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SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

STABILITY OF CULTURAL HERITAGE IN SVALBARD IN A GLOBAL WARMING RiS 12106

Awarded: NOK 99,999

This MSc Thesis project is going to look at the stability of cultural heritage foundations and other infrastructures. The project is located in Svalbard as all study objects are physically located in Svalbard. The study objects are related to technical-industrial heritage and are the prioritised objects of cultural heritage in Svalbard. The thesis is part of the research project PCCH-Arctic lead by SINTEF, and financed by the Research Council of Norway; therefore, the collected data will not be useful only for the thesis but for the PCCH-Arctic project itself. The data will be valuable for modelling the behaviors of the case study objects (i.e. settlements of foundations) and for long-term monitoring of settlements of the case study objects into permafrost. Data collection from the instruments which were installed earlier, i.e. i-buttons and time-lapse cameras. Those instruments were installed in 2022 in LYR by MSc student Enevoldsen K. (RiSID 11770) and in Ny-Ålesund by PhD student Aga, J. Data from i-buttons, i.e. data on the surface temperature of permafrost. This software will be used for the prediction of global warming effects on permafrost. To measure snow thickness along cableway posts in Longyearbyen and at historical buildings in Ny-Å. These data will be used to set up boundary conditions when performing permafrost modelling in TempW Measurements with dGPS vertical positions of foundations of selected cableway posts in Longyearbyen and historical buildings in Ny-Ålesund and measurements with laser-level vertical positions of foundations of selected buildings in Ny-Å will be carried out. Data on vertical positions of foundations will be used in comparison with earlier obtained dGPS data to see the effect of frost heave on the foundations of the case-study objects.Soil sampling and lab analysis of soil at selected cableway posts and historical buildings in Ny-Ålesund will be performed. Data on soil properties will be used in the modelling of settlements

Funding scheme:

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum