Greenland: projects/activities

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Directory entires that have specified Greenland as one of the geographic regions for the project/activity and are included in the AMAP, ENVINET, SAON and SEARCH directories. Note that the list of regions is not hierarchical, and there is no relation between regions (e.g. a record tagged with Nunavut may not be tagged with Canada). To see the full list of regions, see the regions list. To browse the catalog based on the originating country (leady party), see the list of countries.

It is also possible to browse and query the full list of projects.

Displaying: 1 - 18 of 18
1. National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV)

INGV operates in the Arctic region with observational activities in Svalbard, near the area of Ny-Ålesund, where the Institute has installed three stations to monitor ionospheric scintillation, currently in operation. In Svalbard, the PEGASO (Polar Explorer for Geomagnetic And other Scientific Observations) project has performed several stratospheric balloon launches (Pathfinders) with the aim of studying the Earth's magnetic field in an area with poor coverage measurements and of studying the possible trajectories of circumpolar winds at high altitudes. At the Greenland Base of Thule, INGV in collaboration with CNR, DMI (Danish Meteorological Institute), University of Rome La Sapienza and ENEA, carries out spectrometric observations for the analysis of stratospheric chemistry and mesosphere to monitor the ozone layer. In cooperation with In addition, an upper atmosphere permanent observatory for magnetosphere and Ionosphere sounding, including Auroras, and other geophysical processes is operated in Greenland, Zackemberg station in cooperation with Danish scientists. INGV is currently involved in the coordination of two European initiatives: a) EMSO (European Multidisciplinary seafloor Observatory) a European research infrastructure of ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures), which counts to establish a multi-parametric permanent network in the surrounding European seas, including the Arctic area. The project began in April 2008 with the participation of 11 European countries; b) EUROANDRILL, created under the aegis of the European Science Foundation, aims to drill key areas of polar areas to study past and future climate. The project involves the involvement of 10 European and 3 extra-European countries. The Institute is also active in other projects in the Arctic, in particular actively participates in the seismic network GLISN, developed from the existing stations in and around Greenland.

Geology Oceanography Atmosphere
2. Spain general summary

Our objective in present SAON meeting was to know more about SAON activities and plannings to coordinate and promote guidelines criteria for observations in the ARctic Present Spain Research in Arctic is performed mainly for universities and scientific institutions , down the responsability of the Science Department with the support of several national institutions including the Defense Department and Foreign Affairs Institutions are coordinated by the National Polar Committee. The National Scientific Program finance the activities in the polar zones Although our main scientific activities are in Antarctica the activity of Spain in Arctic is rapidly increasing following the fact that Arctic research is a priority task in our Science Program At present we have detected 16 scientific groups working activelly in the differnts fields of Arctic topics (glaciology, meteorology, permafrost, high atmosphere, ecology, physical oceanography, marine geology and biology) These activities are mainly performed in cooperation with Arctic countries Institutions via institutional or researchers contacts About our media to work in Arctic ocean Spain has at present two multiporposes oceanographic research ships In the last years our Ocanographic ship Hesperides has developed two campaigns in The area of Greenland and Svalvars Island in the fields of marine Geology , marine biology and physical oceanography For next summer Hesperides will perform a third oceanographic campaign close to the Atlantic coast of Greenland Other national institutions have been working in marine biology campaigns including fisheries stock evolution Spain has a National Centre of Polar Data were all researchers must enter their raw data gathered in the polar campaigns We considerer , at present , our interest to cooperate inside SAON board, considering that besides other possible cooperation to SAON tasks could be a cooperation with our Polar Data Centre

Geology Oceanography Atmosphere Ecosystems
3. Monitoring of contaminants in atmosphere and biota in Greenland

Temporal trend monitoring of contaminants in atmosphere and biota in Greenland. Modelling the atmospheric transport pathways and deposition of contaminants in the Arctic as well as determination of climate related parameters.

