0 projects

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 63,840

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 50,443

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

Shrub Growth and Permafrost Insulation in a Warmer, Rainier Arctic - RiS ID 11968, 12016 & 12331

Air temperatures are increasing, and more precipitation is falling as rain rather than snow on Svalbard. We still know little about the role of rainfall events in the thermal stability of permafrost and growth of Svalbard plant communities. Plant growth and permafrost thaw also affect each other,...

Awarded: NOK 62,999

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Svalbard

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 62,965

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Vestland

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 50,085

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

Pioneering ATLAS tracking to investigate seabird interactions and anthropogenic disturbance in the Arctic, RiS ID 12333

In this project, we will establish the first ATLAS Wildlife Tracking System in the Arctic, enabling us to track, in unprecedented volume and detail, two keystone Arctic seabirds: the black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla and Brunnich’s guillemot Uria lomvia. ATLAS, a cutting-edge reverse GPS sy...

Awarded: NOK 95,340

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Svalbard Archaeology Symposium 2023

The Arctic environment is changing in a rapid and dramatic manner, and cultural heritage in Svalbard and other places is under pressure due to climate change and increased tourism in addition to the ongoing natural processes and mere age-related degradation. The current cultural heritage policy f...

Awarded: NOK 0.25 mill.

Project Period: 2023-2024

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

A Weeklong Hackathon to Develop Spatio-Temporal Models Across the Strategic Objectives of Svalbard

We propose to host two hackathon-style workshops to engage the Svalbard research community in the adoption and development of the new spatio-temporal modeling R package, 4D-Modeller (4DM). The 4DM package has been developed to tackle spatio-temporal problems at all scales and is built on a Bayesi...

Awarded: NOK 0.50 mill.

Project Period: 2023-2024

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Do landscape factors and seasonality modulate resource partitioning by the Arctic scavengers of Svalbard?

This project is part of the REINCAR project (RiS ID 11512), which has an ongoing carrion ecology study in Svalbard. One of the REINCAR objectives is to investigate to what extent reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) cadavers affect soil biogeochemistry and vegetation locally and on the land...

Awarded: NOK 55,999

Project Period: 2023-2024

Location: Buskerud

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Building transdisciplinary bridges for sustainable Svalbard and Arctic development

In a series of two workshops, we intend to create a forum for discussing and initiating transdisciplinary research for sustainable development on Svalbard. The workshops will be a meeting place for national and international researchers and local and national stakeholders to jointly discuss the o...

Awarded: NOK 0.42 mill.

Project Period: 2023-2024

Location: Nordland - Nordlánnda

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Digitizing Svalbard: Hopen's Digital Outcrop Model Data Acquisition Campaign and Virtual Field Guide Development for educational research

This project’s data collection campaign will focus on digitizing the outcropping rocks surrounding the island of Hopen. I plan to visit the island in the summer field season of 2023. The field assistant and I will embark on a coast guard vessel in Tromsø between Mid-June to Mid-July, heading to H...

Awarded: NOK 99,999

Project Period: 2023-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Shaping the future of polar research data

Fairness and equality are the cornerstones of successful Svalbard and Arctic science and we will address these topics in a two-day workshop that will explore the intersection between diversity and data. It will bring together Svalbard early career researchers (ECRs) and ECRs from across the Arcti...

Awarded: NOK 31,249

Project Period: 2023-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Workshop on Salmonids in the Svalbard Archipelago (NISh)

The team will meet in Longyearbyen in September 2023 and stay one week together to discuss best practices for capture, handling, and tagging at high latitudes where temperatures are cold and salmon physiology demands specific handling tactics. We will engage locals including Longyearbyen JFF and ...

Awarded: NOK 0.23 mill.

Project Period: 2023-2024

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Research in Svalbard: An APECS Workshop

Numerous international and interdisciplinary research projects are carried out in Svalbard every year. Furthermore, such research projects involve both senior and early career researchers (ECRs), some of whom may have never previously set foot on the archipelago. The Association of Polar Early Ca...

Awarded: NOK 0.21 mill.

Project Period: 2023-2024

Location: Vestland

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

SVALBARD SCIENCE CONFERENCE GLACIOLOGY FLAGSHIP WORKSHOP

The workshop will develop further international and interdisciplinary cooperation on modelling and field measurements of snow and glacier mass balance in Svalbard. Research challenges and opportunities will be identified, with focus on data gaps and sources of uncertainty, identifying new techniq...

