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Environment and Development KlimaProg – Research programme on climate and climate change Programme period 2002-2011 Project Catalogue 2002 http://program.forskningsradet.no/klimaprog Contents KlimaProgs project portfolio comprises the following classes of projects: Coordinated projects Advanced research groups (Spissforskningsgrupper) Independent projects (Ordinary projects) Support to misc. natl. and internatl. Secretariats page 03 page 06 page 08 page 18 Coordinated Projects RegClim -Regional Climate Development under Global Warming, PHASE 2002 Prosjektansvarlig: Det norske meteorologiske institutt - Oslo Prosjektleder: Iversen, Trond Professor Prosjektnr: 120656/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.7.1997-31.12.2002 1997: 2,474,623 1998: 4,684,103 1999: 5,431,035 2000: 7,245,430 2001: 7,294,033 2002: 7,619,276 Objective(s): RegClim has two overall aims. Overall aim I is to estimate probable changes in the regional climate in Northern Europe, bordering sea areas and major parts of the Arctic (“our region”), given a global climate change. Overall aim II is to quantify, as far as possible, the significance of regional scale climate forcings pertaining specifically to our region. This includes processes determining the relatively warm sea-surface-temperature (SST) and modest sea ice cover in the Nordic Seas (Overall aim IIa), and processes related to radiatively active atmospheric contaminants with a regional distribution (Overall aim IIb). In PHASE”2002” there are 7 principal tasks (PT1 to PT7), each lead by a Principal Investigator (PI). PT1. Atmospheric dynamical downscaling Tasks 1.1 - 1.3; PT2. Coupled dynamical downscaling and sea state modelling. Tasks 2.1 - 2.3; PT3. Empirical Downscaling. Tasks 3.1 - 3.3; PT4. The Role of the Nordic Seas: Atmosphere-Ocean Feedback. Tasks 4.1 - 4.3; PT5. Numerical simulations of the climate state of the Nordic Seas and the adjacent oceans. Tasks 5.1-5.5 PT6. Climate response to aerosols and aerosol-cloud interactions. Task 6.1 - 6.7. PT7. Nonlinear chemistry and regional radiative forcing. Tasks 7.1 - 7.4. Each PT contribute to one of the overall aims Project Summary: There are two overall aims of RegClim. The first is to estimate probable changes in the regional climate in Northern Europe, bordering sea areas and major parts of the Arctic (“our region”), given a global climate change. The second is to quantify, as far as possible, uncertainties in these estimates, inter alia, by investigating the significance of regional scale climate forcings pertaining specifically to our region. This includes processes determining sea-surface-temperature (SST) and sea ice cover in the Nordic Seas, and processes related to radiatively active atmospheric contaminants with a regional distribution (direct and indirect aerosol effects, and tropospheric ozone). Climate in this connection encompasses the statistical properties of the elements air temperature, precipitation amount, wind at 10m, sea surface salinity and sea surface temperature, and sea-state (wave-height and sea level). Climate scenarioes of these parameters in our region will include estimates of typical seasonal variations, typical variations from year to year, and probable changes in severe weather conditions as defined by high wind speeds, large precipitation amounts and extreme seastate. We also aim at first estimates of inter-decadal variations to the extent global models can simulate this satisfactorily. In RegClim PHASE”2002” emphasis will be to complement and finalize existing activities, to do more in-depth analyses and a few alternative experiments, and to publish as much as possible of the results so far in RegClim. More information can be found at http: // www . nilu . no / regclim Past Climates of the Norwegian Region (NORPAST) Prosjektansvarlig: Norges geologiske undersøkelser Prosjektleder: Larsen, Eiliv Professor Prosjektnr: 127858/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.1999-31.12.2002 1999: 750,000 2000: 3,950,000 2001: 3,626,000 2002: 4,074,000 Objectives •Obtain high quality climate data from selected time periods (LGM=last glacial maximum, 15 - 9 ka, 10 - 0 ka, and 2 - 0 ka) along carefully selected transects/keysites in Norway and in the Norwegian Sea region, in order to contribute to our understanding of climate variability and cyclicity and to provide basic palaeoclimatic input data for the testing of climate models. •Develop new and improve existing climate proxies, and calibrate palaeoclimate reconstructions with instrumental and historical records in the region, in order to contribute to our understanding of the effects of natural and manmade forcing of climate change in the region. •Investigate links between Holocene variability and cyclicity of ocean heat flux through the thermohaline circulation and terrestrial climate variability and cyclicity along a north-south transect in Norway/Norwegian Sea, in order to contribute towards an understanding of how these linked systems reflect and respond to different known climate-forcing mechanics (orbital forcing, solar irradiance, volcanic eruptions, and CO2). •Improve our understanding of rapid late-glacial climatic changes and how these are reflected in the Norwegian Sea oceanic circulation during the decay of the last Fennoscandian and Barents Sea ice sheets. Investigate 3 the influence of rapid changes through the Holocene and the importance of forcing mechanisms (e.g. fresh-water events and mechanisms behind such events, orbital forcing, etc.). •Optimise palaeoclimate research in a climatically sensitive and important region and increase the scientific impact from the Norwegian palaeoclimate community with a focused and co-ordinated research effort. This includes a strong synthetic component with important inputs from meteorological and from historical data sources, and developing links with modelling groups. Project Summary: Natural climate change. Whatever the anthropogenic impact on future climate will be, it will interact with natural climate changes. Natural climate change has occurred in the past, as revealed by many palaeo-records, and will continue to occur in the future. Such variation affects society in ways that are difficult to predict. Thus, it is necessary to document and understand better the patterns, rates, and magnitudes of natural climate variation in the past in order to predict climate change for future decades and to determine the effects of such changes in different regions. Climate change of the past. Geological, biological, and historical data provide evidence of past climatic variability with periodicities ranging from millennial to subdecadal scales. During the first phase of NORPAST changes over various time scales, ranging from the last glacial maximum (~20 ka), the late glacial transition (159 ka), and the Holocene (10-0 ka), to the recent past (1-0 ka) have been documented. Climate models form one of the major links between science and political decision making. To be fully effective in simulating future climates, climate models should be tested with climate and boundary conditions unlike those of the present. Information on such conditions can be found in the past and retrieved from instrumental records and historical data from the last centuries and from palaeoclimatic records further back in time. Quantitative climate data. If climate models for the future are to be tested by simulating past climate conditions, geological and palaeoecological evidence from the past should be refined to provide quantitative values (e.g. temperature and precipitation estimates) for boundary conditions and for testing against model predictions of past climate. Norway and the Norwegian Sea are located in a climatic sensitive region. These areas are therefore important for reconstructing past climate and for understanding the mechanisms behind natural climate variability and the variability under different types of boundary conditions. NORPAST focuses and co-ordinates Norwegian palaeoclimatological research by developing multiparameter stratigraphical records at a limited number of ocean and land key-sites along climatically sensitive transects, by focusing on selected time periods, and by emphasising quantification in palaeoclimatology. NORPAST addresses the following critical questions: (i) What was the relative importance of different climatic forcing mechanisms in the change from a glacial to an interglacial world in Norway? (ii) What was the natural climatic variability during the last 10,000 years, especially the last 2000 years, of the Holocene? (iii) How