Climate-related research in Svalbard

The Svalbard archipelago is located in the Norwegian Arctic, 76-81N. In the Kongsfjord area, 79N, on northwest Spitsbergen, there has been increasing research activity in several climate-related disciplines over the last few years. This research will contribute to the global efforts on monitoring and detecting possible global changes. An intensified program monitoring hydrological processes was run from 1974 to 1978 and restarted in 1988. One well-equipped station for atmospheric research is also established. Four major glaciers are being thoroughly investigated, a program which includes mass balance studies, drainage patterns and core analyses. Since 1978 a permafrost station has been operated in Svea, south-central Spitsbergen. The trend in glacier mass balance analyses shows fairly stable negative conditions, the net balance is slightly increasing due to a slight increase in the winter precipitation. There is no sign of climatic warming through increased melting. The temperature data show a very slight cooling during the ablation period. A reconstruction of mass balance data for the Broegger glacier shows that the mass balance has been consistently negative since 1918