CryoNet Site Questionnaire
Site specific metadata:
Name of site: Nuuk, Kobbefjord
Latitude/Longitude/Altitude: 64° 8’, 51° 22’, 0 – 1100 m.a.s.l.
Landscape type (e.g. arctic coastal, tundra, alpine…): Low-Arctic ecosystem covering the marine (fiord),
terrestrial tundra and mountains.
Onsite technical staff: Visits to the station year round. No permanent staff, but half an hour sail from
Nuuk
All-year round observations y/n: Automatic stations year round and onsite during late winter, spring,
summer and early winter. Three smaller hydrology stations at three rivulets to Kobbefjord. Mass balance
on one glacier.
Year established: 2007
Link to website if available: http://www.nuuk-basic.dk
Station manager (Email): Responsible for snow and ice-related data in the terrestrial part: Birger Ulf
Hansen (buh@geo.ku.dk) – Copenhagen University, and Mikkel Tamstorf (mpt@dmu.dk) – Aarhus
University. Responsible for ClimateBasis,Kisser Thorsøe (kit@asiaq.gl) - Asiaq, Greenland Survey
Organisation in charge of station: Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Greenland
Other information: Monitoring programs cover all aspects of the abiotic and biotic environment. These
programs are run by different institutions all gathered under the Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring
network.
Monitoring of the atmosphere:
Solid precipitation: Through snow density and depth measurements
Snowfall: Sonic range sensors, automatic density and depth sensors, snow pack temperature profiles
Trace gases: H2O, CO2, CH4 with eddy covariance and during summer and early winter automated
chambers
Aerosols: None
UV, stratospheric ozone: UV on central mast
Radiation (longwave, shortwave): Full radiation balance monitored at 3 sites in the area
Others: Full energy balance at several stations in the area including sensible and latent heat fluxes year
round.
Snow cover
Physical parameters: Depth, density, layering, cover (point and distributed)
Chemical parameters:
Others: Snow distribution through use of automatic cameras, satellite products and modelling
(SnowModel). Snow depth in transects of 1-3 km by ground penetrating radar (GPR).
Glaciers and ice caps
Mass balance (measured parameters): accumulation by stakes, measured with RTK
Ice flow (measured parameters): by stakes, measured with RTK
Basal water pressure (measured parameters):
Others:
Sea ice
Mass balance (measured parameters): Thickness, cover, timing
Meteorology: All relevant climate parameters (air temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind speed wind
direction, radiation (in- and out, short- and long), PAR, etc.
Snow on ice (measured parameters):
Ice chemistry (measured parameters):
Others:
Permafrost
Borehole measurements (measured parameters): Only sporadic permafrost
Meteorology: Radiation, air temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, air pressure etc.
Snow on ground (measured parameters): Sonic range sensors, Snow Pack Analyzer
Active layer thickness (measured parameters):
GST: Soil temperature in 1 cm depth
Others: Soil surface temperatures, soil heat flux plates
Ice sheet
Mass balance (measured parameters):
Meteorology (measured parameters):
Snow on ice (measured parameters):
Ice chemistry (measured parameters):
Others:
Other measurements (hydrological, ecological, oceanographic, etc)
Hydrology (measured parameters): River discharge in the main catchment to Kobbefjord all year. A
number of manual discharge measurements are made during the melt season. Both are used for
calculating the discharge. Furthermore the WL is measured at three rivulets to Kobbefjord during the
melt season. A number of manual discharge measurements are made during the seasons. Both are used
for calculating the discharge.
Ecology (measured parameters): Plants, birds, Arthropods, Mammals, phenology throughout the
ecosystem processes. See http://www.nuuk-basic.dk/monitoring
Oceanography (measured parameters): sea ice from remote sensing, physical, chemical and biological
profiles of the water column and sediments, seabirds and marine mammals.
Other thematic linkages:
Linkages to satellite data (describe validation programs, applications of satellite data, etc.)
50+ high resolution satellite scenes gathered since 2004 for the area including QuickBird, Formosat,
WorldView, Ikonos, ASTER, SPOT, Landsat a.o.
Participation in international monitoring programmes such as GAW, GTN-G, GTN-P, ….
Networks and start of contribution:
International Tundra Experiment (ITEX), The Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine
Environments (GLORIA), Hydrology Data and Information Services Center (HDISC), FluxNet, Circumpolar
Biodiversity Mapping Program (CBMP), Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System (SIOS),
International Network of Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic (INTERACT).
Most contributions have started in 2007 when the station program was initiated.