rapid are present and predicted climate change in different parts of Norway, compared to natural variability resulting from natural forcing mechanisms? (iv) What does the growth and decay of the last Fennoscandian Ice Sheet tell us about the forcing mechanisms of glaciation? and (v) What are the influences of ice sheets and their dynamics on regional climate? To solve these questions, NORPAST will: (i) Obtain high quality palaeoclimatic data from selected time periods along critical transects within Norway and in the Norwegian Sea to increase our understanding of natural climate variability and its patterns in space and time; (ii) Develop new and refine existing quantitative palaeoclimatic tools (e.g. transfer functions) in order to transform geological and palaeoecological data into quantitative estimates of past climate; (iii) Investigate links between Holocene climate variability and cyclicity in ocean heat flux through thermohaline circulation; (iv) Study rapid climatic changes and investigate how these are reflected in the Norwegian Sea oceanic circulation during the decay of the last Fennoscandian and Barents Sea ice sheets, and (v) Develop and strengthen links and research activities within the Norwegian palaeoclimatic community and with Norwegian and other climate modelling communities. NORPAST consists of five main tasks, each with a task leader: 1+2) Lake sediments and historical records as archives of climate change, 3) Ice-sheet dimensions, 4) Marine sediments as archives of climate change, 5) Developing quantitative transfer functions, and 6) Modelling. Within each task there are several subprojects, each with different quantitative palaeoclimatic deliverables of direct relevance for the modelling of past climate in terms of either boundary conditions or model validation data. Lake and other terrestrial, including historical, archives. This task consists of five sub-projects using a range of geological, biological, and meteorological techniques that will provide reconstructions of summer and winter temperatures, winter and annual precipitation, palaeowind directions, and natural variability of extreme weather events, and homogenized climate data for the historical and instrumental periods. Ice sheet dimensions. This task has two sub-projects that will provide data on the lateral extent and surface geometry of the western part of the Barents Sea Ice Sheet, on the surface geometry of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, and on the chronology and lateral extent of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet. Marine archives. This task includes three sub-projects concerned with the reconstruction of summer and winter sea-surface temperatures, sea-ice extent, salinity, and ocean heat flux at selected time periods. Transfer functions. This task will develop or extend quantitative biological-climate transfer functions and will provide 4 user-friendly computer software that implements 'stateof-the-art' statistical palaeoclimatic techniques. Data Synthesis and Modelling. This task has two subprojects. One concentrates on developing a relational data-base/GIS of NORPAST palaeoclimatic data in a form directly useable by the climate modelling community. The second project will establish an icesheet database for the Fennoscandian and Svalbard part of the Barents Sea ice-sheet. Network NORPAST will provide Norwegian contributions to many on-going international projects including IGBP WDC-A, PAGES, CLIVAR, CAPE, IMAGES, PEP, PMAP, PMIP, and GCTE, and other international projects such as EPC, INTIMATE, PANASH, QUEEN, WCRP, COSTA, STRATAGEM, EPILOG, CHILL-10000, and EDDI. Coordinated Ozone and UV project (COZUV) and an ozone lidar within the Norwegian measurement network. - Modelling activities include: Further development and use of two 3-D chemical transport models, one for long term studies and one for detailed process studies. Moreover, investigation of transport mechanisms, validation and use of radiative transfer models. - Harmonization and coordination activities between measurements and modelling activities to achieve the following: diagnosis of chemical ozone loss, understanding of transport mechanisms between the polar vortex and mid/low-latitudes, determine the connections between UV radiation with ozone, cloud optical depth and surface albedo. NOClim - Norwegian Ocean Climate Project Prosjektansvarlig: Norsk institutt for luftforskning Prosjektleder: Braathen, Geir O. Forskningsleder Prosjektnr: 128056/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.1999-31.12.2002 1999: 1,545,572 2000: 2,929,204 2001: 2,925,000 2002: 2,340,000 Prosjektansvarlig: Geofysisk institutt,Universitetet i Bergen Prosjektleder: Haugan, Peter Mosby Professor Prosjektnr: 139815/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.7.2000-31.12.2002 2000: 4,360,000 2001: 5,334,800 2002: 5,005,200 Main objective: The main objective is to quantify the degree and geographical extent of chemically-induced ozone loss in the Arctic and at mid-latitudes during some selected winter and spring periods through a nationally concerted action using a variety of measurement and modelling techniques. This will provide a basis for improvement of numerical models that will be used to predict stratospheric ozone trends for the next several decades. Scientific objectives: - To quantify chemical ozone loss - To improve the description of mechanisms behind ozone loss - To better understand the processes leading to ozone loss at middle latitudes - To improve the predictions of future ozone change - To obtain more precise ground based UV measurements - To study the effect of clouds on surface UV radiation - To measure the altitude variations of the UV radiation field - To develop present and future UV maps for Norway with know errors Project Summary: COZUV encompasses all the Norwegian research groups within the field of stratospheric ozone and UV research. Investigation of the ozone layer over north polar and middle latitudes will be accomplished through a combination of an instrumental measurement network throughout Norway and a suite of chemical, transport and UV modelling techniques. The tasks listed below will be carry out: - Instrumental techniques include: UV/Vis spectrometers, UV radiometers, ozonesondes Objective(s): The overall objectives of the project are to contribute in a coherent and rational way with Norwegian resources and expertise to: 1) Improve and enhance our understanding of rapid changes in the thermohaline circulation in the northern seas 2) Improve and enhance our understanding of ocean and ice processes related to climate, and mechanisms causing significant variability in the hydrography, circulation and ice cover in the northern seas 3) Maintaining time series for detecting climate change in the northern seas. Project Summary: The project is organized in 7 scientific tasks, each with a principal investigator (PI). The PIs are drawn from three university departments one private research institute and three national institutes. Several institutions and research groups contribute to each of the tasks. One task primarily deals with rapid climate changes in the past , three tasks deal with process studies based on combination of modeling with new observations to be collected during the project period, two tasks deal with analysis of large existing data sets from model runs and observations, and one task deals with maintaining long term observations. The main approach of the project is to combine observation oriented activities, numerical modeling, and interpretation of past climate variability in studies where different kinds of expertise complement each other. The emphasis is on possible rapid and 5 dramatic changes with potential major consequences for air-interaction and regional and global climate. 6 Advanced Reserach Groups Tropospheric Chemistry and Climate CHEMCLIM Prosjektansvarlig: Geofysikk, Inst. for,Universitetet i Oslo Prosjektleder: Isaksen, Ivar S. A. Professor Prosjektnr: 139810/700 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.7.2000-31.12.2004 2000: 1,000,000 2001: 1,700,000 2002: 1,900,000 2003: 1,900,000 2004: 1,700,000 Objective(s): The long-term objective in CHEMCLIM: To improve our understanding of how emissions from different sources of pollutants affect the distribution of chemically active greenhouse gases and particles and how the changes in these gases affect the climate in different regions. Specific objectives: 1) Develop and strengthen the ongoing modelling activity in relation to climate-chemistry interactions using atmospheric chemical transport models (CTMs) and general circulation models (GCM). 