AMAP Project Directory

National Environmental Monitoring in Sweden in "Air" programme and sub-programme "the thickness of the ozon layer". The project follows changes in the thickness of the ozone layer in the atmosphere over Sweden.

This project was previously a part of the project: National Survey of Forest Soils and Vegetation.

The Swedish National Forest Inventory (NFI) has the task of describing the state and changes of Sweden's forests. The inventory gathers basic information on forests, forest stand conditions and vegetation. Regularly monitored variables are: forest state, injuries, growth, logging operations, new forest stand, and environmental assessment. There is a close collaboration between the NFI and the Swedish Forest Soil Inventory (SFSI).

This project has been divided into two new projects: The Swedish Forest Soil Inventory and the Swedish National Forest Inventory.

The Swedish National Forest Inventory has the task of describing the state and changes in Sweden's forests. The inventory gathers basic information on forests, soils and vegetation. It includes most aspects concerning soils, for example: soil types, soil chemistry including organic matter, water conditions and content of stones and boulders. Acidification, nitrogen deposition and the contribution by soils to climate change are some of the current issues dealt with. Regularly reported variables are: forest state, injuries, and growth, logging operations, new forest stand, and environmental assessment. Invented variables on permanent sampling plots include: position in the landscape, field vegetation, site conditions, soil sampling, assesment of soil characteristics, chemical analysis of soil in O-, B-, BC- and C-horizons.

This project was previously a part of the project: National Survey of Forest Soils and Vegetation.

The Swedish Forest Soil Inventory (SFSI) is part of the national environmental monitoring programme Forests and collects information about soil conditions and chemistry from around 23 500 permanent plots throughout Sweden. One tenth of these sampling plots are re-visited each year. The inventory is commissioned by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and is carried out by the Department of Soil and Environment at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).

The inventory gathers basic information on soils and vegetation on predominantly forest land, but also semi-natural grassland and wetland below the alpine forest limit. It includes most aspects concerning soils, for example: soil types, soil chemistry including organic matter, water conditions and content of stones and boulders. Acidification, nitrogen deposition and the contribution by soils to climate change are some of the current issues dealt with. There is a close collaboration between the SFSI and the National Forest Inventory (NFI), and the inventoried plots are a subset of the NFI plots. .

National Environmental Monitoring Programme in Sweden. The objective is to follow the deposition of heavy metals over Sweden by the analyses of their concentration in two selected species of moss. The selected species are: Red-stemmed Feather-moss (Pleurozium schreberi) and Mountain Fern Moss (Hylocomnium splendens). Preferred specie: Red-stemmed Feather-moss (Pleurozium schreberi). Metals adsorbed by mosses almost exclusively come from the air and metal concentration in mosses are therefore seen as a proxy for metal deposition. Analysed elements are: Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, V, Zn (2015). The moss samples are taken from over 600 stands across Sweden.

Annual measurements of physical, chemical, and biological variables are taken in small to medium sized, mostly minimally disturbed lakes, situated across the country. Of the 108 lakes that are part of the Trend Station Lake monitoring programme, 20 are situated in AMAP area. The main aim of the monitoring programme is to document long-term changes related to global or regional change and human-generated stressors. To complement the Trend Station Lake monitoring programme, national lake surveys provide spatial data needed to determine regional patterns, and coupled with time-series data, changes in surface water quality. The National Lake Survey (the Surveillance Stations, re-sampled stations) programme for lake water quality, started in 2007 and results in data of all Swedish lake conditions. Each year some 800 new lakes are sampled to determine chemical and physical conditions; lakes are resampled at 6 year intevals. 4824 lakes are sampled in the country during a six-year sampling cycle, with 1270 situated in AMAP area. The variables included in the Trend Station Lake monitoring programme include water chemistry, fish, phytoplankton, macrophytes, zooplankton, and benthic invertebrates, whilst the National Lake Survey is focused solely on chemical and physical parameters.

