Denmark/Greenland/Faroe Islands: projects/activities

The project is a continuation of the monitoring activities of the AMAP POPs and Heavy metals programme in marine, terrestrial and freshwater environments of the Faroe Islands. The aims of the programme is to establish data for timetrend and spatial assessments as well as providing data of importance in human health risk assessment on mercury and POPs. The programme incorporates analyses on pilot whale, cod, black guillemots and Northern fulmars from the marine environment and brown trout from the freshwater environment. The compounds analysed are "legacy" POPs and mercury, cadmium and selenium. In addition, PFAS and HBDCs are analysed in pilot whale and PFAS are analysed in Northern fulmars as a continuation of timetrend analyses, initialized in previous projects, and declorane plus is analysed in pilot whales.  

The project is a continuation of the monitoring activities of the AMAP POPs and Heavy metals programme in marine, terrestrial and freshwater environments of the Faroe Islands. The aims of the programme is to establish data for timetrend and spatial assessments as well as providing data of importance in human health risk assessment on mercury and POPs. The programme incorporates analyses on pilot whale, cod, black guillemots and Northern fulmars from the marine environment and brown trout from the freshwater environment. The compounds analysed are "legacy" POPs and mercury, cadmium and selenium. In addition, PFAS and HBDCs are analysed in pilot whale and PFAS are analysed in Northern fulmars as a continuation of timetrend analyses, initialized in previous projects, and declorane plus is analysed in pilot whales.  

The project is a continuation of the monitoring activities of the AMAP POPs and Heavy metals programme in marine, terrestrial and freshwater environments of the Faroe Islands. The aims of the programme is to establish data for timetrend and spatial assessments as well as providing data of importance in human health risk assessment on mercury and POPs. The programme incorporates analyses on pilot whale, cod, black guillemots and Northern fulmars from the marine environment and brown trout from the freshwater environment. The compounds analysed are "legacy" POPs and mercury, cadmium and selenium. In addition, PFAS and HBDCs are analysed in pilot whale as a continuation of timetrend analyses, initialized in previous projects, and analyses of declorane plus are initiated in pilot whales.  

Projektet er en fortsættelse og videreudvikling af det igangværende projekt FARMON og 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 (FB-overflow), 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 2018 til sommer 2019 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 mere end 20 år lange tidsserier for de to strømsystemers transporter. Et nyt indsatsområde inden for FARMON II vil være mere detaljerede studier af FB-overflow vandets egenskaber. Tidligere har vore målinger vist en langsom opvarmning af bundvandet i Færøbanke kanalen siden begyndelsen af dette århundrede uden at dette dog har medført reduceret massefylde. Nu ser denne opvarmning imidlertid ud til at have accelereret, samtidig som saltholdigheden i de øvre lag er faldet. Vi vil derfor foretage mere detaljerede målinger for at følge opvarmningen og dens indvirkning på massefylde og dermed på den termohaline forcering af den såkaldte AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation).

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.

Denmark has obligations according to the agreements in the Montreal Protocol, ie. for the monitoring of the ozone layer. This project is a fullfilment of these obligations, and the work is being supported by the Danish Environment Protection Agency (Danish EPA) through a DANCEA funding. Recommandations for the monitoring are updated every 3rd year via the Ozone Research Managers (ORM) Meeting at WMO in Geneva. The most recent meeting was in 2017. The monitoring program was initiated in 2002. The current partnership consists of Latmos (FR), NASA (US) and DMI (DK). Monitoring of the ozone layer and measurement of the UV radiation currently takes place in 2 locations in Greenland: Kangerlussuaq and Ittoqqortoormiit. In Kangerlussuaq the instrumentation consists of a Brewer spectrometer capable of measuring the ozone column and doing UVB scans, a SAOZ spectrometer measuring ozone and NO2, and an Aeronet Sun Photometer (hosted for NASA). In Ittoqqortoormiit the instrumentation consists of an ozone balloon borne sounding station, a SAOZ spectrometer (hosted for Latmos), a GUV 2511 broadband instrument and an Aeronet Sun Photometer (hosted for NASA). Retrieved data is uploaded to international databases (WOUDC, NDACC & NILU). Retrieved data is used to correct satellite measurements and to monitor the state of the ozone layer.

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.

To provide the data necessary for quantifying the dynamics of arctic ecosystems, i.e. at the two field sites at respectively Zackenberg (Northeast Greenland) and Nuuk (West Greenland) Main gaps: Winter dynamics

The objective of the station is to facilitate ecosystem research in the High Arctic. According to the framework programme of Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations (ZERO) this includes: - Basic quantitative documentation of ecosystem structure and processes; - Baseline studies of intrinsic short-term and long-term variations in ecosystem functions; - Retrospective analyses of organic and inorganic material to detect past ecosystem changes; - Experimental studies enabling predictions of ecosystem responses to Global Change. The programme is coordinated with Nuuk Ecological Research Operations (see below) within the Framework of Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring (GEM). Main gaps: Winter dynamics

The objective is to allow comparative studies of ecosystem dynamics in relation to climate variability and change in respectively a high arctic and low arctic setting as Nuuk Basic comprises the same components as Zackenberg. According to the framework programme of Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations (ZERO) this includes: - Basic quantitative documentation of ecosystem structure and processes; - Baseline studies of intrinsic short-term and long-term variations in ecosystem functions; - Retrospective analyses of organic and inorganic material to detect past ecosystem changes; - Experimental studies enabling predictions of ecosystem responses to Global Change. The programme is coordinated with Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations (see above) within the Framework of Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring (GEM). Main gaps: Winter dynamics

In 2013 a new ecosystem monitoring programme “DiskoBasis” was initiated at Arctic Station on Disko Island, Greenland. The project is partly funded by the Danish Energy Agency. The primary objective of DiskoBasis is to establish baseline knowledge on the dynamics of fundamental physical parameters within the environment/ecosystem around Arctic Station. This initiative extends and complements the existing monitoring carried out at Arctic Station by including several new activities –especially within the terrestrial and hydrological/fluvial field. DiskoBasis include collection of data in the following sub-topics; • Gas flux, meteorology and energy balance • Snow, ice and permafrost • Soil and soil water chemistry • Vegetation phenology • Hydrology -River water discharge and chemistry • Limnology -Lake water chemistry • Marine -Sea water chemistry

The WOW project is a cooperation between Havstovan (Faroe Marine Research Institute, HAV) and the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) to 1) measure the overflow of cold water from the Arctic into the rest of the World Ocean through the Western Valley of the Iceland-Faroe Ridge, to 2) allow the effects of this flow to be adequately simulated in climate model projections of the thermohaline circulation and the heat transport towards the Arctic, and to 3) design a low-cost monitoring system for this flow.

The aim of the project is to clarify whether there is a need to provide additional requirements for the approval of offshore chemicals that are being used / discharged into arctic sea areas in Greenland, including requirements for tests where the deterioration of offshore chemicals is investigated by arctic conditions and with arctic bacteria, as well as that bioaccumulation and / or toxicity should be investigated on organisms eg high-arctic watercourses. The project will illustrate the decomposition, bioaccumulation and toxicity of chemicals with water and organisms collected in high-arctic areas and investigated under high-arctic conditions.The project's results seek to strengthen the basis for environmental assessment underlying the use and disposal of offshore chemicals in Arctic waters. 

The GeoBasis programme collects data describing the physical and geomorphological environment in Zackenberg, North East Greenland. This includes meteorology, carbon flux and energy exchange, snow cover and permafrost, soil moisture, –chemistry and nutrient balance, hydrology, river discharge and – sediment

The purpose of the BioBasis programme is to monitor basic qualitative and quantitative elements of biodiversity in the terrestrial ecosystems at Zackenberg in Northeast Greenland. The programme provides data on typical High Arctic species and processes that can be expected to react on year to year variation in climate as well as long-term climate change. It includes 30 variables of terrestrial and limnic plant, arthropod, bird and mammal dynamics in the Zackenberg valley.

Monitoring climatological and hydrological parameters in a low arctic environment.

The objective of the project is to identify compounds in Arctic environmental and human samples, which have not previously been studied in the Arctic. By using both high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or gas chromatography (GC) HPLC and GC techniques, a broad spectrum of compounds of different polarity will be covered, including metabolites

AMAP Core project 2018-2020 is a continuation of previous project which was initiated in 1994. The programme is a monitoring programme of contaminant concentrations in Greenland animals with the objective to follow the temporal trends. The programme includes also screening of contaminants of emergent concerns of selected samples and in some cases retrospective studies of such compounds. Monitoring of temporal trends of effects and biomarkers in samples of polar bears is also included.