Strengthening cooperation on air pollution research in Svalbard

Air pollution research combines knowledge and methods intrinsic to atmospheric physics and chemistry. There are some examples of cooperation within the air pollution studies related to investigation of events of long-range transport of pollution to Svalbard. In contrast, there are no joint projects to study local air pollution problems in Svalbard despite the local sources which influence significantly the monitoring of background pollutant levels. Hence, observations of local air pollution supplemented with extensive meteorological measurements may help to determine local factors of influence on the monitoring of background air composition. Furthermore, results of such study may be used to define the temporal and spatial extent of local impacts and model the environmental fate of pollutants. In the current project, an international team of scientists working within atmospheric chemistry and physics proposes to perform a pilot study to assess the effect of emissions from ships on the air quality in Longyearbyen and compare meteorological and chemical measurement results from three research communities in Svalbard. The pilot study, joint data analysis and publication of the scientific paper will stimulate the cooperation between Svalbard researchers from different stations. Moreover, the workshop organized in the final stage of the project will allow to identify challenges and define new collaboration strategies for this multidisciplinary field of research.