Research Projects
Chasing clouds or how cloud dynamics might influence the climate in the
Arctic
Glacial Meltwater Sediment Transformation in Arctic River systems (GLAMSTAR)
Jordi Cristóbal Rosselló, A siaq- Greenland Sur vey,
Greenland
Kathr yn Adamson, Manchester Metropolitan Universit y, UK, Timothy Lane, British, Liverpool John Moores
Universit y, UK
Surface air temperatures in the Arctic have shown a
significant increase especially in the past few decades.
This warming is considered strongly linked to cloud
cover and water vapor dynamics that influence downward longwave radiation. Therefore, clouds play a key
role in the Arctic by modulating the radiation balance.
To improve the current knowledge on cloud dynamics
the GEM ClimateBasis Disko program installed a stateof-the-art profiler and a sky camera to analyze the role
of clouds in the Arctic.
Airborne Inoculation Sources to
Cryospheric Environments
Nora Els, Klaus Unterberger, Institute of Ecology, Universit y of Innsbruck, Austria
We visited the Arctic Station to complete an arctic air
microbiology dataset which comprises several locations
in Greenland and Svalbard to assess biogeographical
patterns in microbial air composition as well as influence of small scale regional impacts on bioaerosol
composition.
We took air samples on subsequent days in several
locations around Disko Island as well as environmental
samples of potential emission source environments and
wet deposition samples.
In the Arctic region, enhanced glacier melt is likely to
increase meltwater discharge and proglacial erosion,
and transform downstream mineral and carbon flux.
This project will test if proglacial meltwater mineralogy varies across glacier forelands, in accordance with
climate-driven glacier behavior, using detailed glaciofluvial sediment analysis. Detailed meltwater system
analysis will help us to better understand, and predict,
morphosedimentary and ecosystem response to glacier
retreat.
Collection of water, mud and leaf
samples along Røde Elv
Nya Hegelund Vilhelmsen, Magnus Lund Nielsen, Universit y of Copenhagen, Denmark
We went along the river Røde Elv, a bit into the mainland of Qeqertarsuaq to gather samples of water, leaf
and mud at the riverside to be further analyzed at
Greenland Institute of Natural Resources. The sample
collection was conducted at three different points
in the river delta of Blæsedalen. The staff at Arctic
Station was very helpfull in helping us to find our way
round the wonderful island.
ICELYN Ice thickness measurements
of Lyngmarksbræen, Qeqertarsuaq,
west Greenland
Jacob Clement Yde, Met te Kusk Gillespie, Marit Svarstad Andresen, Western Nor way Universit y of Applied
Sciences, Nor way
The ICELYN project measured snow and ice thicknesses
across Lyngmarksbræen Ice Cap in April 2017. The data
allow estimates of snow and ice volume, which will
provide a basis for other activities such as mass-balance measurements and ice core drilling. The data will
also be used in detailed analyses of past and present
recession and thinning of the ice cap and its outlet
glaciers.
Collecting copepods from the ice, February 2017.
Photo Lurgi Salaverria-Zabalegui.
Coffee break in front of Arctic Station. Photo Nataja Corfxen.
A n n u a l R e p o r t 2017
15
university of copenhagen facu lt y of sci e nc e A RC T I C STAT I ON Annual Repor t 2017
,e ARCTIC STATION 2 A R C T I C S TAT I O N
ARCTIC STATION Annual Report 2017 CONTENTS Chairmans welcome ............................................................ 5 Monitoring at Arctic Station .................................................. 6 Research projects ................................................................. 15 Educati
4 A R C T I C S TAT I O N
Chairmans Welcome Professor Bo Elberling For Arctic Station it has been important to open the station for a wider range of scientists and to foster more collaborative research on mainly terrestrial projects. Therefore, Arctic Station is since 2017 involved in a circumpolar network INTER ACT II In
Monitoring at Arctic Station Charlotte Sigsgaard, Regin Rønn, Michele Citterio, Jakob Abermann, Per Juel Hansen, Kirsty Langly, Kirsten S. Christoffersen, Sille Myreng, Casper Tai Christiansen, Aart Kroon, Thomas Friborg, Bo Elberling A new struc ture of the monitoring ac tivities at Arc tic Statio
15 10 10 Temperature (oC) Temperature (oC) 5 0 -5 -10 -15 -20 -+- -25 1992 1996 2000 -10 AVG Winter/coldest months (J, F, M) -20 Max -25 2017 Min Mean annual air temperature 2004 2008 2012 2016 -30 Jan I May Jul Jun Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Figure
1040 31-J an 2-Mar 1-Apr 1-May 31-May 30-J un 30-J ul 29-Aug 28-S ep 28-Oct 27-Nov 27-Dec 2017 1000 960 30 0 20 Wind spe ed (m s -1) -10 -20 10 -30 0 16 12 8 4 0 Wind dir () 300 200 100 S now depth (m) 0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 Ground temp (C ) S oil moisture (vol%) 0 80 10 c
2 20 1 10 0 0 -1 -10 -2 -20 NEE -3 -30 A irT (diurnal mean) -4 Several manual discharge measurements were carried out at various water levels throughout the entire runof f season. The last three years of fresh water runof f from R øde Elv has been calculated using the relation bet ween
