ARCTIC Arctic Research Consortium of the United States Member Institution Winter 2000/2001 Arctic Research at the Norwegian Polar Institute he Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) University of California, San Diego. The Tis Norway’s principal organization Institute’s current director is Olav for research, environmental monitoring, Orheim. Orheim chairs the Committee and mapping in the polar regions of both for Environmental Protection under the hemispheres. The Institute also advises Antarctic Treaty and is an executive of Norwegian authorities on matters con- the European Polar Board. cerning polar environmental management. NPI is comprised of three departments: NPI is a directorate under the auspices • Research (with a staff of 45), of Norway’s Ministry of Environment. • Environmental Management, and It was established in 1928 on the heels of • Administration and Logistics. Norway’s Svalbard and Arctic Ocean Sur- An Information Unit publishes the peer- vey. The esteemed oceanographer Harald reviewed, multidisciplinary journal Polar Ulrik Sverdrup served as the Institute’s Research, and a Svalbard Unit based in first director. Sverdrup had taken part in Longyearbyen provides logistical support several arctic expeditions and had been in for fieldwork and conducts year-round charge of the scientific work during Roald environmental monitoring (see Witness Amundsen’s Maud expedition (1918-25). Autumn 1998). From 1926-28, he was director of Scripps In 1998, after 70 years in Oslo, NPI Institution of Oceanography in California moved north of the Arctic Circle to the Stas Belikov (All-Russian Research Institute for Nature and a professor of oceanography at the coastal city of Tromsø, known as the Conservation) and Andrew Derocher (Norwegian Polar Gateway to the Arctic. The site of the Institute) deploy a satellite telemetry collar on a female University of Tromsø, the city’s well- polar bear. This work was part of the Norwegian- Russian polar bear project conducted in 1997 and 1998 developed infrastructure, extensive facili- to study population boundaries, habitat use, and ties, and local research community offer contaminant loads of polar bears in the Barents Sea exceptional opportunities for arctic (photo by Stig Nilssen). research. The new Polar Environmental Centre customized for navigation in icy condi- houses NPI’s headquarters and other insti- tions. Available for lease during portions tutions that offer polar research and advi- of each year, Lance can accommodate up sory services; several of these institutions to 24 scientists and has laboratories and cooperate on projects with partner organi- a helicopter landing platform. zations in northwestern Russia. The Cen- tre hosts many national and international Research Programs scientific conferences and workshops. NPI research activities are organized in NPI runs research stations in Ny- five interdisciplinary Research Programs. Spitsbergen is the largest island in the Svalbard Ålesund, Svalbard (see page 4 andWitness A brief presentation of these programs and Archipelago, which lies half-way between Tromsø and Autumn 1998) and operates expeditions some of the individual projects within the North Pole. The Svalbard Treaty of 1920 gave sovereignty over the islands to Norway (map prepared by to Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. The them follows. the Norwegian Polar Institute). NPI’s research vessel Lance has been Published by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States • 3535 College Road • Suite 101 • Fairbanks, AK 99709 1 Norwegian Polar Institute: ARCUS Member Institution The Polar Climate Program he Polar Climate Program, led by Jan-Gunnar Winther, encompasses Mass Balance Measurements Tstudies of: Since 1966, NPI has been monitoring • ocean fluxes of heat, mass, and salt in Fram Strait and the Barents Sea; the mass balance of two glaciers in the • atmosphere–sea-ice–ocean interactions in the marginal ice zone; Kongsfjorden area of northwestern • sea-ice coverage and thickness; Spitsbergen—Austre Brøggerbreen and • paleoclimatic archives (including marine sediment and ice cores in the Arctic and Midtre Lovénbreen. Jack Kohler is cur- Antarctica); and rently responsible for collecting these data, • research on radiation, glacier mass balance, and snow distribution in Svalbard. which constitute the longest continuous With its interdisciplinary expertise in polar research, NPI also contributes to the mass balance series from the Arctic. The development of regional climate models. mass balance of both glaciers has decreased The overarching goals of the Polar Climate Program are: approximately 10% since the beginning of • to contribute to the worldwide search for an understanding of climate change record keeping. While the winter balance by