WP 1 – Activities aiming at modernisation and standardisation of the Svalbard observing system in priority areas for the Polish and Norwegian polar communities – HarSval: Bilateral initiative aiming at Harmonisation of the Svalbard cooperation

Activities aiming at modernisation and standardisation of Svalbard observing system in priority areas for the Polish and Norwegian polar communities

The ambition of activity 1 of the initiative is to take action in two research strands. On the one hand, the cryosphere research well established through the CRIOS project will be continued within WetSnowEx activity on snow properties and processes occurring in the snowpack making use of the already developed research infrastructure. On the other hand, the cryosphere-oriented research will be broadened to more general issues of the impact of Arctic climate change on marine and coastal environments as well as paleogeographical and thermal evolution of Svalbard. Widening of the scope of the activity and adding the second research strand will enable involvement of several additional Polish and Norwegian partners which haven’t been involved in the CRIOS project. Bilateral pilot studies will be undertaken in the second activity.

They will involve also less-experienced Polish research units which will profit from unique experience of other partners of the initiative. In turn, activities supporting integration and increasing the coherence of the observation infrastructure, and works aimed at calibration, harmonisation and servicing of the monitoring infrastructure will be the focus of attention in both research strands. Obtained FAIR datasets will contribute to the Polish Polar Data Base and SIOS Data Portal. The planned activities will allow both the Polish and Norwegian research community to better prepare for the ICARP IV conference in 2025 (International Conference on Arctic Research Planning), which defines research priorities every ten years, and for the most important event in the field of polar research – 5^th International Polar Year 2032/33. The bilateral cooperation will enable the harmonisation of research priorities and integration of the existing distributed observation infrastructure and, consequently, generate an added value beyond the capacities of individual partners.

Activity 1.1 WetSnowEx: A Cross-Disciplinary Study on Snow Ecosystems during the Melting Period

In Svalbard WetSnowEx builds on the momentum created by the SIOS Snow Pilot and CRIOS projects, which brought together cryosphere-oriented researchers from Norway and Poland. As in the Snow Pilot we’ve been focused only on the maximum snow accumulation period and snow-related Essential Climate Variables, in WetSnowEx we plan to go beyond and collect a much broader spectrum of information on snow properties and processes occurring in the snowpack from the maximum accumulation to the end of the melt period. This would cover not only measurements of snow physical properties, essential for calibration of remote sensing products, but also, no less important, collecting samples for chemical and microbiological analysis, essential for understanding the impurities release from the snowpack and ecological processes occurring during the snow melt in the High Arctic. This ambitious task wouldn’t be possible without the proper Research Infrastructure designed for tracking the changes in the cryosphere – CRIOS. WetSnowEx was created in the spirit of building cooperation and trust between Polish and Norwegian partners through joint field and laboratory work. Building relationships between scientists involved in this project is of paramount importance to us.

The activity will have two major components:

A) Task 1.1.1 the collection of a spatial and temporal range of snow cal/val data (depth, density, stratigraphy, physical properties e.g. wetness, crystal size) to combine it with a range of remote sensing techniques (time-lapse cameras, TLS, satellite imagery) for better retrieval of snow parameters including snow depth, the spatial and temporal distribution of Snow Water Equivalent (SWE), and mapping of melting snow patterns;

B) Task 1.1.2 to conduct a census of microbial and faunal biodiversity, functional diversity, biomass and activity on the snow surface, in habitats within snow and snow/ice and snow/tundra transition zones and couple these to changes in their chemical (major ions, heavy metals, dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen, High Latitude Dust, selected POPs and emerging contaminants, supported with non-targeted analysis of organic compounds in chosen samples) and physical environment (snow density, wetness, temperature, water runoff).