Atmosphere Ecosystems
4. Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI)

DMI operates general weather observation for meteorological and climatological services. DMI operates geomagnetic observatories in Greenland DMI monitores stratospheric ozone and UV radiation DMI operatetes ocean monitoring and operational icecharting

Oceanography Atmosphere Ecosystems
5. NOAA + NASA remote sensing of climate variables (NOAA + NASA remote sensing)

Both NOAA and NASA operate satellites with cover¬age of the Arctic region. The major observations and products are: 1. Daily, near real-time plots of surface, cloud, and radiative properties from AVHRR; 2. Near real-time MODIS and AVHRR polar winds; 3. Daily, near real-time plots of clear sky, low-level temperature inversions from MODIS; 4. Daily profile plots of Arctic temperature, humid-ity and winds; 5. Near-daily plots of surface winds over open water; and 6. Surface temperatures for land, sea and sea ice.

Climate Sea ice Atmosphere
6. Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net)

NASA and NSF support the Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net), a series of automatic weather stations that monitor conditions on the ice sheet.

Atmosphere
7. Denmark Satellite observations as base for atmosphere related ECV observations

Upper-air temperature Homogenized upper-air temperature analyses: extended MSU-equivalent temperature record, new record for upper-troposphere and lower-stratosphere temperature using data from radio occultation, temperature analyses obtained from reanalyses. Water vapour Total column water vapour over the ocean and over land, tropospheric and lower stratospheric profiles of water vapour. Ozone Profiles and total column of ozone.

Climate Sea ice Oceanography Atmosphere
8. Denmark upper air strata measurements radio sounding observations

DMI runs radio sounding stations at the following six locations: Tórshavn (the Faroe Islands), Danmarkshavn, Illoqqortoormiit, Tasiilaq, Narsarsuaq and Aasiaat (Greenland). Two soundings are made every day at these stations. A monthly summary (CLIMAT TEMP) from all stations is prepared and transmitted routinely on the GTS.

Climate Atmosphere
9. Greenland Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation and stratospheric ozone stations

Solar Ultraviolet (UV) radiation at different wavelengths is measured by DMI at two stations in Greenland, namely Pittuffik and Kangerlussuaq. In addition, DMI performs weekly ozone soundings at Illoqqortoormiut as well as sporadic ozone soundings at Pituffik during the winter months.

Climate Atmosphere
10. Denmark Climatological/meteorological surface stations

DMI operates and receives data from a network of approximately 100 automatic meteorological stations in Denmark, Greenland and on the Faroe Islands. Measurements are made in accordance with the WMO recommendations. As of 2001 a special dedicated network of (manual) stations for climatological observations has been discontinued, due to the convergence between the different network technologies. The objectives behind this decision are to eliminate human errors, to benefit from potential savings due to this rationalisation, and to reach a higher observation frequency. Climatological data are now obtained from the automatic network described above. Climatological data are collected to define the climate in Denmark, Greenland and on the Faroe Islands and to create a national database for a wide range of enquiries and research activities. Climatological work mostly consists of preparing annual and monthly statistics, including calculation of averages, percentiles and standard deviations. Substantial recorded data are needed to establish reliable averages and trends. In 2008 the daily inflow of data from Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands was 100,000 observations, and the central database at DMI currently contains more than 300,000,000 observations. Some of the recorded data are from as early as 1872. A monthly summary is prepared for the three stations in Denmark, one on the Faroe Islands and eight in Greenland using the CLIMAT format. These data are routinely submitted via the GTS. Radiation is measured as 10- minute mean values of global radiation at the DMI operated weather station.

Climate Atmosphere
11. Denmark Contributions to the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW)

As part of the GAW programme, Denmark contributes to the Global Ozone Observing System (GO3OS) with three stations in Greenland and one in Denmark. The stations in Greenland are: Kangerlussuaq, Pituffik and Illoqqortoormiut The station in Denmark is located in Copenhagen The stations in Greenland are primary and secondary stations in the Network for the Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC) that is supported by the International Ozone Commission.

