Research and Monitoring Programmes

The Norwegian Polar Institute is the primary research institute, or a host institute for several research and monitoring programmes in the Ny-Ålesund area. The station engineers are responsible for daily service and operation of all instruments, including measurement programmes owned by a number of other countries and institutions.

Long term monitoring of meteorological data (since 1969), solar short-wave and long-wave radiation (since 1974), surface albedo and spectral reflectance is continuously performed at the Sverdrup Research Station. Daily observations of atmospheric ozone as well as filtered and weighted UV-radiation are performed with a number of instruments.

The biological studies at the station include monitoring programmes on reindeer, arctic fox, polar bear and marine mammals and birds. An important activity at the station is the effect studies of long-transported pollutants on arctic birds and mammals.

Glacier monitoring in the Ny-Ålesund area is another major activity at the station. Mass balance studies have been performed on several glaciers in the area, and the oldest records on mass balance are from 1967.

The monitoring of landfast sea ice in Kongsfjorden started in 2003 and includes both in citu measurements of ice properties and daily monitoring of the ice extent.

The atmospheric monitoring station Zeppelin, run by NPI, is located on the nearby mountain ridge at the elevation of 475 m.a.s.l. The monitoring of atmospheric trace gases, particle size distribution and radiative properties, together with other atmospheric parameters are conducted by several institutes, mainly NILU and ITM.

Short term measurement campaigns can be conducted both at the Zeppelin station and at the instrument platform at the Sverdrup station.