2) Perform capacity building through educating PhD students and hiring Post Docs. 3) Establish a closer collaboration among local research organisations, and with international research organisations that the groups have had scientific collaboration with over a long period. Project Summary: Focus will be on chemically active greenhouse gases and particles like methane (CH4) and ozone (O3) and secondary particles. Their concentrations are largely determined by physical and chemical processes in the atmosphere. Ozone and secondary anthropogenic particles have short atmospheric lifetimes. The large variations in space and time are a result of processes occurring on highly different spatial and temporal scales. To study these interactions a main activity will be to improve the modelling capability of regional and largescale chemical, radiative and dynamical interactions. Source distribution, atmospheric transformation and removal, interaction with clouds and radiation and the impact on the climate system will be studied. Focus will be on how the large regional inhomogenities in species distribution, and in radiative forcing interact with climate. Atmospheric chemistry codes of gases and particles will be implemented in a dynamic coupled global circulation model (GCM), and CHEMCLIM will build on the long-term modelling activity of atmospheric chemistry and on the more recent studies on aerosols and cloud physics that has been established at the Department of Geophysics, University of Oslo. A close collaboration will be established with NILU, DNMI and CICERO, and the continuation of the collaboration between the Department and internationally recognised research groups. Bjerknes Collaboration on Climate Research Prosjektansvarlig: Geologisk institutt,Universitetet i Bergen Prosjektleder: Jansen, Eystein Professor Prosjektnr: 139841/700 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.7.2000-31.12.2004 2000: 2,393,851 2001: 2,230,168 2002: 2,475,981 2003: 2,400,000 2004: 2,200,000 Main objective: Develop a strong internationally known climate research unit based on the Bjerknes Coillaboration with special strength on climates of the ocean, oceanic climate processes and high latitude climate change. Specific objectives: 1. Support integration and co-ordination of 4 research groups from the three institutions of the Bjerknes Collaboration. 2. Support research activities in: Coupled ocean-iceatmosphere modelling, Paleoclimatology, Ocean carbon cycle studies, Ocean circulation observations and processes, Remote sensing of sea ice. 3. Develop a visting fellows program to develop strong ties to leading climate research groups internationally and improve training of new researchers. 4. Develop a seminar and workshop series to improve integration, exchange of ideas and develop new research plans and ideas. Project Summary: The Bjerknes Collaboration will be established as an advanced research group. The University of Bergen, The Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, and the Institute for Marine Research have formally agreed to establish a joint climate research unit, the Bjerknes Collaboration, located in Bergen. The key element of the Bjerknes Collaborationis the organisation of researchers from the three institutions in four joint research groups. The scientific focus of the Bjerknes Collaboration is on ocean-ice-atmosphere climate processes, and on the climatic evolution of the North Atlantic, the Nordic Seas, the Arctic Ocean and surrounding regions in the present, past and in the future. In some areas the Bjerknes Collaboration posess research teams on high scientific level. The vision is to integrate the research groups, and 7 by cross-fertilisation develop the Bjerknes Collaboration as a strong international center of excellence in climate research with a special strength on climates of the ocean and oceanic climate processes and high latitude climate change. In the context of this proposal we have identified some selected areas which we believe will particularly benefit the long term developm ent most. These are the areas we will direct funds towards: 1. Improve the internal cohesion of the research teams by supporting initiatives which ensure dialogue and exchange of research ideas. 2. Support areas where we wish to develop more strength. These are: Coupled modelling , Carbon cycle modelling, Ocean observations and integration of observational data, Remote sensing of sea ice, New technologies for paleoclimate analyses from sediment cores, Dating and improved chronological framework for paleoclimate data. 3. Improve our capabilities in terms of infrastructure. 4. Improve the recruitment and training of a new generation of researchers by a) Recruitment of Ph.D. and Post Doctoral candidates, b) Establish a programme for visiting fellows. 8 Independent Projects The role of the North Atlantic Oscillations in interannual variability of the carbon cycle. A follow up study of the EUproject ESOP-2 Prosjektansvarlig: Geofysisk institutt,Universitetet i Bergen Prosjektleder: Johannessen, Truls Førsteamanuensis Prosjektnr: 127881/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.1999-14.5.2002 1999: 231,200 2000: 380,000 2001: 397,000 2002: 154,400 Objective(s): - Evaluate the role of convection areas in oceanatmosphere gas exchange. - Investigate the role of thermohaline circulation in CO2 transport. - To provide precise calculations of inorganic carbon fluxes and budgets based upon a tandem study of SF6 and inorganic carbon. - To provide better constraints on the regional and global carbon budgets. - To study the relationship between CO2 uptake in the Greenland Sea and the change in the NAO. - To use observations to improve and calibrate coupled atmosphere-ocean models. Project Summary: The project will utilise new refined techniques to elucidate the thermohaline circulation as it is influenced by ice and fresh water in the Greenland Sea and study the Greenland Sea/Nordic Seas role in inorganic carbon uptake and transport to surrounding oceans. The primary data will be gathered on a summer-time cruise of the James Clark Ross in 1999 and a winter/spring cruise of the Håkon Mosby in 2000. In the period 1998-2000 this will yield unique information on water-mass exchange between the Greenland Sea and surrounding waters, and will continue to be useful to quantify convective mixing in the Greenland Sea and the influence of convective mixing on inorganic carbon transport to the North Atlantic Ocean. This will be obtained by comparing the inorganic carbon content with the spreading rate of the sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). SF6 was released during a James Clark Ross cruise in late summer of 1996 during the EU-project "Thermohaline circulation in the Greenland Sea", European Subpolar Project (ESOP-2), MAST III. One of the main objective of ESOP-2 was to couple the information from the SF6 experiment with the inorganic carbon content. SF6 marked transport will enable geting a better estimate on the natural and anthropogenic inorganic carbon advective term. Unfortunately within the time of ESOP-2 there is no chance to get this information due to slower southward spread of the SF6-tracer than expected. To capitalise on the work done in ESOP-2 and the large investment in the tracer release the projectgroup proposes a continuation for three years in this project. The tracer release has tagged the central water masses of the Greenland Sea and the follow up of this experiment is something which can only be done once, that is during the next few years. Another important aspect of this study is: An abrupt change in the potential of the Greenland Sea to sequester CO2 was observed at the same time as a marked shift in the North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAO) occured. It has recently been argued that strong convection in the Greenland Sea is linked to the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) because of the NAO's effect on freshwater transport from the Arctic Ocean, lower air temperatures and/or lower windstress curl occuring at these times. Since an abrupt change in the NAO just occured synchronously with change large change in the interannual variability in the annual carbon cycle and a more intense deep convection probably will occur in near future, the timing is idle to observe the extreme physical and chemical boundary conditions in the Greenland Sea in the next two years to come, 19992000. Paleo Envrionment and Climate History of the Russian Arctic (PECHORA) Prosjektansvarlig: Miljø og ressursstudier, Senter for