Climate Atmosphere
12. Denmark contributions to the GCOS Upper Air Network (GUAN)

Only one GUAN station is designated for Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands and it is situated in Narsarsuaq (WMO nr. 6186), Greenland. The station is run by DMI and is operated in accordance with the required standard.

Climate Atmosphere
13. Denmark GCOS Surface Network (GSN)

The seven designated GSN stations in Denmark, Greenland and on the Faroe Islands are all run by DMI and include (Numbers are WMO station numbers): Greenland: 4211 Upernarvik, 4250 Nuuk, 4320 Danmarkshavn, 4360 Tasiilaq, 4390 Prins Christian Sund; The Faroe Islands; 6011 Tórshavn Denmark: 6186 Copenhagen. All of these stations currently meet the required standard for surface observation.

Climate Atmosphere
14. Atmospheric Monitoring Network for Antropogenic Pollution in Polar Regions (ATMOPOL)

The project aims at establishing a long-term Arctic-Antarctic network of monitoring stations for atmospheric monitoring of anthropogenic pollution. Based upon the long and excellent experiences with different scientific groups performing air monitoring within the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), an expanded network will be established including all AMAP stations and all major Antarctic “year-around” research stations. As an integrated project within the “International Polar Year 2007-08” initiative, the ATMOPOL co-operation intend to • Establish a long-term coordinated international Arctic-Antarctic contaminant programme. • Develop and implement a joint sampling and monitoring strategy as an official guideline for all participating stations. • Support bi-polar international atmospheric research with high-quality data on atmospheric long-range transport of contaminants (sources, pathways and fate). • Support future risk assessment of contaminants for Polar Regions based on effects of relevant contamination levels and polar organisms Based upon the well-established experiences of circum-Arctic atmospheric contaminant monitoring in the Arctic under the AMAP umbrella, a bi-polar atmospheric contaminant network will be established and maintained. In conjunction with the polar network of atmospheric monitoring stations for air pollution, surface-based and satellite instrumentation will be utilised to provide the characterization of the Arctic atmospheric-water-ice cycle. Together with numerical weather prediction and chemical transport model calculations, simultaneous measurements of pollutants at various locations in the Arctic and Antarctic will enhance our understanding of chemical transport and distribution as well as their long-term atmospheric trends. In addition to investigating the importance of atmospheric transport of pollutants an understanding of the transference and impact of these pollutants on both terrestrial and marine environments will be sought. A secretariat and a “scientific project board” will be established. During this initial phase of the project (2006), a guideline on priority target compounds, sampling strategies, equipment and instrumentation, analytical requirements, as well as quality assurance protocols (including laboratory intercalibration exercises) will be developed and implemented. The ATMOPOL initiative aims to address highly relevant environmental change processes and, thus, will strive to answering the following scientific questions: • How does climate change influence the atmospheric long-range transport of pollutants? • Are environmental scientists able to fill the gaps in international pollution inventories and identification of possible sources for atmospheric pollution in Polar Regions? • What are the differences in transport pathways and distribution patterns of various atmospheric pollutants between Arctic and Antarctic environments? Why are there such differences? What is the final fate of atmospherically transported pollutants and how does this impact on the environment and indigenous people?In order to understand the underlying atmospheric chemistry of pollution, e.g. atmospheric mercury deposition events, routine surface measurements of UV radiation as well as campaign related measurements of UV radiation profiles will also be included.The project will establish a cooperative network on atmospheric contaminant monitoring in Polar Regions far beyond the IPY 2007/08 period and is, thus, planned as an “open-end” programme. All produced data will be available for all participating institutions for scientific purposes as basis for joint publications and reports from the ATMOPOL database to be developed.

Pathways Atmospheric processes Heavy metals Long-range transport Contaminant transport Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) Atmosphere
15. Mercury in peat bogs

Peat samples from Greenland already collected and dated will be analysed for mercury in order to assess term time trends of mercury deposition during this century.