Expected results:

The project aims to strengthen the existing collaboration and foster new partnerships between scientists from Poland and Norway, bringing together both, long-existing actors and new-in-the-field team members. Together, the team members will contribute an essential cross-disciplinary perspective to this emerging field of research, with individual specializations in remote sensing, snow physics, glaciology, chemistry, biogeochemistry, hydrology, and microbiology. WetSnowEx itself and activities within both of the components meet the following knowledge gaps identified in the SESS reports: Promote scientific exchange among users of different research infrastructure (SESS2018: SOS); Development of new tools to better quantify wet snow properties, with a focus on remote sensing (SESS2018: SOS); Integration of multi-source EO data (in situ and satellite observations) with new techniques (e.g. artificial intelligence and data assimilation) for further improvement of the characterization of snow cover (SESS2020: SATMODSNOW); Intercomparison of snow products from medium scale, through detailed, to sub-meter scale for better understanding of melting patterns (SESS2020: SnowCover); Usage of time-lapse cameras installed within the framework of the CRIOS project that overlooks a higher-elevation terrain (SESS2020: PASSES); Promote catchment-scale studies (where feasible) that address the issue of the fate of contaminants released by snowmelt (SESS2018: SOS) and Perform snow measurements (snow depth, snow pit-stratigraphy, SWE) or shallow coring (snow depth, SWE) for GPR cal/val activities (SESS2022: SnowGPR); Attribute the role of dust, black carbon and living organisms (e.g. algae) to snow albedo reductions and melt (SESS2022: SVALDUST) and estimate snowpack water equivalent flux for hydrological studies and minimising errors in the water budget calculations. (SESS2020: SvalHydro).

See WetSnowEx relation: WetSnowEx

Activity 1.2 Joint pilot studies concerning impact of Arctic climate change on marine and coastal environment in the northern and eastern Svalbard key areas and paleogeographical and thermal evolution of Svalbard
The activity aims to broaden the range of research where Polish-Norwegian cooperation is harmonised and enhanced and to involve several additional Polish and Norwegian partners through implementation of joint pilot studies concerning the impact of Arctic climate change on marine and coastal environments as well as paleogeographical and thermal evolution of Svalbard. Investigations of selected key sites in the northern and eastern part of the Svalbard Archipelago that should form the basis for future Polish-Norwegian research cooperation in coastal changes, ecological, geohazard, geological, geophysical, geomorphological, oceanographic, and cultural heritage studies under the ongoing Climate Change will be implemented. Particular focus will be placed on two regions: (i) the east coast of Spitsbergen with understudied landscapes and Mesozoic bedrock of Barentsøya and Edgeøya where rapidly retreating tidewater glacier systems result in emerging new coastal zones and (ii) the marine area north of Svalbard, which is a hotspot to study changes of the Atlantic inflow into the European Arctic Ocean and its impact on sea ice and ecosystems. New marine and terrestrial measurements will be collected during dedicated research cruises and from fixed platforms cantered on under-investigated regions of the eastern and northern Svalbard.

See our relation from 1.2.1 and 1.2.3: Expedition to the region of eastern Svalbard

The activity will have three major components:

A) Task 1.2.1 COASTAL ZONE CHANGES and GEOHAZARDS component aims to investigate the impact of coastal hazards on the stability of coastal systems as well as coastal pollution along new coastal zones emerging from melting ice along the eastern coast of Svalbard (incl. eastern Spitsbergen, Barentsøya and Edgeøya). The rapid mass loss of Svalbard glaciers reported since the 1930s, together with degradation of permafrost and decrease of sea-ice cover duration, have serious implications not only for the transformation of glacial landscapes, but also for the functioning of Svalbard`s coastal zones. De-icing of the eastern Svalbard coast together with rising temperatures and the advance of Atlantic water inflow result in multidimensional change, from the accelerated shoreline changes and occurrence on coastal geohazards (extreme wave impacts), through the formation of new polar oases, the arrival of new species, the accumulation of plastic and restructuring of food webs, to socio-economic alterations. We target study sites that were never subject to joint Polish-Norwegian cooperation and are largely unexplored. During the scientific cruise particular focus will be also paid on cultural heritage sites threated by the coastal erosion (especially cultural heritage sites that are included in the “Catalogue of cultural heritage sites with high priority in Svalbard”), and coastal archives (lakes, lagoon, beach ridge plains) that may contain important palaeogeographical information on analogous past climate changes and extreme events, but are also prone to degradation.

