The automated nivological station was installed in November 2020 in a flat area over the tundra about 80 meters far from the Gruvebadet Atmospheric Laboratory and nearby a snow sampling site from where weekly snow samples are collected for chemical analysis. Sensors (Pt100 1/3 DIN) have been calibrated by their companies before installation and are connected to a datalogger for continuous acquisition. For all the parameters, data are logged with 10-minute time resolution and then averaged over 1 hour. This activity is carried out by the Aldo Pontremoli Centre part of the Joint Research Agreement ENI-CNR, in the framework of the SnowCorD project (SIOS Core Data).

Continuous Vis-Near IR Characterization of snow-ice surface in Ny-Ålesund (SnowIceCReM) The activity foreseen for 2015-2020 includes: continuous full-range reflectance measurements; continuous multispectral observations; ground-truth survey on snow surfaces. The first part of the activity is attempted to replicate the experiment carried out in 2014 where a VNIR spectroradiometer were deployed at the CCT. Hardware upgrades will be coupled with the addition of some position and optical reference targets. An hemispheric webcam will acquire high resolution sky and ground images to support the experiment in terms of cloud and snow cover/roughness characterization, and to provide a quality check of the rotating support position by means of the above mentioned specific targets. The availability of such accessory information will help on selecting a homogeneous spectral albedo dataset. The same quality check approach will be used also for the deployment of a second instrument that will be developed in order to obtain fixed band albedo at 860, 1240 and 1640 nm. Both measurements will be hemispheric, in the 350-2500nm wavelength range. While the first set up obtains asynchronous spectral albedo, the second one provides synchronous spectral albedo on bands selected considering sensors deployed on satellites. The final task will be persecuted with a ground-truth survey focused on calibrating the two different hemispherical receivers with bidirectional observations.

Snow and surface characteristics are monitored by CNR at the Climate Change Tower in Ny-Alesund.