Figure 9A: Røde Elv 2 June 2017. Photo Charlotte Sigsgaard. Figure 9B: Røde Elv, 6 July 2017. A cold period resulted in very low runoff and no suspended sediment. Photo Elisabeth Larsen Kolstad. Figure 9C: Røde Elv 30 August 2017. Peak runoff during rainy period. The color of the water indicate hi
2017 Discharge (m3s -1) R ain (mm) 20 15 15 10 10 5 5 0 0 -5 Air temp (C ) 20 25 20 10 Turbidity (NTU) 0 600 400 200 Water temp (C ) 0 12 8 4 0 8 pH 7.5 7 6.5 6 7-Jun 17-Jun 27-Jun 7-Jul 17-Jul 27-Jul 6-Aug 16-Aug 26-Aug 5-Sep 15-Sep 25-Sep Figure 10. Røde Elv river
0 0 100 100 100 200 200 200 300 300 300 0 -0- June 27 Ju ly 27 August 15 +-0October 10 Depth (m) 100 50 150 200 250 Nitrate (μgN L ) 0 10 50 Ammonium (μg N L ) -1 -1 15 20 25 Phosphate (μgP L ) -1 Figure 11. Vertical distribution of nitrate, ammonium and phosphate in
Figure 13. Automatic weather station, Chamberlin Glacier 2 July 2016 (left). Chamberlin Glacier terminus 8 August 2016. Photo Michele Citterio (right) Figure 14. Installing ablation stake on Chamberlin Glacier 2 July 2016. Photo Jakob Abermann (left) and measuring ablation stake, 8 August 2016. Pho
14 A R C T I C S TAT I O N
Research Projects Chasing clouds or how cloud dynamics might influence the climate in the Arctic Glacial Meltwater Sediment Transformation in Arctic River systems (GLAMSTAR) Jordi Cristóbal Rosselló, A siaq- Greenland Sur vey, Greenland Kathr yn Adamson, Manchester Metropolitan Universit y, UK, T
C and N cycling and plant performance along a snowbed community gradient, and impact of warming Anders Michelsen, Cathrine Kallestrup, Elisabeth Kolstad, Per Ambus, CENPERM, Universit y of Copenhagen, Denmark w I, I .,i } t Analyzing soilgas from the frozen soil. Photo Anders Michelsen. The fl
Effect of aboveground plant stress on biogenic volatile organic compound concentrations in soil Magnus Kramshøj, Riikka Rinnan, Depar tment of Biology, Universit y of Copenhagen, Denmark, Lærke Wester Larsen, Depar tment of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Universit y of Copenhagen, Denm
Snow and ice thicknesses measured with radar on Lyngmarksbræen ice cap. Photo Jacob Clement Yde. West Greenland was to obtain plant material (seeds and silica dried leaf material) of Cochlearia groenlandica from its type locality, Mudderbugten in Disko. The material will be studied genetically and
between 1 and 16 May and we collected 82 samples. A total of 5 days were spent at sea of which 4 was on a small fishing boat and 1 on the research vessel Porsild. Additionally, several days were used in the lab to filter water samples. Acquisition of oceanographic measurements from baleen whales Ma
A second, smaller bloom occured in the end of May, accompanied by an increase in biodiversity. In addition to the monitoring, a microcosm experiment about the effect of nutrients on the biodiversity in the water was conducted. PWC-Arctic: Effects of dispersed oil droplets and produced water compone
Sampling air to study Arctic air microbiology. Photo Nora Els. focused on promises of economic independency based on oil and mineral adventure. This project is designed to look after impacts of climate change to local communities and to evaluate the rights of local people in relation to multination
Photo Kent Pørksen 22 A R C T I C S TAT I O N
Education Arctic Biology Field Course Charlot te A . B. Køhnke, Thomas A . Arkwright, Camilla H. Schar f fOlsen, Mads Schultz, Cathrine Kallestrup, Lasse Brandt, David H. Blitz, Liv A . No bel, Louise C. Flensborg, Paula M. Gonzalez, Marc Allentof t Larsen, Samuel Black (students), Anders Michelsen,
highlight the dif ferences bet ween bulk soil and rhizosphere soil and make an assessment of bulk soils representatively in relation to nutrients in a mesic low-arc tic tundra soil 3. To quantif y how CH 4 oxidation rates change in heath and bare ground with increasing elevation. These changes will
Sampling Betula nana leaves from the Arctic Station herbarium. Photo Fabian Ercan A n n u a l R e p o r t 2017 25
Publications Scientific papers 2017 B e n d i xe n, M ., K ro o n, A . (2017 ). Co n ce ptua lizing d e l t a fo r ms a n d p ro ce s s e s in A rc t i c co a s t a l e nv iro n m e nt s . E a r t h Sur fa ce P ro ce s s e s a n d L a n d fo r m s 42, 1227-1237, d o i: 10.10 02 /e s p. 4 0 97. Chr i
Members of the board Professor Bo Elberling (Chairman) Depar tment of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management Phone: + 45 3532 2520 E-mail: be@ign.ku.dk Git te Henrik sen (Secretar y) Facult y of Science Phone: + 45 3532 4256 E-mail: gin@science.ku.dk Professor MSO Kirsten Seestern Christof fers
Title Arc tic Station Annual Repor t 2017 Publisher Board of the Arc tic Station, Univer sit y of Copenhagen, Denmark Editor A ar t Kroon and Charlot te Sigsgaard L ayout and graphic s Kent Pørk sen, Depar tment of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management Internet ver sion ark tisk station.ku.dk