Projects/Activities

Projektet har til formål at forlænge og forbedre monitering af to strømsystemer gennem færøsk territorialfarvand, som udveksler vand, varme og salt mellem Arktis og resten af Verdenshavet. Den ene af disse er strømmen af koldt vand fra Arktis gennem dybet af Færøbanke kanalen, som transporterer varme og kuldioxid fra atmosfæren ned i Verdenshavets dybe vandmasser. Den anden er Færøstrømmen, som er den stærkeste transportør af ocean varme mod Arktis med indvirkning på klima, fiskebestande og isudbredelse. Endvidere vil projektet studere opsplitningen af Færøstrømmen i to separate strømgrene med forskellig indflydelse på forskellige områder og processer i Arktis. Projektet vil omfatte feltaktivitet fra sommer 2017 til sommer 2018 med udlagte måleinstrumenter og tilsammen fire hydrografiske togter med forskningsskib. Indsamlede måledata vil blive analyseret sammen med satellit­data og historiske observationer med henblik på at forlænge de ca. 20 år lange tidsserier for de to strømsystemers transporter samt at rationalisere det eksisterende moniteringssystem, således at det i fremtiden vil være mindre afhængigt af kostbare in situ målinger.

The GeoBasis Disko monitoring program started in 2017 as a part of the cross disciplinary Greenland Environmental Monitoring (GEM) program. GeoBasis Disko is an integrated part of the GeoBasis program, following the same standards as in Nuuk and Zackenberg (two other GEM sites) and largely focusing on the same parameters and methodologies. GeoBasis Disko is finaced by Danish Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate.

A close collaboration and synergy with Arctic Station that is manned year round makes it possible to collect and carry out measurements also during winter.As location Qeqertarsuaq on the south coast of the Disko island, represent a Greenlandic west coast climate, with annual mean temperatures just below 0°C, with discontinuous permafrost, and as such remarkably different from the two existing GEM sites. Further, the Disko bay area is highly interesting from a socioeconomic perspective due its high population and active fishery industry, and as one of the most popular tourist destinations in Greenland.

The primary objective of GeoBasis Disko is to establish baseline knowledge on the dynamics of fundamental abiotic terrestrial parameters within the environment/ecosystem around Arctic Station. This is done through a long term collection of data that includes the following sub-topics;

• Snow properties; including spatial and temporal variation in snow cover, depth and density.
• Soil properties; spatially distributed monitoring of key soil parameters such as temperature, moisture, and concentration of nutrient ions
• Meteorology; monitoring of essential meteorological variables across various surface types and elevations.
• Gas Flux monitoring; plot and landscape scale flux monitoring of CO2, H2O and energy in wet and dry ecosystems.
• Hydrology; monitoring of seasonal variation in river water discharge, chemistry and suspended sediment.
• Geomorphology; monitoring of shorelines, coastal cliff foots and cross-shore profiles.

GeoBasis focuses on selected abiotic parameters in order to describe the state of Arctic terrestrial environments and their potential feedback effects in a changing climate. As such, inter-annual variation and long-term trends are of paramount importance.

RANNIS reports to the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture and operates according to the Act on Public Support for Scientific Research ( No. 3/2003).  Hallgrímur Jónasson is the General Director of RANNIS.

The Icelandic Centre for Research (RANNIS) supports research, innovation, education and culture in Iceland. RANNIS cooperates closely with the  Icelandic Science and Technology Policy Council and provides professional assistance in the preparation and implementation of the national science and technology policy.

RANNIS administers competitive funds in the fields of research, innovation, education and culture, as well as strategic research programmes.

RANNIS coordinates and promotes Icelandic participation in European programmes such, as  Horizon 2020  Erasmus+ and  Creative Europe.

RANNIS monitors resources and performance in R&D and promotes public awareness of research and innovation, education and culture in Iceland.  Rannis is the Icelandic national contact point for SAON.

At the end of 2014, RANNIS had a permanent staff of 41. Apart from regular staff, RANNIS also relies on the involvement of external contacts, including scientists and technical experts who assist in the evaluation of grant proposals.

The main competitive funds administered by RANNIS have the following annual budgets for 2014: The Icelandic Research Fund: 1.185 MISK, The Infrastructure Fund: 106 MISK, The Technology Development Fund: 988 MISK.

The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority is responsible for a nationwide network of 33 stations that continuously measure background radiation levels. The network was established in the years following the Chernobyl accident in 1986, and was upgraded to a new and modern network in the period 2006-2008. Additional stations were added in 2009. The purpose of the monitoring network is to provide an early warning if radioactive emissions reach Norway.

Multidisciplinary investigations at the LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) observatory HAUSGARTEN are carried out at a total of 21 permanent sampling sites in water depths ranging between 250 and 5,500 m. From the outset, repeated sampling in the water column and at the deep seafloor during regular expeditions in summer months was complemented by continuous year-round sampling and sensing using autonomous instruments in anchored devices (i.e., moorings and free-falling systems). The central HAUSGARTEN station at 2,500 m water depth in the eastern Fram Strait serves as an experimental area for unique biological in situ experiments at the seafloor, simulating various scenarios in changing environmental settings. Time-series studies at the HAUSGARTEN observatory, covering almost all compartments of the marine ecosystem, provide insights into processes and dynamics within an arctic marine ecosystem and act as a baseline for further investigations of ongoing changes in the Fram Strait. Long-term observations at HAUSGARTEN will significantly contribute to the global community’s efforts to understand variations in ecosystem structure and functioning on seasonal to decadal time-scales in an overall warming Arctic and will allow for improved future predictions under different climate scenarios.

Project intends to produce remote sensing information of sea ice and snow cover in Northern Europe. It is joined international project between ESA, GMES, Polarview and Finnish Environmental Institute. FEM uses the satellite images to follow the snow and ice melt in spring months (march-June) in Finland.

Hydrometeorological monitoring program produces real time information on precipitation and snow water equivalent. Information is utilized in modeling and forecasting floods and snow load. As part of the program, information of evaporation is produced with WMO standards. The program is coordinated by Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE). Finnish meteorological institute and Lapland regional centre for economic development, transport and the environment manage measurements and field work.

Monitoring aims to follow certain pollutant concentrations and their changes in fish tissue and sediment. Both inland lakes, one river and coastal areas are sampled. Lapland monitoring site is Lake Inarijärvi. Project is managed by Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE).

White whale (Delphinapterus leucas) blubber samples from three of the five different Alaskan stocks - Cook Inlet (n = 20), Eastern Chukchi Sea (n = 19) and Eastern Beaufort Sea (n = 2) - were analyzed for levels and patterns of chemical contaminants. Blubber of these whales contained sum PCBs, sum DDTs, sum chlordanes, HCB, dieldrin, mirex, *toxaphene and *HCH, generally in concentration ranges similar to those found in white whales from the Canadian Arctic and lower than those in white whales from the highly contaminated St. Lawrence River. The males of the Cook Inlet and Eastern Chukchi Sea stocks had higher mean concentrations of all contaminant groups than did the females of the same stock, a result attributable to the transfer of these organochlorine contaminants (OCs) from the mother to the calf during pregnancy and during lactation following birth. Principal components analysis of patterns of contaminants present in blubber showed that Cook Inlet stock appeared to have identifiable contaminant patterns that allowed the stock to be distinguished from the others. Our results also showed that blubber from the three Alaskan stocks was a source of contaminant exposure for human subsistence consumers, but the health risks from consumption are currently unknown.