National Environmental Monitoring Programme in Sweden. Measurements of persistant organic pollutants in air and precipitation are carried out at Råö, Hallahus, Aspvreten, and in Pallas (Northern Finland). The monitoring programme includes measurements of: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), some pesticides (HCH, DDT) and polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDE).

National Environmental Monitoring Programme in Sweden. The objective of the project is to follow time trends of available metals in vegetation and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in Lapland, Sweden. Analysed metals in liver and muscle samples are: Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mg, Mn, Ni,Hg, Pb, Zn. Analyses were performed on a continuous basis until 2005. Since then there has only been a collection of samples to be stored in the Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB) at the Swedish Museum of Natural History (NRM).

Ice sheet meltwater and sediment discharge is measured at only very few sites in Greenland. The measurements provide detailed insights into ice sheet surface melting, englacial meltwater routing, subglacial erosion, etc., and their importance increase with the lengthening of the time series. Monitoring was initiated by IGN (Copenhagen University) in 2006, and taken over by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland in 2014. Data are available through the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (www.PROMICE.dk).

The main objective of the project is to describe quantitatively with model calculations the global distribution behaviour of persistent organic contaminants, and to establish credibility in the results of these simulations.

INTERMAGNET is global network of observatories, monitoring the Earth's magnetic field

NILS is a nation-wide environmental protection programme that monitors the conditions and changes in the Swedish landscape.

The programme started in 2003 and includes field inventory and aerial photo interpretation of permanent sample plots in all types of terrestrial environments.

NILS is mainly funded by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and an important objective is to provide information for follow-up of the Swedish national environmental objectives and the Natura 2000 network. NILS also contributes data to environmental research and international reporting.

This station is one of many international stations in Ny-Aalesund, Svalbard. Traditionally research has focussed on the ecology of barnacle geese. The research now includes monitoring of plant production, vegetation change, insect phenology, arctic terns, snowbuntings, barnacle geese, reindeer and arctic foxes. Regular guests are Dutch institutions for marine research like IMARES and NIOZ and researchers from NIOO and VU.

The main objective is to study adaptations to climate warming and understanding dynamics of animal and plant populations.

Continuous measurements of greenhouse gases and particles to monitor changes in the atmosphere. The programme is operated by Norwegian Institute of Air Research (NILU) on behalf of Norwegian Environment Agency. The Zeppelin Observatory is a major contributor of data on a global as well as a regional scale.The programme is decribed in the link.

Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure - ACTRIS  is a research infrastructure on the ESFRI roadmap from March 2016. ACTRIS is currently supported by the European Commission Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Framework Programme (H2020-INFRAIA-2014-2015) from 1 May 2015 to 30 April 2019.

The objectives of ACTRIS Research Infrastructure

Detecting changes and trends in atmospheric composition and understanding their impact on the stratosphere and upper troposphere is necessary for establishing the scientific links and feedbacks between climate change and atmospheric composition.

• The primary objective of ACTRIS is to provide the 4D-variability of clouds and of the physical, optical and chemical properties of short-lived atmospheric species, from the surface throughout the troposphere to the stratosphere, with the required level of precision, coherence and integration.
• The second objective is to provide effective access to this information and the means to more efficiently use the complex and multi-scale ACTRIS parameters serving a vast community of users working on models, satellite retrievals, and analysis and forecast systems.
• The third objective is to raise the level of technology used in the RI and the quality of services offered to the community of users, involving partners from the private sector.
• Finally, the fourth objective of ACTRIS is to promote training of operators and users and enhance the linkage between research, education and innovation in the field of atmospheric science.

The main objective is to quantify the levels of air pollution in the artctic, and to document any changes in the exposures. It includes the necessary components to address impacts on ecosystems, human health, materials and climate change. 

Studying the population biology and monitoring the population status of Dunlin. The population under study ilives in a coatal tundra area in Northern Norway.

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.