Heavy metals Atmosphere Temporal trends
16. Sun-Earth Interaction: Auroral Observations from Svalbard Islands with “ITACA”, ITalian All-sky-Camera for Auroral observations

Observation of the high latitude auroral activity, during the winter season, by means of automatic all-sky camera(s). Study of the high-latitude auroral activity, focusing on the so-called “dayside auroras”: a particular phenomenon concerning the direct precipitation of the thermalised solar wind plasma through the geomagnetic cusps, favourably observable from the Svalbard. The analysis of the data, mainly devoted to the “dayside auroras”, will concern the comparison of the optical images obtained from both the station of Ny-Alesund and the new one of Daneborg (Greenland) with the data collected by Wind, ACE, DSMP, Polar, and Cluster satellites. Starting from the 2002 season, the joint auroral observations from Ny-Alesund and Daneborg allows the monitoring of a relevant area involved in the “dayside aurora” phenomena.

Atmospheric processes "dayside auroras" high-latitude auroral observation Geophysics Modelling Arctic magnetic substorm Data management Atmosphere auroral oval ITACA²
17. Long distance pollen transport in the Arctic: 1. Greenland

The submitted proposal aims to perform the monitoring of the pollen rain in the Greenland atmosphere by distinguishing the local pollen production, relatively low, from pollen grains originating from other Arctic areas. A regular monitoring of the atmospheric pollen content must be performed in order to evaluate the amount emitted and characterise the seasonality of the emission. A comparison with air mass trajectories must allow the modelling of long distance transport

Biology Climate variability Spatial trends Modelling Biodiversity Data management pollen Atmosphere Ecosystems
18. Monitoring and Modelling of Atmospheric Pollution in Greenland

In 2000 it is proposed to operate an atmospheric programme consisting of a monitoring and a modelling part and composed of 3 programme modules. The monitoring programme consists of two parts. I. It is proposed to continue the weekly measurements of acidifying components and heavy metals at Station Nord in north-east Greenland for assessment of atmospheric levels and trends. The measuring programme includes also highly time resolved measurements of Ozone and of total gaseous Mercury (TGM). The results will also be used for continued development and verification of the transport model calculations. Receptor modelling of the pollution composition will be used for identification and quantification of the source types that influence the atmospheric pollution in north-east Greenland. Comparison of the two sets of modelling results is expected to give better models. II. The purpose of the project is the operation of a permanent air monitoring programme in the populated West Greenland at a location which is representative for transboundary air pollution. The most promising sites are located in the Disko Bay area and in the vicinity of Nuuk. The objectives are to obtain data on the concentration levels of air pollutants that can be used for assessing seasonal variations and trends and for studying long range transport of pollutants mainly from North America to West Greenland. The purpose is further to provide data for development and improvement of long range transport models that can be used to identify the origin of the pollution and its transport pathways. The results from measurements and model calculations will be used to assess the magnitude of deposition to sea and land in this populated region of Greenland. III. In the proposed modelling programme the operation, application and maintenance of the current basic hemispheric model will be continued. Results on origin, transport, and deposition of contaminants on land and sea surfaces in the Arctic are essential for interpretation and understanding the Arctic air pollution. The model will be developed to improve the spatial and temporal resolutions, as well as the accuracy by including physically and mathematically better descriptions of the key processes treated in the model. The work to expand the model to include also non-volatile heavy metals, such as Cadmium and Lead on an hemispheric scale will be continued. Since the atmospheric chemistry of Ozone and Mercury seem to be strongly connected in the Arctic it is planned to continue the development and testing of a model module for hemispheric transport and chemistry for ozone and mercury to assess the origin and fate of this highly toxic metal in the Arctic.

Atmospheric processes Atmospheric Pathways Ozone Arctic haze Long-range transport Acidification Pollution sources Modelling Emissions Arctic Atmospheric Deposition Atmosphere