0 projects

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Investigating Spatial and Temporal Variability in Dust Deposition onto Svalbard Glaciers

Målet med dette prosjektet er å gi viktig informasjon om mineralstøvavsetning på isbreer på Svalbard, hvor konsistent støvavsetningen er over Svalbard, og hvilken rolle støv og andre lysabsorberende partikler har på snø og bresmelting. I løpet av vinter-vår 2025 vil vi samle ~10 m dype firn kjer...

Awarded: NOK 0.50 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2026

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

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

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

From winter time to summer time – what ends the "hunger gap" for Svalbard reindeer?

The term "hunger gap" (no: “vårknipa”) traditionally used in agricultural communities, refers to the period at the end of winter when winter provisions are depleting, yet the growing season has not yet started. In contemporary usage, the term also describes the food situation for wild animals, wh...

Awarded: NOK 58,999

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Akershus

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Kongsfjorden System Flagship: Working together to understand an Arctic sentinel fjord

Kongsfjorden, på den vestlige kysten av Svalbard, er en vokter av klimaendringer i Arktis, med oppvarming som skjer raskere enn de fleste steder på jorden. Forskere har studert ulike deler av økosystemet i tiår, blant annet havtemperatur, vannkjemi, sjøis, plante- og dyreplankton, sel og sjøfugl....

Awarded: NOK 0.50 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2026

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Mercury dynamics in Arctic fjord marine food webs

Marine chemical pollution poses known threats to human health and to biodiversity, ecosystem and societal services. The Arctic region is a major sink of global mercury (Hg) pollution. Arctic sediments, sea and glacial ice constitute vast Hg reservoirs. Recent studies raise concerns about their ...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SVALBARDSF-SVALBARDSF

Svalbard Research Integration for Data and Environmental Modelling

Hva er det store konseptet? Vårt prosjekt stimulerer samarbeid for å forbedre vår forståelse av miljøet i Arktis, med fokus på Isfjorden-regionen. Ved å forene ekspertisene til flere organisasjoner (NIVA, UNIS og SIOS), forbereder vi felles overvåkingsdatasett - fra elvestasjoner til havbøyer og ...

Awarded: NOK 0.24 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Oslo

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Characterising geogenic nitrate source areas in Adventdalen

There has been great emphasis on quantifying the release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane from melting permafrost. However, research on links between melting glaciers and permafrost and nitrogen release has been limited, despite its potential as a direct or indirect greenhou...

Awarded: NOK 29,854

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Oslo

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

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Drone surveys of ice associated seals hauled out on sea-ice during the moulting period (part of ARK)

The most recent population survey of Arctic ringed seals conducted in Svalbard was in 2003. Over the past 5 years, the Norwegian Polar Institute has been developing the techniques, methodologies and field competence to survey marine mammals using UAV. In 2023 a full-scale survey of all ice-cover...

Awarded: NOK 96,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Studies of environmental pollutants in wetland areas and water ponds on the Arctic tundra

The main goal for this project is to continue our study further the role of birds in transporting pollutants to and within the Arctic area, and to bring new knowledge especially linked to potential transport between the marine and terrestrial system including wetlands and water ponds on the tundr...

Awarded: NOK 38,673

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Particulate matter in glacier fed rivers

The aim of this project is a extensive study of particulate matter released into the rivers from the glacier systems and entering the Kongsfjorden system in Ny-Ålesund. Both particulate matter and river water will be collected at the outlet from the glaciers main melting channel as well as in th...

Awarded: NOK 38,591

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Active Scattering in Sea Ice for Measuring Internal Properties

Sea ice is filled with small brine pockets because the salt is rejected by the crystal lattice during the freezing process. These brine pockets have a significant influence on several aspects of sea ice, including its bearing capacity, the remote sensing of it, as well as the amount of solar ener...

Awarded: NOK 25,805

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

Response of benthic invertebrates to the Permo-Triassic climate crisis (RiS ID 12072)

The Permo-Triassic (P/T) climate crisis caused the most catastrophic extinction in Earth’s history, with a species loss of 81-95%. Intensive volcanic activity related to the emplacement of the Siberian traps caused several environmental changes, such as an increase in temperature, ocean acidifica...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Ice-wedges as late Pleistocene winter paleoclimatic archives on Prins Karl Forland (RIS ID: 12313)

Apart from Greenland and Canadian Arctic ice-core records, late Pleistocene and Holocene paleoclimatic reconstructions in the northern latitudes are mainly based on proxies that record summer air temperatures. This seasonal bias has resulted in model-data mismatches, highlighting the need to reco...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The geomorphic signature of ancient ice shelves in Isfjorden, Spitsbergen, RiS ID12367

This research project aims to explore the historical presence of ice shelves along Isfjorden, Svalbard, and their impact on regional and global climate systems. It plans to investigate unexplored topographies that indicate to reveal the interaction between an ice shelf with an ice-free coast duri...