Prosjektleder: Svendsen, John Inge Forsker Prosjektnr: 128196/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.1999-31.12.2002 1999: 195,000 2000: 257,000 2001: 308,869 2002: 237,000 Objective(s): The PECHORA project aims to increase our understanding of climatic changes and the impacts of these changes to the environment and human occupation in the Russian Arctic during the last interglacial-glacial cycle, a period of 130,000 years. Three sub-goals are defined: 1. Reconstruction of the Barents-and Kara Sea Ice Sheets through time (geology) 2. Reconstrucion of fauna, vegetation and climate history (palaeozoology/palaeo-botany/geology) 3. Reconstruction of the history of human settlement during the last ice age (archaeology) The main objective of the investigations proposed in this application is to reconstruct the long term climatic evolution based on sediment cores from lake basins in the Russian Arctic. Project Summary: PECHORA (Paleo Environment and Climate History of the Russian Arctic) is a Russian -Norwegian interdisciplinary research project aiming to reconstruct late Quaternary environments and history of early 9 humans in Northern Russia during the last interglacialglacial cycle. The subjects involved are: archaeology, geology, palaeo-zoology, palaeo-botany and paleomagnetism. The main objectives of the research, which is based on comprehensive field investigations in Russia, are to reconstruct the history of the ice sheets, fauna, vegetation, climate, and ice age humans. In addition to investigations of paleolithic sites and exposed sediment sections the project will undertake coring of lake basins in order to retrieve long and continuous lacustrine sequences for studying environmental and climatic changes. The results may give a better understanding of the geological development and basic processes in the climatic system, and may be used to test and validate the General Circulation Models. The archaeological results will improve the knowledge of the routes and timing of the early human migrations in Northern Europe. Scattering and absorption by nonspherical particles in the atmospheres and the ocean Prosjektansvarlig: Fysisk institutt,Universitetet i Bergen Prosjektleder: Stamnes, Jakob J. Professor Prosjektnr: 133436/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2000-5.3.2002 2000: 400,000 2001: 510,000 2002: 87,300 Objective(s): The main objective of our work is to investigate the influence of aerosol and ice cloud particle shape on atmospheric radiative transfer. Subgoals: i)To assess the impact of particle shape in size-shape distributions of randomly oriented particles and on radiative transfer in climate studies and remote sensing applications. ii)To comprehensively assess the capabilities of models based on simple particle shapes, such as spheroids, to model realistic ensembles of particles. Project Summary: The goal is to develop methods and algorithms for scattering by nonspherical particles. Such particles are abundant in the atmosphere in the contaminations (aerosols) and as ice particles in clouds. The algorithms are to be used to determine the scattering and absorption by particles in the atmosphere and in coastal waters. The atmospheric scattering by nonspherical particles has impact on the radiation balance, the climate, and the chemical composition of the atmosphere. The scattering by nonspherical particles in coastal waters has impact on the ability to determine environmentally important parameters in the atmosphere, on the surface and in the water by means of remote sensing. Holocene Oceanic heat flux variability Prosjektansvarlig: Norsk Polarinstitutt Prosjektleder: Koc, Nalan Forsker Prosjektnr: 133455/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2000-31.12.2002 2000: 121,000 2001: 57,500 2002: 73,500 Objective(s): The main objective of the proposed work is to find a statistical method or a combination of methods that resolve the magnitudes of Late Holocene climatic variations. Other aspects will be to obtain better understanding of natural climate variability during the Holocene and detect possible regional signatures of climatic variations. These objectives will be realized through: a) Testing of 3 different statistical methods on diatom assemblagesdiatoms. b) Studies of natural climate variability during the last 2000 years and during the Hypithermal. c) Studies of regional signatures in climate variability. Project Summary: Many recent studies have shown that the last glacial period was a climatically highly unstable period. Modelling results suggest that modulation of the oceanic and atmospheric circulation has occurred in the past and is one of the principal factors driving high amplitude climate and environmental change in Europe. In some scenarios subtle changes in forcing factors produce large and rapid changes occurring on decadal time scales. An important implication of these studies is that the current interglacial climate may have been and still may be subject to the same kind of climatic variability. One of the main issues in paleoenvironmental research today is to understand the stability and variability of the current climates and natural environments, whether the natural system is stable in its present mode of operation, what internal and external forcings are required to maintain or change it, and what impacts such changes might have. In order to provide such assesments it is important to assess variability by obtaining time series that extend beyond the length of instrumental records. The longest time series with information on the strength of the "Nordic heat pump" comes from Ocean Weather Station M, but extend only 50 years back in time. It is the aim of this project to reconstruct decadal scale sea-surface temperature (SST) records from the Nordic Seas for the present interglacial Holocene by using siliceous microfossil group diatoms. Three different statistical methods will also be tested in order to find the best statistical method that resolves Holocene SST variability. 10 Quantitative Reconstruction of Holocene Temperatures in S.Norway from Chironomid Subfossils Prosjektansvarlig: Zoologisk institutt,Universitetet i Bergen Prosjektleder: Willassen, Endre Førsteamanuensis Prosjektnr: 133462/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2000-31.1.2003 2000: 391,000 2001: 432,000 2002: 447,000 2003: 34,300 Objective(s): To produce a doctorate with special research skills in palaeoclimatology. To provide new proxy data on subfossil chironomids in sediment cores. Quantitative reconstruction of regional Holocene summer temperatures based on a transfer function from modern species assemblages. Contribute to the further development of this methodology in close cooperation with multidisciplinary partners. Achieve new knowledge about regional climate dynamics in S.Norway. Project Summary: Past environmental states can be inferred from a variety of proxy data in lake sediments. Head capsules from chironomid larvae are well suited for this purpose. Recent studies of modern chironomid assemblages have shown that temperature is generally one of the most important factors in structuring species composition in lakes. Analyses with multivariate techniques have made it possible to calibrate modern species compositions in Norwegian lakes with mean July air temperatures. These calibrated data can be used in a transfer function to quantitatively reconstruct temperatures from the species composition of chironomid head capsules in lake sediments. The method has recently been applied by the applicants on core data from Finse and are judged as a very promising tool in obtaining detailed and accurate temperature records from terrestrial environments. The project would like to analyse several additional cores to obtain temperature reconstructions over an eastwest gradient in Southern Norway for the Holocene. Accurate temperature curves for this period are scarce and will assist in an understanding of natural climatic variability and glacial cycles. Especially, for the alpine environments this will help in mapping Holocene glacial expansions prior to the Little Ice Age. From a biological perspective, more exact knowledge of local temperature variability will provide a better reference for understanding the sensitivity of mountain ecosystems, their dynamics and the histories of species distributions. Optical Properties of Aerosols - a Laboratory and Modelling Study Prosjektansvarlig: Kjemisk institutt,Universitetet i Oslo Prosjektleder: Nielsen, Claus J. Professor Prosjektnr: 134110/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2000-28.2.2003 2000: 