Awarded: NOK 0.18 mill.

Project Period: 2023-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Fjord Interaction Network in Svalbard

Arctic near-surface temperatures have warmed nearly four times faster than the rest of the globe since 1979 and Svalbard is located at a hotspot for this warming. Local impacts of this warming are strongly evident in the West Spitsbergen fjord systems, such as Isfjorden and Kongsfjorden, which ar...

Awarded: NOK 0.50 mill.

Project Period: 2023-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Glacial and river plume's role in contamination of the Isfjorden coastal waters

The project aims to enhance coordination, cooperation, and expertise exchange between the Norwegian and Korean institutions in studies of Arctic contamination. We plan to establish long-term cooperation in observations and modelling on Svalbard in the forthcoming projects. The pilot field study w...

Awarded: NOK 0.47 mill.

Project Period: 2023-2024

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Effects of goose grubbing, rain-on-snow events and warming on soil arthropods and plant matter decomposition RiS12131

The High Arctic systems are changing rapidly with increased temperatures, winter rain and increasing goose populations, and subsequent grubbing. Increases in grubbing, icing and warming will all change the conditions for soil dwelling animals, and through them affect soil nitrogen mineralisation ...

Awarded: NOK 36,965

Project Period: 2023-2023

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

PHARMARINE- Transport of pharmaceuticals and impact on arctic biota. RIS: 11719

The increased use and large disposal volumes of pharmaceuticals in Europe has raised concern about their impacts in marine ecosystems. Though pharmaceuticals undergo degradation, some compounds can escape through sewage treatment and remain in the environment over time. The Arctic is particularl...

Awarded: NOK 52,999

Project Period: 2023-2024

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The effect of polyploidisation of Saxifraga oppositofolia on metabolic fluxes

One of the biggest global challenges in plant science´s is to determine how plants can increase stress tolerance (ST) without penalizing productivity. I hypothesise that exists a trade-off at leaf level between the maximal photosynthetic capacity (Amax) and ST and it can be explained by foliar st...

Awarded: NOK 52,156

Project Period: 2023-2024

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Nitrate mobilization during the melt season in Central Spitsbergen

Although Arctic soils store approximately half of the global nitrogen stock, research on nitrogen and its integration into active biochemical cycles is limited. Climate warming, which is amplified in the polar regions and particularly on Svalbard, is leading to a deepening of the active layer of ...

Awarded: NOK 20,049

Project Period: 2023-2023

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Thermal properties of Arctic fox fur and the effect of fur lice infestation

This project will collaborate and run alongside the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) annual monitoring program on arctic fox population in Svalbard. Fur lice in the arctic fox was first identified on Svalbard in 2019 (Buhler et al. submitted). The prevalence at the time was low (approx. 10% of the...

Awarded: NOK 23,390

Project Period: 2023-2023

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Laser Drill for Arctic Snowpack Stratigraphy Study, RiS ID 12098

The proposed project ‘Laser Drill for Arctic Snowpack Stratigraphy Study’ (LASER ARCS) will test a new device for measuring snowpack stratigraphy under Arctic conditions. The SnowLaserDrill (SLD), consists of two lasers. The drilling laser is used to melt a hole into the snow; the second laser is...

Awarded: NOK 59,481

Project Period: 2023-2023

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Wet Fingerprints - Constraining the Influence of (Near-)Surface Melting on Svalbard Snow Structure and Chemistry

Ice cores are unique climate archives. However, our ability to extract environmental information from structural, chemical, and isotopic proxy records is severely limited by a lack of understanding about melt-induced post-depositional alterations. Svalbard ice cores have provided invaluable infor...

Awarded: NOK 99,999

Project Period: 2023-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Timing and origin of Miocene flood volcanism on Spitsbergen: the Seidfjellet Formation revisited (RiS ID 12088)

Mantle-derived volcanism accompanied the Cenozoic lithosphere evolution of the NE Greenland and NW Barents Sea shelves during final separation of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. It is unclear, however, to what extent continental breakup was influenced by deep-sourced mantle plume...

Awarded: NOK 99,899

Project Period: 2023-2023

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa