Brage NP

Sander, Gunnar

Hanssen-Bauer, Inger

Bjørge, Arne

Prestrud, Pål

English

The Environmental Monitoring of Svalbard and Jan Mayen – MOSJ : documentation of the system and the first assessments of the state of the environment

Smedsrud, Lars Henrik

Jenkins, Adrian

Holland, David M.

Nøst, Ole Anders

Modeling ocean processes below Fimbulisen, Antarctica

Marques, Tiago A.

Andersen, Magnus

Christensen-Dalsgaard, Signe

Belikov, Stanislav

Boltunov, Andrei

Wiig, Øystein

Buckland, Stephen T.

Aars, Jon

The use of Global Positioning Systems to record distances in a helicopter line-transect survey

Sluijs, Appy

Schouten, Stefan

Pagani, Mark

Koc, Nalan

Subtropical Arctic Ocean temperatures during the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum

Dalén, Love

Kvaløy, K.

Linnell, D.C

Elmhagen, B.

Strand, O.

Tannerfeldt, M.

Henttonen, H.

Fuglei, Eva

Landa, A.

Angerbjörn, Anders

Population structure in a critically endangered arctic fox population: does genetics matter?

Jaklin, Gunn Sissel

Caeyers, Rudi

Mandate
A directorate under the 
auspices of Norway’s 
Ministry of Environ-
ment, the Norwegian 
Polar Institute is head-
quartered in Tromsø, 
above the Arctic Cir-
cle. The NPI is Nor-
way’s principal organ-
ization for research, 
environmental moni-
toring and mapping 
in the polar regions of 
both hemispheres. The 
Institute’s director is 
Jan-Gunnar Winther. 
Early days
Evolving from Norges 
Svalbard- og Ishavsun-
dersøkelser (Norway’s 
Svalbard and Arctic 
Ocean Survey), which 
was established in 1928, 
the Norwegian Polar In-
stitute received its mod-
ern name and mandate 
in 1948. The esteemed 
oceanographer Prof. 
Harald Ulrik Sverdrup, 
who had been in charge 
of the scientific work during Amundsen’s North-East Passage expedition, 
returned to his native land to serve as the new institute’s first director. 
Polar Environmental Centre
After having spent its first 70 years in Oslo, the NPI shifted headquar-
ters to Tromsø in 1998. Nicknamed  ”Gateway to the Arctic”, the coastal 
city has been a traditional starting-point for expeditions to the far north. 
Members of the city’s research community, including those at the world’s 
northernmost university, represent a broad range of disciplines in the 
natural and social sciences - with a focus on the Arctic.
Anchored by the NPI, the new Polar Environmental Centre – Centre for 
the Environment and Co-operation in the Polar Areas and the Barents 
Region – houses several institutions that deal with research and advisory 
services; several of these institutions co-operate on projects with partner 
organizations in north-west Russia. The Centre regularly hosts national 
and international scientific conferences and workshops.
Organizational structure
The NPI is divided into three departments: Research (with a staff of 
40), Environmental Management and Administration & Logis-
tics. There are also Library and Information Services and, 
based in Longyearbyen, a Svalbard branch. 
Since the Institute moved to Tromsø, the 
recruitment of scientists from all over the 
world has enhanced the NPI’s interna-
tional character. One of the interna-
tional secretariats administered by the NPI is the ACSYS/CliC Project 
Office (IACPO) –  a result of the Arctic Climate System Study secretariat 
being extended to comprise cryosphere research beyond the Arctic.  
The NPI runs research stations in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, and operates 
expeditions to Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, where the Institute has 
two summer stations, Troll and Tor. The NPI’s research vessel Lance has 
been customized for navigation in severe ice conditions. Available for 
lease parts of the year, Lance can accommodate up to 24 scientists and 
has laboratories and a helicopter landing platform. 
Research programmes
Traditionally organized 
among fairly discrete dis-
ciplines, the NP’s research 
activities have recently 
been restructured so that 
they are now organized in 
five interdisciplinary re-
search programmes: 
The overarching goals of 
the Polar Climate Pro-
gramme, led by J.G. Win-
ther, PhD, are to con-
tribute to the world-wide 
search for an understanding of climate change by considering climate 
variability and feedback in the sea ice – land – ocean  –  atmosphere sys-