Awarded: NOK 29,805

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

The effect of grubbing and heavy winter rainfall on mycorrhizal mycelium production

Mycorrhizal fungi play a crucial role for both plant nitrogen uptake and ecosystem carbon dynamics and storage. Most of the stored carbon in Arctic soils could be derived from mycorrhizal mycelium rather than from plant litter. As the Arctic carbon storage is suspected to be a crucial factor for ...

Awarded: NOK 51,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

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

The nutrient legacy of reindeer carrion in vegetation in the Arctic tundra of Svalbard, RiS ID:11512

Carcass legacy effects on soil chemistry and vegetation nutrient composition will help our understanding of how local ‘disturbances’ (i.e. carcass presence) scale to structuring and functioning of ecological communities at landscape levels. I will revisit carcasses of varying ages and collect abo...

Awarded: NOK 57,085

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Nordland - Nordlánnda

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Experimental assessment of light propagation in the snowpack, RiS ID 12344

Snowpack is a key component in the Arctic regions. The albedo of freshly fallen snow is typically very high in the visible range (up to 0.9), playing a crucial role in Earth's energy balance. Snow albedo can eventually be reduced upon aging of snow crystals due to metamorphism and to the increasi...

Awarded: NOK 0.10 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Insulate: Belowground Biotic Insulation of Permafrost (RiS ID 12331)

Within the overarching INSULATE initiative (RiS ID 12331), the "Belowground Biotic Insulation of Permafrost" project delves into the intricate dynamics of local soil properties, seeking to unravel their profound impact on permafrost stability. This focused research addresses crucial gaps in our ...

Awarded: NOK 70,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Space use by marine mammals in Svalbard and potential dietary changes due to climate change.

Investigating behaviour of high trophic predators is a fundemental part to understand the ecosystem as they function as a key component through top-down effect. Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina), one of a high trophic predators in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard is experiencing dramatic environmental changes ...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Shallow marine prokaryote ecosystems in the Boreal Ocean during the Permo-Triassic climate crisis and their recovery (RiS ID: 12307)

Lipid biomarker samples will be collected to reconstruct the microbial community and environmental conditions during the Late Permian mass extinction and in its aftermath with a focus on the recovery of the microbial ecosystem. The samples will complement the existing biomarker record that is con...

Awarded: NOK 0.12 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

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)

Forståelsen av Svalbardreinens Habitat: Klimaendringer og Vår Forskning Introduksjon Arktis er et av de mest skjøre miljøene på jorden, og det opplever raske endringer på grunn av klimaendringer. Svalbard, en øygruppe i Arktis, varmes opp raskere enn nesten noe annet sted. Dette gjør det til et v...

Awarded: NOK 76,079

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Svalbard

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

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

The Bayelva river (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard) represents a key site where to unearth the patterns of carbon release from thawing permafrost into coastal waters. For this reason on September 2023 the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council (ISP-CNR) of Italy, in the framework of ...

Awarded: NOK 0.10 mill.

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Chemical composition and conditions of cryoconite hole water and melting channels on glaciers with runoff to the Kongsfjorden System

Main objective of this project is a detailed analysis of snow and supraglacial meltwater, including potential alterations in the transition of supraglacial snow to water, as well as potential alterations in the transition of water in isolated to connected cryoconite holes to meltwater channels. C...

Awarded: NOK 27,355

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Microbial communities in ice over methane sources: a comparative study. RiS ID: 10341

The fieldwork is an integral part of my PhD project, which aims at understanding the microbiological role of the ice forming above Arctic emerged cold seeps in mitigating methane release. This fieldwork project includes sampling both terrestrial pingos in Svalbard (of which Lagoon Pingo, Adventda...

Awarded: NOK 64,999

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Troms - Romsa - Tromssa

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Human performance in the cold, RiS ID 12375

The purpose of the project is to verify the performance effect of the newly developed field rations, Energon Arctic Field rations (EAF) by EnergonX and its consortium, both the food content, but also packaging, which will potentially reduce waste by 70% in the Norwegian Armed Forces and offer nut...

Awarded: NOK 94,999

Project Period: 2024-2025

Location: Trøndelag - Trööndelage

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Alternative life-history and thermoregulation strategies in the Svalbard reindeer and the implications for population dynamics

With the Arctic warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the globe (Rantanen et al., 2022), resilience of Arctic ecosystems and population dynamics of Arctic species are raising concern among scientists. Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) is an ideal species to study the...

Awarded: NOK 64,763

Project Period: 2024-2024

Location: Akershus