Scientists from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AAI) are starting a new season of scientific work in the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. From March to September, Russian specialists will monitor the melting of permafrost, analyze the thermal balance and microclimate features of snow-glacial covers and glaciers, oceanographic and glaciological surveys. This was announced by the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia on its website.
"The Russian Arctic Expedition to the Svalbard archipelago is organizing scientific research on the basis of the Russian Scientific Center in the village of Barentsburg. Among the archipelagos of the Eurasian Arctic, climate warming is most pronounced in these places," the message says.
According to the observations of the Barentsburg weather station from 1976 to 2015, the trend of an increase in the average annual air temperature was 0.92 ° C over 10 years - this is 1.5 times higher than on the Kola Peninsula and twice as high as the average in Russia. There is also a gradual increase in annual precipitation in various parts of the archipelago – an average of 1.8 mm over 10 years. In this regard, Russian scientists regularly monitor the dynamics of changes in the state of permafrost, the ministry noted.
"An increase in ground surface temperature in the Svalbard archipelago does not yet lead to a lowering of the upper permafrost boundary, but causes an increase in soil temperature in the frozen thickness. The gradual degradation of frozen strata will potentially affect global biogeochemical cycles. Therefore, it is important to monitor the thermal state of permafrost and study its effect on the processes of relief formation and nutrition of groundwater and surface waters," said Yuri Ugryumov, head of the Russian Arctic expedition to Svalbard, whose words are quoted in the message.
In the new season, scientists will also continue to study the microclimate and thermal balance of the glaciers of the archipelago in the Grenfjord Bay area.
According to experts, abnormal melting of glaciers is becoming more common in a changing climate.
"In 2022, in particular, the average melting over the entire area of the glacier was 2,282 mm, with an average annual rate of 1,500 mm of the melted ice layer," Ugryumov noted.
Thermal balance modeling of glacier melting makes it possible to assess the influence of individual meteorological factors on glacial surfaces as a whole, identify the causes of changes in the intensity of ablation (decrease in glacier mass - ed.), natural and anthropogenic pollution factors, and predict possible changes in the rate of glacier melting.
"New data obtained during seasonal field work will help to quantify the evolution of the Aldegonde glacier under the conditions of observed climate change," the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said.
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