562,000 2001: 367,200 2002: 412,000 2003: 68,700 Hovedmål: Dr.grad for Cathrine Elisabeth Lund Myhre. Delmål: 1. å bidra til karakterisering av atmosfæriske aersolers optiske egenskaper, 2. å bidra til karakterisering av atmosfæriske aersolers fysiskkjemiske egenskaper, 3. å utvikle modeller som tillater å ekstrapolere laboratoriedata til atmosfæriske forhold. Project Summary: Aerosols influence the physical and chemical properties of the atmosphere, and particle formation is closely linked to climate and the Greenhouse effect. Aerosols affect the radiative balance directly through the scattering and absorption of light, and indirectly by acting as condensation nuclei in cloud formation. The heterogeneous processes leading to stratospheric ozone depletion is another indirect climatic effect of aerosols. The project aims at characterising the optical and physico-chemical properties of atmospheric aerosol mimics. Such data is scarce. Models for the parameterisation of laboratory data will be developed to facilitate the calculation of the optical properties of real aerosols. The optical and physico-chemical data from the project will contribute to better atmospheric radiation transfer models and improve the retrieval of atmospheric data from satellite measurements. A model study of the glacial circulation and biogeochemistry with focus on the high northern seas Prosjektansvarlig: Nansen Senter for Miljø og Fjernmåling Prosjektleder: Jansen, Eystein Professor Prosjektnr: 134542/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2000-31.12.2002 2000: 362,138 2001: 467,048 2002: 442,000 11 Main objectives: Examine the ocean dynamic and thermodynamic response to anomalous high latitude fresh water supply and solar insolation. Examine the corresponding response on the marine cycling of carbon and simulate the distribution of oxygen isotopes in the ocean. Specific objectives: Study the ocean climate response to increased freshwater input at high latitudes using a global version of the Nansen Center version of the Miami Isopycnic Coordinate Ocean Model. Study the effect of realistic changes in the solar insolation using the same model. Study the difference in the marine cycling of carbon for glacial and today's climate systems. Project Summary: One of the central questions with respect to natural variability in the North Atlantic climate system is related to the stability of the thermohaline circulation. Coupled atmosphere-ocean models indicate that the thermohaline circulation is particularly sensitive to redistribution of freshwater. In global warming scenarios, a typical response is evaporation at low latitudes due to heating of the surface waters, and increased precipitation run-off at high latitudes. Should these factors lead to a reduction in the overturning circulation this could have large climatic impacts in northern Europe in general and in Scandinavia in particular over the next century. In this project, the effect of increased high latitude freshwater input will be examined using a global 3D isopycnal ocean model with focus on the high northern seas. The sensitivity of the ocean circulation to changes in solar insolation will also be addressed. Finally, by using a biogeochemical module changes in the marine cycling of carbon in the glacial climate will be examined, and the oxygen isotope distribution of the glacial ocean will be simulated. It is believed that the proposed study will lead to an improved understanding of the natural variability of our climate system. Does location matter? Simultaneous reductions of several GHGs and abatement effectiveness Prosjektansvarlig: CICERO Senter for klimaforskning Prosjektleder: Berntsen, Terje Koren Forsker Prosjektnr: 142128/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2001-31.12.2002 2001: 310,101 2002: 429,695 Principal objective: To quantify in terms of radiative forcing the importance of considering the realistic situation that several components are affected simultaneously by measures to reduce emissions of climate gases, and to assess any regional variations in effects of reductions for radiative forcing of climate. Partial objective: - To improve our understanding of the chemical responses and senitivities to changes in emissions and their regional variations. - To improve the basis for using a multi-component approach which includes short-lived gases and aerosols in the negotiations of future climate protocols. Project Summary: Most of today's climate policy is based on the assumption that the location of emission reductions has no impact on the climate effect. However, this may not be the case if several components are affected through technological couplings of sources. Abatement measures such as reduced fossil fuel consumption or switching from coal to gas not only affect CO2, but may also have an impact on components such as NOx, CO, VOCs, SO2 and soot particles which may indirectly cause significant radiative forcing through chemical processes in the atmosphere. Previous studies have shown that there are large geographical variations in the magnitude of these indirect effects. Thus, the effectiveness of abatement measures is expected to vary depending on whether measures affect a suite of components or just one. Studying the realistic situation where several components are reduced simultaneously may provide new information about possible regional and temporal variations in abatement effectivness, which will be important in the development of international climate policy. The main objective of the project is thus to provide knowledge about whether other components affected by reduction measures will increase or decrease the total efficiency of measures, and whether there are significant regional variations in the efficiency of such reductions. An Arctic study of the importance of methane for climate change - increased use of climate data from the Zeppelin station, Ny-Ålesund Prosjektansvarlig: NILU - Tromsø Prosjektleder: Hansen, Georg Avdelingsdirektør Prosjektnr: 142744/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2001-9.6.2004 2001: 219,000 2002: 493,000 2003: 493,000 2004: 267,000 Main goal: To investigate the role of methane as a climate gas, based on measurements at the Zeppelin station, NyÅlesund, Svalbard 12 Sub-goals: - To re-evaluate existing methane data from the Zeppelin station - To analyse methane concentration data in context with measurements of other trace gasses - To interpret short-term variability in methane concentration, e.g., with respect to their implications for methane sources Project Summary: Methane is one of the most important climate gasses and the climate gas with the largest growth rate. At the same time, there are still large uncertainties related to sources and sinks of atmospheric methane, as well as to possible feedback mechanisms between methane concentration in the atmosphere and climate change. At Zeppelin station, Ny-ζlesund, Svalbard, continuous monitoring of methane concentration with high time resolution was started recently, in order to monitor both long-term trends and short-term variations caused by meteorological conditions. These investigations are envisaged to be important elements of Norwegian activity in the frame of greenhouse gas monitoring and climate research. In this project, a Ph.D.-student will take measurements of methane concentration at Zeppelin station, analyse the data series with respect to long-term trends, and put the data in a context with measurements of related trace gasses. Moreover, the importance of methane sources in the Arctic will be investigated by analysing the measured short-term variations of methane using trajectory calculations, statistical methods and 3D transport calculations. operated several currentmeter array to measure the flux of mass and heat across the Scotland-Greenland Ridge. A data processing and analysing phase resulting in numerous publications has followed the field phase, including two papers in NATURE. For the first time a total budget for the exchange across the Scotland-Greenland Ridge built on direct measurements is published and a dramatical reduction in the overflow through the Faroe Bank Channel has been proven. The aim of this project is to secure that all the data are made available to the scientific community, and to stimulate to further publications. Nordic WOCE Finalization Primary objective: To establish relationships between decadal to centennial climate change and the vertical water mass structure along the Norwegian continental margin. Specific objectives: - Identify possible multiyear to decadal scale variations in the vertical