Winter Critical Zone dynamics in the High Arctic: measuring carbon fluxes and geo-biological processes at the Bayelva Critical Zone Observatory during winter
WINTER-CZ aims to enhance the existing CNR research infrastructure for measuring CO2 fluxes from the tundra at the Ny-Ålesund research station in Svalbard. This project will measure and model CO2 emissions from Arctic soil through the snowpack during winter and understand how their dynamics are influenced by environmental conditions. It is funded by the Arctic Research Programme (PRA) INFRA 2021.
Measurements of winter CO2 fluxes will be obtained from a monitoring station located in the Bayelva River basin in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. The station is designed to be covered with snow during the winter season and to measure carbon dioxide concentrations in the soil, snowpack, and atmosphere, as well as other auxiliary variables. CO2 fluxes will be calculated by applying the law of fluid diffusion in the snowpack, considered as a porous medium.
Assessments of CO2 flux balances in the Arctic highlight a significant imbalance in data availability throughout the year. The summer period, when the tundra primarily absorbs carbon, is much more studied than the non-vegetative, snow-covered period, when the tundra is a carbon source. To gain a more complete picture of winter microbial activity, the resulting greenhouse gas emissions, and the complete carbon cycle in the Arctic environment, it is necessary to supplement existing measurement infrastructure with continuous measurements during the snow-covered period, for both environmental variables and microbial communities in the Arctic soil.
The project is divided into three phases. The first involves drafting the scientific station's executive design, its testing in Italy, and its installation in Svalbard. The second phase is dedicated to data acquisition and management. The third and final phase involves using the acquired data to model flux dynamics.
By the end of the project, a more comprehensive picture of carbon dynamics in the tundra is expected, from the perspective of soil and microbiome, as well as wind-snowpack interactions and their effect on CO2fluxes . The data, acquired continuously, will be incorporated into the new CNR Carbon Flux Observatory in Ny Alesund, a new open-access database that follows FAIR principles. They will be accessible from the IGG-CNR website and will also be linked to the archives of SIOS (Svalbard Integrated Observing System), IADC (Italian Arctic Data Centre), and the PNRR “ITINERIS” project.