Research and new knowledge are one of the cornerstones of Norwegian activity and presence in Antarctica and important in the treaty cooperation. At the end of January, our Deputy Managing Director Arve E. Mjelva and Department Director Jon Magnus Christiansen visited Queen Maud Land and the Troll Station. The visit was conducted together with political leadership from the Ministry of Climate and Environment and leaders and researchers from other institutions as part of a study trip arranged by the Norwegian Polar Institute. The participants gained in-depth knowledge of the research carried out and, not least, the plans for the necessary upgrade of the Troll Station.

Antarctica is far away. From Oslo to Antarctica is around 14,000 km, it is remote and the summers are short. This makes operating the Troll Station both costly and challenging. Arve, who was in Antarctica for the first time, says:

I am impressed by how the Norwegian Polar Institute operates the station on behalf of Norway and, not least, by the professional handling of logistics. They are very helpful, and that is something we highly value in the collaboration on new research infrastructure. Everything we do down here must be carefully planned well in advance and coordinated with the Norwegian Polar Institute.

Strengthening climate research
With its clean air and vast amounts of ice, Antarctica is well suited as a laboratory for the global climate system. For NORSAR, the purpose of the trip was to determine the final location for new and advanced measuring instruments, the world’s southernmost of their kind on solid rock. The infrastructure is part of the Troll Observation Network (TONe), a modern observation network in Queen Maud Land led by the Norwegian Polar Institute.

Queen Maud Land is a suitable location with solid rock and a good distance from the coast. By comparison, stations along the coast experience much noise from the sea, while stations on ice face challenges with the ice affecting the signals. NORSAR has had a single seismometer nicknamed “Little Roller” placed in Queen Maud Land since 2012. We are now expanding to several such sensors in a specific formation, a so-called “array”, which will provide significantly better data to map movements in the large ice sheet, as well as to alert about seismic activity in Antarctica and also earthquakes around the world. Together, this provides important contributions to climate research.

In addition to measuring seismic tremors, infrasound instruments will be installed to measure sounds in the atmosphere and which can provide vital data for weather and climate models.

A container with equipment has arrived at the ice edge by boat, and the logistics are currently on schedule to achieve the goal of being able to retrieve data from 2025.

Important that the infrastructure can be utilised
The TONe project is an important national initiative, funded by the Research Council, which will provide unique opportunities for Norwegian and international research. NORSAR, like other research institutions, relies on external funding to conduct research. Utilisation will therefore depend on access to funding. Our Managing Director, Anne Strømmen Lycke, says the following about the situation:

New station and new research infrastructure represent the largest investment ever in Norwegian Antarctic research, and this must be followed up with a dedicated effort in research that enables the value of the investments to be realised.