position of th deep front on the continental slope, and to evaluate whether such changes are related to the large scale atmospheric field, i.e. the NAO dynamics. - Study the degree to which specific atmospheric forcing is capable of producing a specific vertical stratification along the continental slope off Norway. - Analyse 3-4 sediment cores which provide decadal resolution over the past 1500-2000 years, and generate data for deep water temperature. Project Summary: We wish to explore the hypothesis that the vertical extent of Atlantic waters on the continental slope varies as a result of the atmospheric forcing through a combined study of instrumental data, palaeo-observations and analyses of model output data. If successful, the outcome is a method which may be used for data sets covering long time spans and may index the state of the inflow at decadal resolution, and document the forcing situation involved in past changes of high latitude climates. Prosjektansvarlig: UNIFOB - Bjerknes-senteret,Universitetet i Bergen Prosjektleder: Østerhus, Svein Forsker Prosjektnr: 148122/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2002-31.12.2002 2002: 320,000 Objective(s): The aim of this project is to finalize the Nordic WOCE (NW) program by means of: - Contribute to the international WOCE finalization meetings by presenting results from NW - Publishing the final Nordic WOCE report on WWW. - Making data and other product accessible on the WWW Project Summary: A major task of the Nordic WOCE programme was to describe and quantify the exchanges of water, heat and salt across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge, both the inflow of Atlantic water to the Nordic Seas, and the overflows across the ridge into the Atlantic. During the years 1992-1998 the NW group has carried out an extensive hydrographical/tracer cruise program and Decadal to century scale changes in the vertical water mass structure of the Norwegian Sea-climatic implications and possible forcing Prosjektansvarlig: UNIFOB - Bjerknes-senteret,Universitetet i Bergen Prosjektleder: Jansen, Eystein Professor Prosjektnr: 148142/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2002-31.12.2003 2002: 528,000 2003: 386,000 13 Southern Ocean Holocene Climate Variability Prosjektansvarlig: Norsk Polarinstitutt Prosjektleder: Koc, Nalan Forsker Prosjektnr: 148144/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2002-31.12.2003 2002: 84,000 2003: 122,000 Objective(s): The main objective of this project is to reconstruct sea surface temperatures and sea ice cover from two cores to study the climatic evolution and variability of the Holocene in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. We aim to: a) to document the climatic evolution and variability of the Holocene in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, b) to compare the timing of the Holocene climate events between the southern and northern hemispheres, c) to understand the coupling between the ocean and atmosphere systems during the Holocene by comparing timing and magnitudes of oceanic events and atmospheric events recorded in the ice cores. Project Summary: One of the main issues in paleoenvironmental research today is to understand the stability and variability of the current climates and natural environments, whether the natural system is stable in its present mode of operation, what internal and external forcings are required to maintain or change it, and what impacts such changes might have. In order to provide such assesments it is important to assess variability by obtaining time series that extend beyond the length of instrumental records (i.e. the last 100 years). Recent studies from the North Atlantic show that it is possible to reconstruct past climate proxies at decadalscale resolution, and that there is a series of high frequency variability in the Holocene climate. However, in order to understand the mechanisms behind Holocene climate variability we also need to investigate Holocene climate variability in the Antarctic ocean-cryosphere system. The aim of this project is to reconstruct sea surface temperatures (SST) and sea ice cover from high resolution sediment cores from the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean to study decadal scale Holocene climate variability and compare interhemispheric timing of events. Temperature Variabilities and Trends in the Atlantic Ocean and the Nordic Seas Over the Last 50 years Prosjektansvarlig: Nansen Senter for Miljø og Fjernmåling Prosjektleder: Johannessen, Ola M. Direktør Prosjektnr: 148263/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 18.3.2002-17.3.2004 2002: 445,000 2003: 562,000 2004: 117,000 Main Objective: To analyse the temporal evolution and spatial structure of temperature anomalies and chlorofluorocarbons in the Atlantic Ocean and the Nordic Seas over the last 50 years based on observations and model simulations Specific Objectives: - To analyse observed surface and sub-surface temperature variabilities and trends in the Atlantic Ocean and the Nordic Seas over the last 50 years - To analyse temporal and spatial distributions of the chlorofluorocarbons CFC-11 and CFC-12 in the same region - To perform ensamble integrations with a global coupled ice-ocean model, forced with climatological and synoptic reanalyses data sets for the last 50 years - To use observed and simulated temperature fields to identify warming, the formation, propagation and decay of temperature anomalies - To perform a parallel analysis of the observed and simulated CFCs to highlight the adiabatic component of the temperature variabilities and trends Project Summary: The ocean reponse to the natural variability of the surface heat fluxes, and possibly the signal of global warming, will be examined based on a state-of-the-art global ice-ocean model forced with two different synoptic reanalyses data sets for the period 1948-2000. Focus will be put on the Atlantic Ocean and the Nordic Seas as the observed warming (at least for the North Atlantic Ocean) is strongest here; since the natural variability of the marine climate system is strong and fairly well known in this region; and since the Atlantic Ocean and the Nordic Seas belong to the most frequently and densest observed regions of the World Ocean. The examination of the temperature variabilities and trends will be supplemented by analyses of the observed and simulated ocean uptake of the atmospheric trace gasses CFC-11 and CFC-.12. The temporal and spatial distribution of these trace gasses serve as a powerful tool for testing and validating OGCM, and to infer magnitude, sources and mixing pathways of water masses. The Atlantic –Nordic Seas region is particularly useful in this respect as this is the only region in which observations are available for the last two decades. Light scattering and absorption by nonspherical particles in the atmosphere and the ocean Prosjektansvarlig: Fysisk institutt,Universitetet i Bergen Prosjektleder: Stamnes, Jakob J. Professor 14 Prosjektnr: 148325/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2002-31.12.2004 2002: 107,650 2003: 107,650 2004: 107,650 Main objective: Develop methods for light scattering by non-spherical particles in order to determine the impact of ice particles in clouds on the radiation balance, chemical composition of the atmosphere, and climate evolution. Sub-objectives: (i) Develop ethods and implement algorithms for scattering and absorption of light by oblate and prolate spherodis. (ii) Compare results from (i) with corresponding results for spherical particles. (iii) Assess the impact of nonspherical particle form (NSPF) on warming/cooling of the atmosphere and on photo dissociation of molecules. (iv) Assess the impact of NSPF on the retrieval of atmospheric parameters and coastal-water constituents from satellite data. (v) Assess the impact of polarisation on the retrieval of atmospheric parameters and coastal-water constituents from satellite data. Project Summary: The goal is to develop methods and algorithms for scattering by nonspherical particles. Such particles are abundant in the atmosphere in the form of contaminations (aerosols) and as ice particles in clouds. The algorithms are to be used to determine the scattering and absorption by particles in the atmosphere and in coastal waters. The atmospheric scattering by nonspherical particles has impact on the radiation balance, the climate, and the chemical composition of the atmosphere. The scattering by nonspherical particles in coastal waters has impact on our ability to determine environmentally important parameters in the atmosphere, on the surface and in the water by mean of remote sensing. Seasonal forecast of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oscillations with tropospherestratosphere models Prosjektansvarlig: UNIFOB - Bjerknes-senteret,Universitetet i Bergen Prosjektleder: Kvamstø, Nils Gunnar Prosjektnr: 148417/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2002-31.12.2004 2002: 592,600 2003: 566,000 2004: 566,000 Major objective: To determine the role of the troposphere/stratosphere connections in the predictability of the NAO/AO. Project Summary: The central theme of the proposed research is to examine the extension into the middle atmosphere, of one of the primary modes of wintertime extratropical variability, known as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). It has been recently found that a more global oscillation, the Arctic Oscillation (AO), is a major indicator of climate variability in the high latitudes. The AO encompasses the more regional North Atlantic Oscillation, and extends from the surface upwards into the stratosphere. In this project, we will carry out an ensamble of seasonal general circulation model simulations to examine this stratospheric/tropospheric linkage, and in particular, whether the modelling of this linkage could improve the predictability of the NAO. Such improvements will have a large impact on marine activities, first of all through weather-, wave- and sea-state forecasts. Marine 14C reservoir ages off western Norway determined from coupled AMS and Useries datings of the coral Lophelia pertusa Prosjektansvarlig: UNIFOB - Bjerknes-senteret,Universitetet i Bergen Prosjektleder: Dahl, Carin Andersson Forsker Prosjektnr: 148534/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2002-31.12.2003 2002: 136,000 2003: 148,000 Objetive(s): The main objective of the proposed study is to: - improve the precision of Holocene marine 14C datings by determining the marine 14C reservoir age off western Norway. This will be done by: - performing coupled Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) and U-series (TIMS) dating on Holecene samples of the coral Lophelia pertusa Project Summary: One of the major requirements for the determination of abrupt as well as long-term changes in the climate system is precise dating of these events. In late Quaternary paleoclimatology dating by the radiocarbon method is indispensable. However, when dating marine sediment samples one has to consider the effect of the marine 14C reservoir age, which unfortunately is difficult to determine precisely. Today, the mean global reservoir age is estimated to about 400 years, but the reservoir age vary considerable (several hundreds of years) between different areas and over time, which greatly affects the precision of marien radiocarbon dates. Through detailed studies of joint marine and terrestrial records covering the last deglacaiation and the Holocene, it has become increasingly clear that a new model to 15 quantify reservoir age, both temporally and spatially, in the high-latitude North Atlantic areas is urgently needed. The proposed project aims at improving the precision of Holocene marine 14C datings by determining the marine 14C reservoir age off western Norway. This will be done by perforing coupled Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) and U-series (TIMS) dating on Holocene samples of the coral Lophelia pertusa. Parameterisation of snow and ice albedo in the ECHAM5 General Circulation Model (GCM) Prosjektansvarlig: Norsk Polarinstitutt Prosjektleder: Winther, Jan-Gunnar Forsker Prosjektnr: 148642/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.9.2002-31.8.2005 2002: 229,000 2003: 688,000 2004: 688,000 2005: 459,000 Objective(s): The main goal is to improve today’s parameterisation of snow and ice albedo in the ECHAM5 GCM and thereby provide more realistic climate modelling predictions. To achieve this goal we propose to develop a quantitative understanding of the processes that collectively make up the snow/ice-albedo feedback. We will determine how shortwave radiation is distributed within the sea ice-ocean and snow/glacier-land systems, and then assess the effects of this distribution on the regional and global heat balance. Project Summary: This project plans to improve today's parameterisation of snow and ice albedo in the ECHAM5 General Circulation Model (GCM). We suggest to make use of albedo data collected in the past, e.g., from Russian North Pole drifting stations, Alaska, Antarctica, Greenland, the Barents Sea, and Svalbard to develop robust (empirical) decay functions and algorithms describing the variability of snow and ice albedo, spectrally as well as in time and space. These decay funtions and algorithms will be used to revise the present parameterisation of albedo in ECHAM5. Additionally, we wish to test the potential of using satellite-derived albedo as model input data. Finally, the ECHAM5 model and also a coupled atmosphere-ocean GCM (ECHAM/HOPE) will be used to perform sensitivity analysis using various combinations of parameterisation. Model estimations of the present and future N2O emissions from soil plant systems in the north feedbacks in climate change Prosjektansvarlig: Norges landbrukshøgskole,Institutt for jord- og vannfag Prosjektleder: Bakken, Lars Professor Prosjektnr: 148758/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 15.4.2002-14.4.2005 2002: 371,000 2003: 524,000 2004: 524,000 2005: 153,000 Objective(s): The general aim is to explore the possibility of reducing uncertainties in the estimates of terrestrial climate gas sources by modelling. - By implementing N2O emission models in our existing soil plant ecosystem models, emissions as function of agronomic practice will be explored. - Possible feedbacks in global warming by altered N2O emissions will be investigated, by running the models with alternative weather scenarios. - State of the art N2O models are unlikely to capture the peaks in N2O emissions observed during winter. Alternative algorithms will be developed to simulate such events , which are important for the total emission from northern terrestrial ecosystems. Project Summary: Terrestrial sources and sinks for climate gases are uncertain, and so are the impacts of human activities and global warming on these fluxes. The soil microbial Ntransformations are known to be an important source of atmospheric N2O, and the human impact on this emission is massive, due to agriculture and nitrogen emissions. The predicted global warming will affect the N2O emissions, particularly in northern latitude soils, due to a dominance of winter emissions which are likely to be extremely sensitive to small temperature changes. To reduce uncertainties, we need adequate simulation models which can be integrated in larger contextual models. This is not a trivial task. Simulation models for N2O emissions will be used for predictive as well as analytic purposes. Analytic modelling will focus on the physical and biological events evoked by freezing/thawing cycles in soil, which lead to subsequent peaks in N2O emissions. Predictive modelling will be done by implementing N2O emission models into an existing ecosystem model which simulates C- and N-transformations as driven by weather (daily) and agronomic practice. 16 Abrupt and large scale climatic and glacial changes in western Norway 14,0009000 years BP Prosjektansvarlig: UNIFOB - Bjerknes-senteret,Universitetet i Bergen Prosjektleder: Mangerud, Jan Professor Prosjektnr: 148765/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2002-31.12.2004 2002: 634,000 2003: 634,000 2004: 634,000 Principal objective: To explore and describe the climatic and glacial variations in western Norway in the period 14,000-9000 14C-years before present aiming at a regional synthesis where all available proxies will be utilized. Sub-goals: - Date the initial deglaciation of the coast. Test the hypothesis that the initial deglaciation was interrupted by a climatic reversal causing a major readvance 12,400-12,200 14C-years B.P. - Reconstruct the Younger Dryas ice sheet and the size and rate of glacier and climatic variations in Hardangerfjorden area. - Reconstruct the relative sea level changes and the shoreline geometry in the coastal areas (Os-Sotra) during the late glacial. - Determine the marine14C reservoir ages in western Norway for the period 13,000-9000 14Cyears BP. Project Summary: The overall aim of this project is to explore the nature and magnitude of the exceptional large and abrupt climatic changes that occurred near the end of the Last Ice Age, some 14,000 to 9000 years ago.We will describe