Prosjekt:

Hydroclim: Environmental monitoring in Linnedalen in a warming hydroclimate regime

Universitetssenteret på Svalbard ville overvåke de hydroklimatiske prosessene i bre-elve-innsjøsystemet i Linnedalen i vår periode med klimaoppvarming

 

The primary objective of the HYDROCLIM project was to support the long-term monitoring program in Linnédalen to assess the impact of the current warming trend on the glacier-river-lake system. Our team carried out two weeks of fieldwork in Linnédalen in August 2024 and 2025, two of the four warmest summers on record for Svalbard (2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025). The fieldwork included recovery of data from the main weather station, time lapse cameras, stream temperature loggers, snow depth sensors and temperature loggers and other sensors in Linnévatnet. Analysis of the data has shown that the summer (June, July, August) melt season temperatures have increased by 1.2o C while the fall (September, October, November) temperatures have increased by 1.5oC. Over this same period, annual stream flow duration has extended into the fall season by approximately 50% since 2004 to 2024, from 80 to 120 days. Accordingly, the length of the ice-free season on Linnévatnet has increased by about 20 days over the same period. In sum, the results of the study show a strong response of the hydrologic system in Linnédalen to the accelerated warming trend over the last decade and provide insight to sustained warming ahead in the 21st century. Other results include bachelor student training and outreach activities. Six bachelor geoscience students were involved in the two seasons of fieldwork, three of the students were recruited from UNIS summer courses. Outreach activities include a talk at UNIS Geolunch and an evening talk on Linnédalen Environments and Climate Change for local guides. A field guide to key landscape, landforms and geological sites in Linnédalen is in preparation and will be available for distribution this summer. The results were presented a the International Arctic Workshop and Geological Society of America Northeast Section.