Pristine Arctic ecosystems are one of the most fragile and fast responding to global environmental changes, thus representing a promising "natural laboratory" for studies on global changes. Most monitoring programs and scientific studies focus on already known contaminants like polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides or “newer” environmental contaminants like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and brominated flame retardants (BFR) or even artificial radionuclides. Models have predicted that the direct effect of climate change on the environmental concentrations of “legacy” contaminants (from e.g. changing temperature, wind patterns and precipitation, as well as melting of ice and permafrost) is often predicted to be withina factor of 2-3 of existing concentrations (e.g. Gouin et al. 2013, Armitage et al. 2011, Kong et al. 2014). Especially theArctic atmosphere is expected to respond rapidly to environmental changes and is, therefore, chosen as an environmental medium forthe HERMOSAintiative.
Ina collaborative effort, the team of the project Harmonising Environmental Research and Monitoring of Priority Pollutants inthe Svalbard Atmosphere (HERMOSA) applies for financial support to organize a joint seminar and international scientific workshop allowing a comprehensive integration of the ongoing research and academic educational activities on Svalbard inthe field of fate and distribution of atmospheric aerosols including mineral and organic particulate matter.
Withinthe HERMOSA project, we intend to:
• Provide complete information on the relevant atmospheric aerosol research projects and infrastructure in Svalbard related tothem, to evaluate the current knowledge gaps inthe field.
• Develop research priorities for joint research programs.
• Provide a platform for scientific networking and knowledge exchange.
• Refine the existing sampling protocols fora more efficient way toapproach multidisciplinary projects.