. Svalbard's two Russian settlements (Barentsburg and Pyramiden) are targets to Russ ia's renewed interests when it comes to t...

Awarded: NOK 17,999

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

A survey of root-associated fungal communities on Svalbard

Mutualistic mycorrhizal fungi mediate nutrient acquisition for the majority of land plants. Mycorrhizal fungi release, absorb and transfer inorganic nutrients and water from the external environment into the plants and in return receive photosynthates. Ec tomycorrhizal symbiosis (ECM) is mutualis...

Awarded: NOK 51,413

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Reconstructing Holocene climate variability from lake sediments of Amsterdamøya, RiS ID 6655

There are gaps in our knowledge of Holocene paleoclimate in the High Arctic due to a lack of well-resolved records and limitations of existing proxy data. Our understanding of High Arctic climate variability can be improved with the application of new bi ogeochemical methods and chronologic tool...

Awarded: NOK 32,934

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

A high-resolution paleoclimate reconstruction from Lake Erlingvatnet, NW Svalbard. RiS ID: 6676

The goal of this research is to carry out a high-resolution paleoclimate reconstruction from Lake Erlingvatnet in NW Svalbard. This study would form part of my PhD thesis at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Fieldwork and subsequent analysis would be carried out in cooperation with colle...

Awarded: NOK 40,999

Project Period: 2014-2014

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Paleomagnetic Synchronization: A transect of sedimentological archives from N-Svalbard towards Arctic-Norway

Continental ice sheets and sea level in the Svalbard - Barents Sea - Arctic-Norway region were near their modern configurations at least by 8000 years ago, and the pre-industrial climate system was essentially established, including its feedbacks. The maj or difference was the large summer insola...

Awarded: NOK 34,999

Project Period: 2014-2014

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Shifting Climate States of the Polar Regions - field campaign at Svalbard 2014

This cross-disciplinary proposal will collect and produce data on glacier and climate variability throughout the last 10 000 years, a research effort that will be carried out at Svalbard. Arctic lakes represent natural systems that are particular sensitiv e to climate change and the sites chosen ...

Awarded: NOK 43,999

Project Period: 2014-2014

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The influence of flea infestation on the reproductive success of barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) in Kongsfjord, Svalbard.

The aim of this project is to investigate the effect that infestation of nests by fleas (Ceratophyllus vagabundus vagabundus Boheman, 1866) has on the incubation, and hatching and fledging success of barnacle geese on the Lovén islands in Kongsfjord. Nes ts will be mapped and a minimum of 20 nes...

Awarded: NOK 35,999

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Akershus

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Workshop on collaboration and coordination within the Ny-Ålesund Atmospheric Flagship Programme

Ny-Ålesund offers an excellent location for observing key climate and atmospheric parameters from the atmospheric boundary layer up to tens of km above Earth. Many such atmospheric measurements have been performed in Ny-Ålesund for decades already by rese archers from many nations. In 2008 a SSF...

Awarded: NOK 0.11 mill.

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Radar mapping of the bed of tributary glaciers of Kronebreen, Svalbard, RIS ID 6660

This planned fieldwork is part of the modelling project of the subglacial conditions of Kronebreen. It will provide supplementary data to feed the model of Kronebreen subglacial processes. My goal is to inverse the surface velocities of Kronebreen to retr ieve a seasonal evolution of the basal dr...

Awarded: NOK 69,999

Project Period: 2014-2014

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Estimating uncertainties and sources of error in population monitoring of the Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus)RiS : 6188

Monitoring population dynamics of wild ungulates relies on accurate estimates of population size and vital rates. However, errors in population monitoring methods can be numerous (e.g. lack of repeated measurement, sampling time period, observer bias etc. ) and in most studies they are not invest...

Awarded: NOK 20,999

Project Period: 2014-2014

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Layer parallel shortening and cataclastic flow by fractures in the Permian Kapp Starostin Formation, Mediumfjellet, Spitsbergen

The thesis addresses three fundamental questions related to fold-thrust belts of relevance to reservoir and cap rock studies; i. Can a link between LPS and small-scale fracture systems reflecting folding of layers by cataclastic flow (in line with Ismat and Mitra, 2005) within a pseudo-mechani...

Awarded: NOK 31,600

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Lunar Arctic-coordinated remote sensing of aerosols: LUNAR photometry close the gap in ARCTIC aerosol climatology and satellite validation

In the context of a rapidly changing environment, collaborative efforts are essential to understand and to mitigate agents that contribute to modifications in the polar regions. Arctic aerosols have been studied intensively since many year. Nevertheless, there remain recognized deficiencies in A...

Awarded: NOK 0.40 mill.

Project Period: 2014-2016

Location: Akershus

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Dietary responses in Svalbard reindeer to changes in winter climate

The Svalbard winter is heating up, with more frequent rain and icing. Icing reduces food access for Svalbard reindeer and may force them to seek alternative food, such as sea-weed. This project aims to explore reindeer diets in response to winter climate change. Through stable isotope analysis a...

Awarded: NOK 25,842

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Prey of active Zooplankton duing the polar night

Diel vertical migration (DVM) is known to be the largest daily movement of organic material, as well as living organisms on the planet. That makes it a key process if we want to understand the pelagic food web and carbon sequestering of the ocean. It is p roposed that DVM happens, due to the atte...

Awarded: NOK 47,999

Project Period: 2014-2014

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

DVM of zooplankton in the polar night: who, how and why? RiS ID 6575

In recent years, research carried out in the Svalbard archipelago has challenged the long-lasting paradigm of dormant ecosystems during the polar night at high latitudes due to low food availability and lack of light. Based on data collected with acoustic instruments moored in the water column o...

Awarded: NOK 39,999

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Resilience of Arctic plant communities: the potential for recovery from multiyear perturbations, RiS IS 6644

In my masters thesis, I will examine the recovery of previously grazed tundra in ambient-temperature plots and in plots that have undergone long-term summer warming as part of the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX). Because a suite of biotic and abiot ic factors determine how plant communitie...

Awarded: NOK 43,593

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Internal accumulation at Lomonosovfonna glacier: environmental controls and rates, RiS ID 3395

Proposed field campaign at Lomonosovfonna (1200 and 900 m asl) is planned for April 2014 and continues work started in April 2012. The aim is to derivea dataset on environmental parameters influencing internal accumulation and actual rates of the process. This includes: - Downloading data from ...

Awarded: NOK 9,654

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Fracturing and weathering in basement of the Billefjorden Trough, an analogue to top basement reservoirs

The study will concern a basement reservoir analogue in Billefjorden, Svalbard. The fundamental questions are: How is the fracture system in the basement around the Carboniferous Billefjorden Trough? How is the weathering profile in terms of thickness , intensity and mineralogy in this area?

Awarded: NOK 30,999

Project Period: 2014-2014

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Detailed mapping of the active layer and top permafrost organic carbon pool and potential carbon release in central Svalbard

In order to investigate spatial distribution and size of permafrost soil carbon pools in central Svalbard, soil samples will be taken in spring 2014. Data from earlier fieldwork (2013) is available to be combined into a detailed map of carbon pools for th e area, which has not been done before. T...

Awarded: NOK 52,999

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The characterization of glacier basal hydrologic systems

The objectives of this study are to deploy 4 (or more) high precision GPS instruments on 2 glaciers through the summer of 2014. Of particular importance is to determine how the basal hydrologic system reacts to perturbances caused from climatic forces, su ch as from the surface mass balance of th...

Awarded: NOK 49,070

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Svalbard reindeer and hunting - what are natural borders for management units

Svalbard reindeer are managed within fairly small management units. Local authorities are concerned that reindeer within the small management units may be subjected to overharvesting. In this project I will investigate the range use of individually GPS-ma rked Svalbard reindeer and see if the spa...

Awarded: NOK 39,999

Project Period: 2014-2014

Location: Akershus

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Effects of pollution on metabolic rate and physiological blood parameters in arctic kittiwake, RIS ID 6617

I aim to study the physiological effects (both in terms of metabolic rate, endocrine and clinical parameters) of novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs), organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs), traditional organohalogenated compounds (OHCs) and toxic metals in the light of ecological charact...

Awarded: NOK 20,999

Project Period: 2014-2014

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Mapping individual migration strategies of an Arctic seabird

The aim of the project is to investigate individual migration strategies and wintering areas in an Arctic seabird. Little information exists on individual flexibility or consistency in migration and wintering strategies of seabirds breeding in Svalbard. S uch information is important for conserva...

Awarded: NOK 79,999

Project Period: 2014-2014

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Microbial Symbionts of Arctic Peatlands and their Relevance for Present and Future Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling - ArcBiont RiS ID: 6547

The project will investigate microbial communities of the methane cycle that are associated with submerged Arctic peat mosses. The thesis will focus on Arctic samples from the peatlands Twin water, Gludneset, and Knudsenheia in the vicinity of Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard), the Siberian Lena Delta (coll...

Awarded: NOK 52,999

Project Period: 2014-2014

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Reaching Deep into the Big Black Box: diversity and functionality of arctic microbes.

In a broad sense, this research aims to elucidate microbial community structure and the forces that shape succession and diversity patterns within sea ice: light regimes, nutrient influxes, parasitism, and mutualism. Heavy fungal parasitism of diatoms ob served in Barrow, Alaska, (Personal obser...

Awarded: NOK 24,310

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Levels and effects of POPs on thyroid hormone levels in glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus) breeding in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, RiS-ID: 6672

The aim of the study is to detect levels of selected POPs in glaucous gull breeding in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, and investigated how this may affect the thyroid hormone levels.Its hypothesized that high levels of contaminants will be detected and that ther e will be an inverse correlation between ...

Awarded: NOK 20,697

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Detailed mapping of the active layer and top permafrost potential carbon release in central Svalbard. RiS ID:6650

The overall main objectives of the present work are to: (1) Investigate high potential SOC (soil organic carbon) areas where little data is available about permafrost and active layer carbon storage/release. Sites will be selected according to aerial pict ures study in landforms containing high a...

Awarded: NOK 30,013

Project Period: 2014-2015

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Are little auks filter-feeders? An experimental approach to test their sensitivity to ongoing climate change RIS ID: 6639

Little auks (Alle alle) are highly vulnerable to environmental modifications in the Arctic. Knowledge of their feeding behaviour and foraging profitability is crucial to predict how these energetically challenged birds will cope with anticipated environme ntal changes, leading to a reduction of t...

Awarded: NOK 39,999

Project Period: 2014-2014

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa