AMAP Project Directory

AMAP Project Directory

The AMAP Project Directory (AMAP PD) is a catalog of projects and activities that contribute to assessment and monitoring in the Arctic. The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), is a working group under the Arctic Council, tasked with monitoring and asessing pollution, climate change, human health and to provide scientific advice as a basis for policy making.

The directory, which is continously updated, documents national and international projects and programmes that contribute to the overall AMAP programme, and provides information on data access as well as a gateway for the AMAP Thematic Data Centres.

Other catalogs through this service are ENVINET, SAON and SEARCH, or refer to the full list of projects/activities.

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Displaying: 1 - 20 of 25 Next
1. Faroese Monitoring II (FARMON II)

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).

Hydrography monitoring Ocean currents Oceanography
2. Faroese Monitoring (FARMON)

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.

Hydrography monitoring Ocean currents Oceanography
3. LTER HAUSGARTEN

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.

Biodiversity carbon flux Climate change ecology Ice Marine benthos marine ecosystem monitoring Oceanography Plankton
4. RADNOR - Radioactive dose assessment improvements for the Nordic marine environment: Transport and environmental impact of technetium 99 (99Tc) in marine ecosystems

Radioactivity in the Arctic environment is a central topic within environmental pollution issues. Increased discharges of technetium-99 (99Tc) from the nuclear fuel reprocessing plant Sellafield to the Irish Sea has caused public concerns in Norway. This project (acronym “RADNOR”) includes model and monitoring assessments and improvements, assessment of current and novel abiotic and biotic dose parameters and dose calculations and use of realistic climatic background scenarios in order to assess corresponding consequences for transport of radioactive pollutants. RADNOR consists of three main components: part 1, the determination of levels and time series of 99Tc in benthic and pelagic food webs; part 2, containing working packages on improvements to the understanding of site-specific and time-dependent sediment-water interactions (KD), kinetics of accumulation (CF) and body distribution in marine organisms, including contaminated products for the alginate industry and part 3, dealing with model hindcasts and observations for spreading of 99Tc from the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant during the 1990s and improvement of the NRPA dose assessment box model. From the model outputs, doses to man and environment will be calculated resulting in a valuable database for use within environmental management and for decision makers.

distribution coefficients (KD) RADNOR Long-range transport Spatial trends Contaminant transport concentration factors (CF) Radionuclides Modelling Oceanography Arctic Food webs Sediments Temporal trends Human intake Technetium 99
5. Submarine Operational And Research Environmental Database (SOARED)

The Submarine Operational And Research Environmental Database (SOARED)is comprised of a fixed relational environmental database using unclassified data collected during the Science Ice Exercises (SCICEX) during the past several years. It also includes publicly accessible gridded historical sound velocity, temperature and salinity data from 1900 from the US National Oceanographic Data Center. This project is a demonstration system to show ways to retrieve and analyze sound velocity, temperature and salinity profiles, bathymetry and ice thickness data using a mouse-driven GIS-based query.

Shelf seas Hydrography Mapping Spatial trends Sea ice Climate change Ice Oceanography Arctic GIS Data management Ocean currents Temporal trends
6. C-ICE 2001

The Collaborative Interdisciplinary Cryospheric Experiment (C-ICE) is a multi-year field experiment that incorporates many individual projects, each with autonomous goals and objectives. The science conducted has directly evolved from research relating to one of four general themes: i. sea ice energy balance; ii. numerical modeling of atmospheric processes; iii. remote sensing of snow covered sea ice; and iv. ecosystem studies.

Atmospheric processes Biology Mapping Climate variability Spatial trends Remote Sensing Sea ice Climate change Shipping Modelling Ice Polar bear Oceanography Arctic Ice cores GIS Energy Balance Food webs Data management MicroWave Scattering Atmosphere Ocean currents Ecosystems Marine mammals
7. Circulation and transports in the Atlantic Ocean

Elaboration of DUTCH-WARP [Deep and Upper Transport, Circulation and Hydrography-WOCE Atlantic Research Programme] in the frame of WOCE: deep circulation of thermal structure of surface water in the Iceland Basin; continuation of the application of ARGOS buoys; implementation of satellite altimetry of the North Atlantic Ocean; eastern boundary current of the North Atlantic Ocean in the Bay of Biscay as contribution to WOCE (1992-1998)

Climate variability remote sensing Climate change Oceanography circulation Ocean currents WOCE
8. Late Quaternary paleoceanography of the Denmark Strait Overflow Pathway

The global thermohaline circulation is driven by sinking of cold, dense surface waters in the Greenland and Norwegian Seas and its replacement by warmer surface water from lower latitudes. This global circulation system, the conveyor belt, is the main regulator of global climate. Even slight disturbances of this delicate system will cause significant climate changes, especially for NW Europe. While the current hydrographical situation and associated overflow pathways are well-documented, paleoceanographic studies of the Greenland and Faroe/Shetland (F/S) overflow pathways are still scarce. The F/S pathway is presently the subject of study of the MAST program (ENAM project). This project focusses on the late Quaternary overflow history of the important East Greenland pathway. High resolution multichannel sleevegun seismic data recently collected by the Geological Survey of Greenland and Denmark (GEUS) allowed identification of suitable box- and piston-coring sites. Results from the high-resolution cores, allowing direct correlation with regional atmospheric changes documented in the Greenland ice-cores will provide new information on causes and mechanisms of climate change. The continental slope and rise off SE-Greenland can be considered as a potential key area for paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic studies, since: 1) The area is located in the immediate vicinity of the Denmark Strait arctic gateway for water mass exchange between the Arctic and Atlantic ocean. Recent hydrographic measurements (Dickson 1994) demonstrate the important role of the area with regard to hydrographic processes contributing to the formation of NADW. 2) The seafloor morphology and information from multichannel seismic recording shows the presence of numerous large detached sediment drifts and other drift-related features, which will provide important paleoceanographic information as outlined before. 3) The distribution and architecture of the sediment drifts is also affected by down-slope processes transporting upperslope/shelf sediments of mainly glacial origin. Thus the area offers an unique opportunity to study the sediment drifts both with regard to the (paleo)oceanic flow regime and the climatically-inherited signal from the down-slope sediment input. Research activities: All research is directed towards documentation of high resolution natural climate variability during the late Quaternary. Separate topics include: 1. Seismic/sidescan sonar studies 2. High resolution quantitative micropaleontology (planktonic/benthic foraminifera, diatoms, calcareous nannoplankton, dinoflagellates) 3. High resolution stable oxygen/carbon isotope studies 4. DNA studies on planktonic foraminifera (with University of Edinburgh)

Climate variability Climate Climate change Oceanography Ice cores micropaleontology Ocean currents paleoceanography
9. Expedition of hydrographical vessel 'Nikolai Kolomeets'

The expedition by vessel 'Nikolai Kolomeets'included sampling of marine water, bottom sediments, benthos and plankton for studies of accumulation and transformation of OCs and estimation of related toxic effects on aqueous biocenoses. The marine studies took place during the period July-October 2000 in areas of the Pechora, Kara, Laptev, East-Siberian and Chukchi Seas.

Shelf seas Organochlorines PCBs plankton Long-range transport Contaminant transport marine benthos Oceanography Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) bioaccumulation Sediments
10. 'Arctic-2000' expedition

The expedition 'Arctic-2000' included climatic, hydrometeorological and hydrochemical studies in the eastern part of the Central Arctic Basin, during the period July-August 2000.

Contaminant transport Heavy metals Hydrography Ice Long-range transport Oceanography Organochlorines PAHs PCBs Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) Petroleum hydrocarbons Sea ice
11. Zooplankton monitoring in the Norwegian Sea

Monitor the abundances of zooplankton at two transects along the coast 4-8 times a year, and in the Norwegian Sea in May and July-August

Climate variability Oceanography zooplankton
12. Simulation Scenarios for Potential Radioactive Spreading in the 21st century from Rivers and External sources in the Russian Arctic Coastal Zone (RADARC)

1) To perform simulation scenarios for the 21st century, including global warming scenarios, of potential radioactive spreading from sources in the Russian Arctic coastal zone and its impact on Barents, Greenland and Norwegian Seas and the Arctic Ocean; 2) To update the environmental and pollution data base of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP); 3) To assess, select and define the most probable simulation scenarios for accidental releases of radionuclides; 4) To implement a Generic Model System (GMS) consisting of several nested models designed to simulate radionuclides transport through rivers, in the Kara sea and in the Arctic ocean / North Atlantic; 5) To carry out simulation studies for the selected "release" scenarios of radionuclides, using various atmospheric forcing scenarios; 6) Assess the impact on potential radioactive spreading from sources as input to risk management.

Shelf seas Pathways Sources Hydrography Catchment studies Radioactivity Long-range transport Pollution sources Sea ice Contaminant transport Radionuclides Modelling Ice Oceanography River ice Arctic Local pollution GIS Sediments
13. Study of influence of land-based sources of radionuclides on radioactive contamination of Kara sea through Ob- and Yenisey river systems

To assess potential levels of radionuclides input into the Kara sea from existing and potential sources of technogenic radioactivity, located on the land in the Ob- and Yenisey rivers watersheds. Specific Objectives * To reveal and estimate a) most hazardous technogenic sources of radioactive contamination in the Ob- and Yenisey watersheds and b) the most possible and dangerous natural and technogenic (antrophogenic) situations (in the regions of these sources) that may result in release of radionuclides into the environment and may lead to significant changes in the radioactive contamination of the Kara sea * To estimate parameters of radionuclides (potential amount, composition, types etc.) under release to the environment from chosen sources as a result of accidents as well as during migration from the sources to the Kara sea through river systems * To set up a dedicated Database and a Geographic Information System (GIS) for modelling transport of radionuclides from the land-based sources to the Kara sea * To develop and create a dedicated model tool for simulation of radionuclides transport from land-based sources through Ob- and Yenisey river systems to the Kara sea

Pathways Hydrography Catchment studies Radioactivity Long-range transport Pollution sources Sea ice Contaminant transport Radionuclides Modelling Ice Oceanography River ice Arctic Local pollution GIS Data management Ocean currents
14. Monitoring climate variability in the Barents Sea

This is an ongoing activity for monitoring variability in temperature and salinity in Barents Sea

Climate variability Climate change Oceanography
15. Monitoring the Atlantic Inflow toward the Arctic (MAIA)

The overall objective of MAIA is to develop an inexpensive, reliable system based on coastal sea-level data for monitoring the inflows of Atlantic Water to the northern seas. Available observation systems, including stan-dard tidal stations, will be used to obtain transport estimates with a time resolution of less than a week and show that the method is generic and can be applied to a similar monitoring of other regions.

Long-range transport Climate Sea ice Ice Oceanography Arctic Ocean currents
16. Environmental Assessment in van Mijenfjorden, Svalbard

The project aims to describe the environmental status of marine sediments in van Mijenfjorden. This to provide baseline data of contaminants and biodiversity, as well as for monitoring of eventual contamination from industrial activities (coal mining).

Biological effects Glaciers Biology Populations Discharges Spatial trends Environmental management Mining Oceanography Biodiversity Arctic Sediments Temporal trends Ecosystems
17. Polar Exchange at the Sea Surface (POLES)

Our broad area of enquiry is the role of polar regions in the global energy and water cycles, and the atmospheric, oceanic and sea ice processes that determine that role. The primary importance of our investigation is to show how these polar processes relate to global climate.

Atmospheric processes polar cloud dynamics ice dynamics surface radiation and cloud forcing Climate variability Climate Sea ice Climate change surface heat and mass balance polar atmospheric processes ice-ocean models arctic climate Modelling Ice Oceanography Arctic SEARCH Atmosphere Ocean currents cryosphere ice thickness
18. The Role of Polar Oceans in Contemporary Climate Change

Our central geophysical objective is to determine how sea ice and the polar oceans respond to and influence the large-scale circulation of the atmosphere. Our primary technical objective is to determine how best to incorporate satellite measurements in an ice/ocean model.

Atmospheric processes ice dynamics mass balance of Arctic sea ice Geophysics Climate variability Climate Sea ice Climate change freshwater balance of the Arctic Ocean polar atmospheric processes ice-ocean models arctic climate Modelling Ice Oceanography Arctic SEARCH Atmosphere Ocean currents ice thickness
19. Recent Hydrographic Variability of the Upper Arctic Ocean Derived from Submarine Based Samples

To observe the temperature/salinity structure of the Arctic Ocean along cross-Arctic transects aboard U.S. nuclear submarines in the SCICEX program.

Oceanography SEARCH
20. Developing Long Range Autonomous Underwater Vehicles for Monitoring Arctic Ocean Hydrography

To develop a long-range (ca. 30-day) AUV to deploy under the Arctic pack ice to measure and monitor ocean variables.

Hydrography Oceanography Arctic SEARCH