tem in the polar regions, to assess the system’s sensitivity to disturbances, 
and to analyse the consequences of a changing climate. NPI polar climate 
monitoring programmes collect data in collaboration with national and 
international institutions under research initiatives. The Marine Ecology 
Programme, led by K. M. Kovacs, PhD, is designed to provide sound 
scientific advice to Norwegian and international agencies 
responsible for resource management and conser-
vation issues in the polar regions.  It also strives 
to maintain a more general scientific ex-
pertise about polar marine systems, 
and contribute high quality scientific 
knowledge to the global knowledge 
base regarding Arctic and Antarc-
tic marine fauna.
The Terrestrial Ecology Pro-
gramme, led by A. De-
rocher, PhD, fo-
cuses on 
such Svalbard mammals as Arctic fox and reindeer as well as studying 
vegetation and the causes of ecological systems’ change. 
The Ecotoxicology Programme, led by G. W. Gabrielsen, PhD, gathers 
knowledge that will improve our understanding of sources and biologi-
cal effects of contaminants in the European Arctic. The emphasis is on 
persistent organic pollutants (POPs). A central task is the establishment 
and development of a POP monitoring programme in the Norwegian 
Arctic. 
The Geological Mapping Programme, led by W. K. Dallmann, PhD, fo-
cuses upon important gaps in regional-geological knowledge and stimu-
lates other research projects by pointing out relevant scientific problems. 
The NPI is the national mapping authority for the polar areas, which 
includes non-commercial geological surveying. Geological map data are 
collected during field expeditions and through co-operation with inter-
national research groups. Maps are published together with detailed area 
descriptions. 
Publications and information  
Polar Research was launched in 1982 as NPI’s peer-reviewed, multidisci-
plinary journal. The journal is widely indexed and abstracted, and is in-
cluded in ISI products such as Current Contents. For more information, 
please see http://www.npolar.no/e/Products/Polar_Research 
NPI also publishes a report series (Norsk Polarinstitutt Rapportserie) 
and a variety of other publications for scientists and the general public. 
The image library contains 40 000 historical and contemporary photo-
graphs from the polar regions. The NPI web-site, www.npolar.no, offers 
detailed information about selected aspects of the polar environment. 
Vertical thin section of the upper section of sea ice (fast ice) from 
Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, photographed between crossed polaroids. The 
colors indicate different crystals in the ice. Photo: Sebastian Gerland
Deployment of current meters below the fast ice at Kongsfjorden, 
Svalbard. Water current below the sea ice are crucial for energy 
fluxes at the ice-ocean interface, and within that for freezing and 
melting processes. Photo: Sebastian Gerland
Equipping live-captured white whales with satellite transmitters to study movements and diving patterns 
in the Svalbard area. Photo: Hans Wolkers
A rock wall in Jutulhogget by the Norwegian base Troll in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Igneous dikes 
reveal the sequence og events deep inside the Earth’s crust throughout the ages. Photo: Synnøve Elvevold
Norwegian 
Polar Institute
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Adolf Hoel installes stakes to measure the velocity and ablation of 
the Lilliehöök Glacier, Krossfjorden 1907. NPI photo library


Norwegian Polar Institute

Verreault, Jonathan

Muir, Derek C.G.

Norstrom, Ross J.

Fisk, Aaron T.

Gabrielsen, Geir Wing

Derocher, Andrew E.

Chlorinated hydrocarbon contaminants and metabolites in polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from Alaska, Canada, East Greenland, and Svalbard: 1996-2002

Borgå, Katrine

Wolkers, Hans

Skåre, Janneche Utne

Hop, Haakon

Norwegian

Bioaccumulation of PCBs in Arctic seabirds: influence of dietary exposure and congener biotransformation

Birkeland, Annette

Kovacs, Kit M.

Lydersen, Christian

Grahl-Nielsen, Otto

Transfer of fatty acids from mothers to their calves during lactation in white whales Delphinapterus leucas

Trollposten 15/2005

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