considering climate variability and feedbacks in the sea-ice–land–ocean–atmosphere has been stable, summer ablation has been system in the polar regions; widely variable. Neither winter precipita- • to assess the system’s sensitivity to disturbances; and tion or summer melting exhibit trends. • to analyze the consequences of a changing climate. Kongsvegen, a larger, surge-type glacier in the same area, spans a higher elevation Nordic Sea-Ice Extent and Sea-Surface Temperatures interval than the two other glaciers. This project, led by Torgny Vinje, before 1900. While there is a strong nega- Monitoring since 1986 indicates a small investigates changes in sea-ice extent and tive correlation between the North Atlan- positive balance, attributable to the sea-surface temperature in the Nordic seas tic Oscillation (NAO; see Witness Spring/ higher elevation. through analysis of March-September ship Autumn 1999) winter index and the logs, mostly of sealers (1860-present) and extent of ice in the Nordic seas in April, Reconstruction of Decadal-Scale Norwegian Meteorological Institute the correlation is positive for the Sea-Surface Temperature (SST) satellite images (1966-present). Newfoundland-Labrador Sea. Large-scale Variability During the Late Holocene The first survey shows that the extent atmospheric circulation processes, which Project researchers headed by Nalân of ice in April has decreased by approxi- have a seesaw effect on sea-ice extent and Koç are analyzing sediment cores retrieved mately 33% during the past 135 years. temperatures east and west of Greenland, during the International Marine Past Nearly half of this reduction took place extend back at least 135 years. Global Changes Study (IMAGES) cruise in August 1999, to elucidate the variability ENVISAT MERIS and ASAR for Snow and Glacier Ice Studies of the Nordic heat pump on a NAO time The main objectives of this pilot study, Project researchers are studying glacier resolution during the late Holocene. conducted by Max König, are: characteristics, focusing on glacier mass Reconstructions of Holocene paleo- • to explore how the coming ENVISAT balance estimation in Svalbard using sea-surface temperatures are based on MERIS and ASAR satellite instruments satellite imagery and investigating how diatom assemblage studies of selected can be used for cryosphere studies, ENVISAT MERIS and ASAR sensors can sediment cores. Results show that, during including how snow and glaciers be used to identify firn and equilibrium the past 3,000 years, SSTs varied 1-2° on respond to climate change; and lines, superimposed ice zones, and glacier time scales of less than 100 years. There is • to develop algorithms that improve facies. Other topics under investigation clear evidence of Holocene climatic events present environmental monitoring concern the remote sensing of snow such as the Little Ice Age and the Medieval programs in the Arctic. distribution and albedo in Svalbard. Warm Period. Ice Core Studies Polar Climate Monitoring Programs Elisabeth Isaksson carries out research back in time. In 1998 and 1999, two NPI Polar Climate Monitoring Pro- on ice cores taken from Svalbard glaciers. ice cores were drilled from the top of grams collect data in collaboration with In collaboration with several European Austfonna (740 m asl), in collaboration national and international institutions countries, a 120-m ice core was retrieved with Japan’s National Institute of Polar under research initiatives such as the from Lomonosovfonna (1230 m above sea Research. The longest core is 299 m and Arctic Ice Thickness Measurement level [asl]) in 1997. The core dates back to dates back to approximately AD 1200. Programme (AITMP), Arctic Climate AD 1100. Temporal variations in the ice All of these cores suggest that the System Study (ACSYS), Variability of core’s record seem to agree with 20th Cen- 1900s have been the warmest century Exchanges in the Northern Seas (VEINS), tury climate and environmental records on in the past 800 years. They also provide European Subpolar Ocean Programme decadal scales; the cores are therefore interesting records of anthropogenic 1 and 2 (ESOP 1-2), and the Filchner- believed to provide reliable data further pollution in this part of the Arctic. Ronne Ice Shelf Programme (FRISP). 2 Arctic Research Consortium of the United States The Marine Ecology Program PI’s Marine Ecology Program is designed to provide sound scientific advice to Nor- Population Studies and Feeding Ecology Nwegian and international agencies responsible for resource management and conser- of Seabirds on Bjørnøya (Bear Island) vation issues in the polar regions. The program is directed by Kit M. Kovacs. The research This long-term project, initiated in staff studies the population dynamics and ecology of a wide variety