Norwegian-Russian joint analysis and inter-calibration of climate observations and sensors within the IPY cluster project ARCDIV.NET

The Arctic climate is warming and its changes affect the whole physical climate system. The regional patterns of temperature, declining snow cover and increasing precipitation are modulated by natural modes of the atmospheric circulation. These are also k ey driving forces that govern arctic biota, and any trends and variability changes in these forcing parameters are likely to have a large impact on the structure of arctic terrestrial ecosystems. ARCDIV.NET is a multidisciplinary research cluster seeking to explore the diversity of climates and ecosystems at landscape scale within the Arctic region, by integrating existing and new measurements and knowledge of key physical and biological variables and processes at multiple Arctic observatories. Russian si tes on Svalbard (Barentsburg) and Franz Josef Land (Hayes Island) represent important and complementary climate zones to the Norwegian sites selected under ARCDIV.NET, and their implementation in our joint observation and analysis of the spatial and tempo ral diversity of climate parameters are important. A prerequisite of their implementation is careful harmonization and archiving of measurements and data from Norwegian and Russian Arctic stations. We therefore propose joint intercomparison and analysis a ctivities which will act as a catalyst for the Norwegian-Russian collaboration on Svalbard.