B) Task 1.2.2 PALEOGEOGRAPHICAL and THERMAL EVOLUTION component aims to integrate the paleomagnetic investigation of Svalbard with the broadly understood analysis of Svalbard Mesozoic sedimentary basins. The target are outcrops around Storfjorden, Barentsoya and Edgeoya including recently emerged coastal zones. As eastern Svalbard remained outside the Late Cretaceous / Paleogene Eurekan deformations domain, it is an ideal testing ground for the study of the primary paleomagnetic record and the Barents Shelf Mesozoic paleogeography. The component constitutes continuation of the Norwegian project “Trias North – Reconstructing the Triassic northern Barents shelf”, during which cooperation between Polish paleomagneticians and Norwegian geologists was initiated. Storfjord is also an area of numerous Mesozoic igneous injections, which may have overheated and remagnetized the surrounding sediments. For this reason, paleomagnetic experiments will be associated with geochronological and geochemical investigations of igneous rocks. Magma – sediments interactions will be tested. We believe that joint fieldwork and further work on collected material and data will strengthen the collaboration between research teams from Poland and Norway, push forward the understanding of complex geological history of Svalbard, and lead to future joint applications and projects.

C) Task 1.2.3 OCEANIC CHANGES aims to observe and study changes in the Atlantic water inflow north of Svalbard as a harbinger of progressing Atlantification in the Arctic Ocean. Two Polish moorings will be deployed in the Atlantic inflow to the Arctic Ocean to extend the existing Norwegian moored array. The best practices will be worked out together with Norwegian partners to integrate and harmonize the moored infrastructure. Point observations by moorings will be complemented by oceanographic sections covering the Atlantic inflow in the upstream region west and north of Svalbard to study the transformation and impacts of the Atlantic water. The planned work builds on the previous Norwegian-Polish collaboration under the A-TWAIN and the EU H2020 INTAROS projects and enhances join work under the ongoing EU HE HiAOOS project. Joint analysis of extensive data sets from the past projects will allow to closely investigate the effects of ongoing Atlantification by utilizing the gradients and variability in environmental conditions north of Svalbard.

Expected results:

• First observations of the coastal systems in the eastern Svalbard, allowing to select the best coastal monitoring sites and design optimal observing systems for monitoring and assessing the ongoing coastal change.

• Collection of new paleo-environmental data on the timing, frequency, and magnitude of coastal hazards like floods, storms, and surges, from previously unexplored but sensitive coastal lakes, lagoons, and beach ridge plains.

• Mapping and documentation of cultural heritage sites threatened by coastal erosion in eastern part of Svalbard

• New knowledge on the changing Atlantic inflow north of Svalbard and its impact on progressing Atlantification and sea ice loss in the Arctic Ocean.

• For the first time quantification of eastern Svalbard paleogeographical position in Mesozoic.

• Collection of unique paleomagnetic and geochronological samples from east Svalbard, which will be the basis for future bilateral projects, diploma theses and publications.

• In the long term, the integrated palaeomagnetic, geochronological and sedimentary basin analysis will allow for the first time to quantify of eastern Svalbard paleogeographical position in Mesozoic, and will provide valuable new data for reconstructing the thermal evolution of eastern Svalbard as well as interpreting the genesis of High Arctic Large Igneous Province (HALIP).

• Create an invaluable data legacy of high-quality records that will become the nucleus of future proposals.

• Responding to the recommendations of the SESS report, in particular: (1) extend the geographical and temporal coverage of research activities around Svalbard and include more biogeochemical measurements, (2) support research activities exploring linkages between fjord, shelf and open ocean systems.