Satellites monitor the permafrost landforms in Svalbard
23 September 2009
For the first time satellite technology has been incorporated in monitoring of changes in different permafrost landforms. The PERMASAR project can give additional valuable information about the rate of permafrost landform activity in Svalbard.
Unique data collection throughout the Arctic year
23 July 2009
For the first time a team of UNIS scientists and students have been able to collect ice-, water and plankton samples through a full year to study the wintertime marine ecology in Svalbard. The data will be important in predicting future climate changes in marine productivity and behavior as a response to the thinning and withdrawal of Arctic sea ice.
Check the state of the permafrost online
15 May 2009
The first Norwegian permafrost database is now online, where you can check the state of the permafrost in Svalbard and parts of Northern Norway at any time. This is an important part of the IPY project “Thermal State of Permafrost in Norway and Svalbard” (TSP Norway).
A new timeline for maximum glaciation?
22 January 2009
PhD candidate Endre Før Gjermundsen studies the extension and age of the ice sheet during the last glaciation in Northwest Spitsbergen and Atomfjellet area. His research indicates that the maximum glaciation of Svalbard might have happened earlier than currently believed.
SIAEOS is on the Roadmap
9 December 2008
The Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System (SIAEOS) project has been accepted as part of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructure (ESFRI) updated Roadmap. SIAEOS has an investment budget of 400 million NOK and an annual operational budget of 70 million NOK.
The rocket is launched!
5 December 2008
At 11:35 AM today the ICI-2 rocket was launched from Ny-Ålesund. The launch was a success, and the rocket reached a height of approximately 330 kilometers, before it landed in the ocean at 11:45 AM.
Rocket Man
27 November 2008
Adjunct Professor Jøran Moen is about to send up 10 million NOK into the atmosphere. The rocket’s name is ICI-2 and its mission is to uncover more of the secrets of the Aurora Borealis. Why? Because the aurora can cause electronic communication systems to be wiped out.
Boot ’em up!
22 July 2008
Passengers arriving at Svalbard airport are frequently met by an industrious Australian that asks them to show him the sole of their boots. The passengers could be carriers of foreign seeds that might threaten the delicate balance of the Svalbard flora.
A new glacier surge under way
23 June 2016
In April UNIS glaciologist Monica Sund discovered crevasses in the Comfortlessbreen. This can be the beginning of a surge, and Sund will now monitor the changes in the glacier to obtain more knowledge of the surge dynamics that we still know very little about.