RIS: 3471 ARCA aims to develop a conceptual model on the mechanism(s) behind the release of large volumes of cold and fresh water from melting of ice caps, investigating this complex system from both paleoclimatic and modern air-sea-ice interaction process point of view. ARCA fits well within the Italian Strategy for Arctic. Testing and calibration of sensors measurement of vertical profile of turbulence, meteorological paramaters and characterisitic of the snow surface.

Atmospheric Gondola for Aerosol Profiles (AGAP) The scientific goals of AGAP are to develop novel aerosol payloads and evaluate the vertical distribution of aerosol properties in the Arctic Boundary Layer. Dataset consists in Aerosol vertical profiles gridded at a 50 m spatial resolution: R, T, P, RH, Aerosol size distribution, BC concentration, O3. Maximum altitudes 1500 m.

Snow and surface characteristics are monitored by CNR at the Climate Change Tower in Ny-Alesund. Partly funded by Arctic PASSION project (agreement number 101003472).

terrestrial Photography ApplicationS on Snow covEr in Svalbard Project start: 2018-04-15 - end: 2021-12-31 The purpose of this activity is the development of a new snow product focused on the estimation of the fraction of snow cover in selected sites at different spatial resolutions. This dataset will be aimed to support the estimation of cryospheric information using remotely sensed data, with a particular attention to data obtained in the framework of the Copernicus program. The availability of this dataset in a natural laboratory such as Svalbard islands will support the reduction of the gap between remotely sensed data and modeling activities. This added value will be very important considering the higher spatial resolution of the sensors recently deployed. The dataset will be based on re-using data obtained from public repositories such as the digital elevation model of Svalbard, the available webcam imageries in Svalbard and satellite products from Landsat, Sentinel and MODIS missions. All the available data will be integrated in order to estimate the fraction of snow cover, at different spatial resolutions, for each satellite mission. These estimations, computed at different sites in Svalbard islands, will offer the opportunity to better integrate results obtained by remote sensing with modeling and air-snow interactions studies. Particular attention will be devoted to the formalization of agreements with raw-data providers in case of not-public licensing policies.

Arctic Present Climate Change and Past Extreme Events (ARCA) CD4 core was micromilled at 200 μm increments using a micro-milling method (Drysdale et al., 2012). The stable isotope composition of the powders was measured on CO2 gas released by reaction with 105% H3PO4 at 70°C, which was measured using a mass spectrometer. Isotopic results are reported using the conventional δ-notation in per mille (‰), with reference to the Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite (V -PDB) standard. Instrument : MC-ICPMS, Nu-Instruments Plasma, Finnigan GasBench Parameter : Th**230/U**238 and U**234/U**238 activity ratios, (δ**13)C and (δ**18)O

Snow sampling every week near Gruvebadet (Svalbard)

Snow sampling every year at the Kongsvegen glacier, in Svalbard

Atlantification of Arctic ocean is causing a sharp increase in temperature and salinity around Svalbard Islands and in Kongsfjorden. Such phenomenon and the input of sediment-rich glacial meltwater influence salinity, water column turbidity, and light penetration with ecological implications on the microbial features.

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Study of the noise generated by glaciers for quantification of geo-physical processes, wide band frequency acoustic recorders will be placed in the Kongsfjorden during the spring-autumn period. Moreover, the biological sound will be also collected and the interacting with the geo-physical and anthropogenic sounds will be evaluated. Instrument : SM2U.