Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard archipelago

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Local administrative contact (once a TNA visit is awarded):

Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard archipelago. Ny-Ålesund is the world's northernmost permanent settlementsituated on the island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago, only 1,200 km from the North Pole. Svalbardis part of the High Arctic region and one of the last and most extensive areas of untouched wilderness inEurope. Ny-Ålesund is the site of a modern research centre with facilities and infrastructure of high standard.

The facility is accessed by several flights a week. Svalbard includes areas in front of two glaciers that are very well suited for testing instruments for ground ice and permafrost mapping. In addition, there are locations that include large amounts of buried glacier covered by layers of sediments that comprise mixtures of silicateminerals and organic material. The study area is also within a region of permanent permafrost. The meanannual air temperature in Ny Ålesund is -6.3 oC (42 m.a.s.l 1961-1990), and average annual precipitation is 355mm/y. The permafrost depth is estimated to be ~100 m in coastal areas and >500 m in mountainous areas. The active layer depth at the field site is estimated to be ~2 m and is the layer that experiences thawing in the summer/autumn.

The growing interest in physical conditions of the icy moons of the outer planets and the possibility that they may host life forms has led to a great increase in the research undertaken on Spitsbergen. Currently scientistsfrom at least fifteen nations visit Ny-Ålesund to work on a variety of research projects. Norway, Germany,Great Britain, Italy, Japan, France, South Korea and China have all established their own research stations in Ny-Ålesund.

Field equipment such as snow scooters and warm clothing can be rented either from some of the national stations or from Kings Bay AS. High speed internet access is available in the office buildings. A security andsnow scooter driving course is mandatory for all people visiting the facility, which is provided by theNorwegian Polar Institute. For more detailed information of the site please visit: http://www.npolar.no/sverdrup/ and www.kingsbay.no

Only one expedition per year can be organized for this site, due to weather conditions, permafrost characteristics and daily periods of sunshine. So only one expedition for the 4 year contract duration is proposed to Users Access with a 80% financial rate. An Expedition to this site will not be possible until the call in early 2010/