major ice sheet fluctutations in western Norway which were accompanied and amplified by changes in the North Atlantic Current (Golf Stream). Accurate dates will be obtained from various geological archives and used to determine the amplitudes and rates of the changes. Variations in ice-front position and the thickness of the glaciers will be investigated, primarily in the area between Sognefjorden and Hardangerfjorden. Based on earlier studies it has been postulated that the melting of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet was interrupted by major glacial and climatic oscillations about 12,400-12,200 and 11,000-10,000 14C-years before present. The first oscillation has been questioned, although a pronounced cooling has been recorded in the Norwegian Sea and Greenland Ice Cores. Recently, the established picture of the Younger Dryas ice sheet configuration in western Norway has been challenged by several investigators who postulates that the Hardangerfjord was ice free during this ingerval. We will collect new data and test the contradicting hypothesis. High resolution environmental information from Svalbard ice cores Prosjektansvarlig: Norsk Polarinstitutt Prosjektleder: Isaksson, Elisabeth Forsker Prosjektnr: 148775/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2002-31.12.2003 2002: 150,000 2003: 100,000 Objective(s): The main goal of the project is to investigate the present and recent past climate by means of shallow and deep ice core records from Austfonna and Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard. Sub-goals: - establish a high resolution environmental record for this part of the Arctic, with emphasis on the last 500 years - investigate the spatial variation of environmental information in Svalbard provided by these cores - compare these records with other climatic records (both proxy and instrumental) from the Arctic Project Summary: The main goal of the project is to investigate different climatic and environmental parameters and their variability over Svalbard during the present and the past using the chemical and physical information from two different Svalbard ice cores. A 120 m deep core was drilled on Lomonosovfonna in 1997. On Austfonna one 118 m deep core was drilled in 1998 and a 288 m core in 1999 in cooperation with Japanese scientists. Results from the upper quarter of the Lomonosovfonna ice core show that this relatively high altitude site is less affected by melt/freeze processes than other published Arctic ice cores outside Greenland, and therefore a favourable site for extracting environmental and climatic data. The cores from Austfonna provide an interesting oppurtunity to compare records from 2 different part of Svalbard which can provide insight into both transport and deposition processes. The proposed work includes costs to analyse H-2 and Delta O-18 on the remaining part of the Lomonosovfonna core (75-121 m depth). Climate from tree-rings of Scots pine in northern Norway - towards millennial series Prosjektansvarlig: Matematisk-naturvitenskapelige fakultet,Universitetet i Tromsø Prosjektleder: Kirchhefer, Andreas Joachim Forsker Prosjektnr: 148791/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.4.2002-31.3.2004 2002: 701,000 2003: 619,000 2004: 156,000 17 Objective(s): Annually-resolved climate reconstructions since AD 1 from tree-rings of Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris L., in coastal and interior Norway 69-70°N 1. Prolongation of four ring-width chronologies at dry habitats back to AD 300-1500 2. Sampling of living and subfossil pine at lakeshores Ring-width series back to 2000 BP - Climate-growth response of lakeshore pine 3. Summer temperatures, winter climate, summer drought, atmospheric circulation indices (NAO, AO), sea surface temperature, sea-ice from: - Climate signals from different pine sites (dry-wet) and regions (coast-inland) Regional and multi-proxy syntheses Project Summary: Tree-rings of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) shall provide annually resolved palaeoclimate data for the past 500-2000 years. Revised and prolonged ring-width chronologies from dry habitats will yield summer temperatures for northern Norway since 500 (Dividalen), 1250 (Vesterålen), 1400 (Senja) and 1500 (Nordreisa National Park). New standardisation techniques shall enhance low-frequency variability in the climate reconstructions. Subfossil pines will be sampled from lakes in the Vågsfjorden area and in Dividalen, concentrating on the past 2000 years. Ring-widths from trees presently growing at lakeshores shall reveal the climate signal of, and provide the transfer functions for, palaeoclimate records from tree-rings in the subfossil wood. In addition to summer temperature as the principal growth-determining factor at all sites, the significance for climate reconstruction of secondary growth controls such as mid-winter climate and summer drought will be studied. The applicability of northern Norwegian pine ring widths for reconstructing atmospheric circulation patterns (e.g., North Atlantic Oscillation, Arctic Oscillation) and oceanographic parameters (e.g., seasurface temperature and sea ice) will receive particular attention. Climate information will be searched for in single chronologies, in coast-inland and terrestriallakeshore comparisons as well as by syntheses with other high-resolution palaeoclimate information available for northern Fennoscandia and the NE-Atlantic region. Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2002-31.12.2004 2002: 300,000 2003: 300,000 2004: 200,000 Climatic interactions between the ocean, sea-ice and the atmosphere in the Barents Sea region over the past 150 years Prosjektansvarlig: Norsk Polarinstitutt Prosjektleder: Dick, Chad Direktør Prosjektnr: 148812/720 18 Support to Secretariats JGOFS i Norge Prosjektansvarlig: Miljø og ressursstudier, Senter for Prosjektleder: Miljø og ressursstudier, Senter for Prosjektnr: 110496/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.1996-31.12.2003 1996: 200,000 1997: 200,000 1998: 200,000 1999: 200,000 2000: 300,000 2001: 300,000 2002: 300,000 2003: 300,000 Norwegian Service Centre for Climate Modelling Prosjektansvarlig: Det norske meteorologiske institutt - Oslo Prosjektleder: Skålin, Roar Prosjektnr: 139804/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.7.2000-31.12.2002 2000: 295,128 2001: 482,366 2002: 150,000 conversion routines for storage of climate modelling data; 3. Porting and computational optimisation of climate models; 4. Establish a library of data analysis tools. Early 2001 the national facility for archiving of climate modelling data was established and attached to the main national high performance computer at NTNU. Furthermore, projects was started to develop data conversion routines and a database system for easy access to the stored data. In 2002, focus will be on finishing the development projects, improving access to the data for scientists in other areas, and on tasks 3 and 4 above. Norsk medlemskap i HOLIVAR (ESF) Prosjektansvarlig: Miljø og utvikling Prosjektleder: Stordal, Frode Professor Prosjektnr: 145062/720 Bevilgningsperiode og finansiering fra Norges forskningsråd: 1.1.2001-31.12.2006 2001: 52,865 2002: 80,000 2003: 80,000 2004: 80,000 2005: 80,000 2006: 80,000 Principal objective: To facilitate efficient climate research in Norway, by providing technical assistance in the areas of data handling and analysis and computational efficiency of climate models. Sub-goals: 1. To facilitate fast and easy access to climate modelling data for all scientists involved in national climate projects. 2. To store climate modelling data in standard formats and provide the required conversion routines. 3. To improve the computational efficiency of the commonly used climate models. 4. To make a set of data analysis tools easily available to all Norwegian scientists working with climate modelling. Project Summary: The Norwegian Service Centre for Climate Modelling (NoSerC) was established late 2000, as the result of an agreement between The Research Council of Norway and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute (DNMI). The Centre supports the scientists taking part in Norwegian climate modelling projects. The overall aim of the project is to facilitate efficient climate research in Norway, by providing technical assistance in the areas of data handling and analysis and computational efficiency of climate models. The centre is located at DNMI in Oslo. The centre has four main tasks: 1. Establish a national facility for archiving of climate modelling data; 2. Define formats and develop 19