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Ny-Ålesund Research Station Newsletter
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Launching new initiatives - such as the sending out of a newsletter at regular intervals - can be challenging. After a (too long) hiatus, we are picking up a few loose ends, and are "relaunching" the Ny-Ålesund Research Station newsletter.
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The second half of 2021 saw a lifting of most Covid-19 related travel restrictions, but also an increase in the number of omicron cases. With all restrictions on entry to Norway (incl. Svalbard) and in Ny-Ålesund having been lifted at the time this newsletter is distributed, the level of activity is almost back to pre-covid levels, with a busy research community on site, an increase in the requests from various media outlets, and a number of official visits coming to Ny-Ålesund.
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This does not, however mean that everything is back to normal. While the overall level of activity is high, researchers from India and China are still - for a large part - absent from Ny-Ålesund, and the activity hosted by NIPR and KOPRI is at significantly lower levels than in a typical year. We look forward to a full return to normalcy over the coming months!
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For those of you in Ny-Ålesund this summer, we strongly encourage you to engage with other researchers while you are there. While you all have busy schedules, and a lot of work to get through, the benefit of engaging within, and across flagships will bring added value to you as an individual researcher, and to the entire research community.
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We wish you all a successful and productive field season!
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Updates from the research station
The newest version on Research in Svalbard (RiS) has now been up and running since late January. To improve the user experience of RiS, Svalbard Science Forum (SSF) calls for help identifying bugs. Send SSF an email on ssf@rcn.no if you run into any problems. Describe your issue (add screen shots of what is not working) and include information about which browser you are using (Chrome, Firefox etc.). This will be a great help in bug squashing! SSF has also employed further resources, and from August, there will be 4 people in the office in Longyearbyen.
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The land use plan in Ny-Ålesund is expected for public inspection in September/October 2022. Assessment work on biodiversity, cultural monuments and archaeology, and tank facilities is under way and will determine when the area plan is submitted for consultation. Read more about the plan here.
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The Kings Bay vessel MS Teisten has undergone some major upgrades and is operational all-year round. Read more about the upgrades here.
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The terrestrial lab Veksthuset is in the process of being furnished with instruments and lab equipment. It is ready for rent as of now, but will be fully equipped later this summer. Take a look at the facilities in this video.
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The building that houses the Vaskerilab had to be closed for use due to structural issues with the building. Kings Bay and the research community are working on solutions to replace these facilities, both short and long term.
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Renewed exhibition in the protected building, The old telegraph. The official opening will be in September 2022.
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Updates from the flagships programmes
Joint Flagship activity
The project Nutrient cycle will bring together researchers from all four Ny-Ålesund flagships to evaluate nutrient fluxes between Kongsfjorden and its surrounding environment – terrestrial, glacier, atmospheric and ocean realms – and look into how some of these fluxes are expected to change with the ongoing warming trends. These issues will be discussed in a cross-flagship, three day workshop in Orvieto, Italy 20.-22. Sept 2022. 21 researchers from 9 different countries have already signed up for the workshop. If you are working with nutrient cycle issues, please consider joining the workshop to expand your professional network and get more out of your ongoing work. Press here to read more about the workshop. The registration deadline is 15 July 2022.
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More updates from The Flagships
The Terrestrial Ecosystem Flagship has organised a series of online seminars and meetings this spring to facilitate discussion on methodologies, and to promote the common flagship project The Terrestrial Ecosystem Flagship in Ny-Ålesund: From workshops to research projects. Read more about going from workshop to research projects here.
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The Atmosphere Flagship had a fruitful meeting in Oslo before the Svalbard Science Conference, focusing mainly on discussing the implementation of the new Svalbard Strategic Grant project and activities. A range of online and physical meetings are scheduled for 2022.
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The Kongsfjorden System flagship fall meeting will take place in Tromsø on the 27th and 28th of September. More information will come in August and will be announced on various platforms.
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Research highlights
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NASA launched the rocket Endurance from Ny-Ålesund May 2022
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Categories: Atmosphere, Technology
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Big team of science personell in Ny-Ålesund In approximately a month from mid-April to mid-May 40 science-personnel from NASA with support from 11 rocket-technicians from Andøya Space Centre were hosted by Ny-Ålesund Research Station to prepare and launch the science rocket Endurance from Ny-Ålesund. The rocket was launched from Andøya Space's launch site in Ny-Ålesund the 11th of May at …
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Ny-Ålesund Reserach Station foster collaboration between institutions
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Categories: Kongsfjorden system, Marine biology
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Two teams from the Norwegian Polar Institute and the Alfred Wegner Institute in Germany have combined their efforts to understand the dynamics of the Arctic spring bloom, using Kongsfjorden as a natural laboratory. Cross-institutional collaboration and cooperation on marine sampling in Kongsfjorden One of the main goals of the strategy for the Ny-Ålesund Research Station is to foster collaboration across …
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Two new Phd theses with close links to Ny-Ålesund
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Categories: Publications, The Atmosphere Research Flagship
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On 13 and 14 of June 2022 two students from the Department of Environmental Science at Stockholm University defended their PhD thesis, both of them closely linked to the Artic and to Ny-Ålesund Research Station. Aerosol-cloud interactions in a warming Arctic Linn Karlsson thesis “Aerosol-cloud interactions in a warming Arctic” focuses on aerosol–cloud interactions and to improve our understanding what …
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Technology and marine biology meets in a big experiment in Ny-Ålesund research station
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Categories: Kongsfjorden system, Technology
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The Arctic is both an interesting and important area from which to observe climate change. In respect of changes in the ocean: what is happening to phytoplankton which forms the base of the food web? How can this be monitored and understood in the best way? Tech-people and marine biologist joined forces in Ny-Ålesund research station in a big experiment …
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New review article about terresterial and freshwater research in Ny-Ålesund!
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Categories: Freshwater ecosystem, Terresterial Ecosystem
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For more than five decades, research has been conducted at Ny-Ålesund, in Svalbard, Norway, to understand the structure and functioning of High-Arctic ecosystems and the profound impacts on them of environmental change. Read more about the article here....
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Events
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01-04 August 2022
Workshop in Ny-Ålesund: From workshops to research projects
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The Terrestrial Ecosystem flagship is happy to announce the 3-day workshop, from the 1st to the 4th August 2022, in Ny-Ålesund. The workshop is a follow-up of previous activities within the network project The Terrestrial Ecosystem Flagship in Ny-Ålesund: From workshops to research projects.
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20-22 September 2022
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The project Nutrient cycle – linking the Atmosphere, Terrestrial, Marine and Glaciological flagship programs in Ny-Ålesund will bring together all four Ny-Ålesund flagships to evaluate nutrient fluxes between Kongsfjorden and its surrounding environment – terrestrial, glacier, atmospheric and ocean realms – and how some of these fluxes are expected to change with the ongoing warming trends.
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27-28 September 2022
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The fall meeting in the Flagship will take place in Tromsø the 27th and 28th of September. More information will come in August and will be announced on various platforms.
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25-26 October 2022
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Opportunities
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Call for applications to The Arctic Field Grant (AFG). The AFG supports fieldwork for students and researchers collecting data in Svalbard and Jan Mayen. The application deadline for AFG 2023 is 16 November 2022 at 13.00 CET. Read more here.
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Image of the month
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Polar Bears are highly present around Ny-Ålesund Research Station this summer. This guy was spotted inside the bird sanctuary on Prins Heinrichøya just outside of Ny-Ålesund. Picture taken by Kjetil Sagerup/Akvaplan Niva.
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