Weather days We prepared for bad weather. My red, 96-liter L.L.Bean duffel bag brims with fleece jackets, raincoats and extra hats, and my waterproof phone case is rugged enough to allow us to collect samples in the most torrential downpours. But I never imagined while packing for Ny-Ålesund that the biggest threat to our trip … Continue reading Reaching Gerdøya
Tag: Arctic
Life at 78° N Cautiously opening the front door, I make my way down the metal stairs. A quick glance to my sides then I round wide around the corner of the station. At 5:30 in the morning, no one is around. The bright daylight adds to the eerie feeling of desertion. I was told … Continue reading Discovering Ny-Ålesund
Arriving in Svalbard Waiting on the tarmac at Tromsø Airport for our Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) flight to Svalbard, I nervously check my watch as the noon deadline approaches for SAS pilots to announce a strike. What will happen to our flight to Svalbard if the pilots strike? Will we be stuck in Tromsø? What will happen … Continue reading 79 Degrees North, Nearly
Greetings from the Svanhovd Research Station of the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) in northeastern Norway! Due to the pandemic situation last year, we decided to postpone our field activities to 2021. Our departure was in the balance until the last moment because of travel restrictions, but…we are finally here! We come from three different … Continue reading Porifera in the Pasvik River – accumulators of bacteria and contaminants
We spent the first day scouting out possible field sites. We prepared as possible in in advance, - via Google Earth, maps and landcover products, talking to people familiar with the area, reading the literature, but it’s never quite the same as being there on the ground. We’d earmarked some possible sites from GoogleEarth, - … Continue reading Identifying field sites and first measurements
The call for INTERACT Transnational Access is in good speed and we’ve already received so many inquiries regarding it, indicating a high number of good quality applications for the call! In relation to the call we’ll also go to several meetings to greet the scientists working in arctic research to tell about the possibilities related … Continue reading Meetings and greetings
We’ve brought a range of instruments with us to the Arctic, to simultaneously measure plant photosynthesis and remote sensing data of individual plants and leaves. This is because in order to understand how plants are behaving, and changing, over large areas we must first link these remote sensing techniques to measured plant processes at the … Continue reading Equipment roll call
The next leg of the journey from Gothenburg to Abisko spans 1040 miles and will take 2 days. Feeling refreshed after the relaxing ferry journey, we left Gothenburg at 9.30 am, and headed north-east towards Stockholm. The landscape was mainly agricultural, with large deep red farmhouses and barns dotted throughout. As we skirted by Stockholm … Continue reading The road to Abisko (part II)
The Arctic is experiencing rapid climate change, with land surface temperatures in some northern regions reported to be increasing at double the global average rate. Increases in both temperature and atmospheric CO2 concentration, are causing changes in the structure, function and the species composition of vegetation in the Arctic that have not been seen before. … Continue reading Measuring plant productivity in a changing Arctic
June 25th -- My house, Amsterdam I have spent the past two weeks in constant hyper-focus mode, making last minute preparations for fieldwork and wrapping up teaching duties and manuscript writing before departure. It was going to be a close call but we managed to finish building our custom made gas sampling chambers and pack … Continue reading Countdown to fieldwork!
INTERACT Arctic Research 