• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.569-591
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• 2003

Marine benthic flora was investigated in an Arctic bay. Specimens of chlorophyte, phaeophyte, and rhodophyte were collected and examined over the period from July to August 2003 from Kongsfjorden Spitsbergen in Svalbard Islands. A total of 28 genera and 32 species (5 chlorophytes, 18 phaeophytes, and 9 rhodophytes) was identified and described. A green alga Enteromorpha linza(Linnaeus) J. Agardh, a brown alga Asperococcus compresus Griffiths ex Hooker, and three red algae Gracilaria gracilis (Stackhouse) Steentoft et al., Rhodymenia pacifica Kylin and Schizochlaenion rhodotrichum Wynne et Norris were recorded in Svalbard Islands for the first time.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.79-85
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• 2007

The species in genus Saxifiraga distributed in circumpolar arctic are taxonomically difficult to study. RAPD analyses were performed to compare the genetic diversity of the 16 Saxifrages originated from the Norwegian Arctic Svalbard and Korea. The 12 accessions of URP primers were tested and 4 of which showed polymorphism were selected. Total 79 (44.8%) DNA bands were scored and analyzed by UPGMA cluster analysis. The results indicated that all of the 9 Saxifraga species from Svalbard showed high genetic diversity than those from Korea. The Similarity matrix and cluster analyses indicated that the Saxifraga species from Svalbard and Korea can be divided into two different subgroups. RAPDs of the Saxifraga species of Korea showed higher homologous patterns than those of Arctic Saxifrage. Among the Saxifraga species, we found that the morphological similarity reflects the genetic similarity. The geographic distance, clonal reproduction, and environmental condition may contribute the high level of genetic diversity between Saxifraga species from the two isolated regions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Mechanical Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2011

The measurement of ice properties such as thickness, strength are important to know the performance of the ice breaking vessel. The measuring equipment of ice properties and methods are summarized in this paper. The actual measured data are also described. The strength of ice at Svalbard area on April 2010 is much stronger than the Chukchi Sea on August 2010. The mean strength of Svalbard is about 500 kPa and one of Chukchi Sea is 250 kPa. The first sea trial in Arctic sea using Araon was carried out in the Chukchi Sea. The power and speed was also measured to check the ship performance in ice. The speed was measured from GPS(Global Positioning System) and engine power was recorded from DPS(Dynamic Positioning system) of Araon. The design target of Araon in level ice is 3 knots in 1m thickness and 630 kPa flexible strength but mean speed in Chuckchi sea is 3.98 knots when 6.6 MW engine power, 2.4m ice thickness and 250 kPa strength. This results comes from the difference of ice types and the weak flexible strength of ice but it will be a good information to know the performance of Araon in similar ice condition.

• ALGAE
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.185-192
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• 2013

A new cold-adapted Arctic strain of Haematococcus pluvialis from Blomstrandhalv${\o}$ya Island (Svalbard) is described. This strain is predominantly always in non-motile palmelloid stage. Transmission electron microscopy showed the presence of very thick cell wall and abundant lipid vesicles in the palmelloids, including red and green cells. The external morphology of the non-motile palmelloid and motile bi-flagellated cells of our strain is similar to H. pluvialis; however it differs from H. pluvialis in physiology. Our strain is adapted to live and produce astaxanthin in the low temperature ($4-10^{\circ}C$), whilst the usual growth temperature for H. pluvialis is between $20-27^{\circ}C$. Phylogenetic analysis based on 18S rRNA gene data showed that our strain nested within the Haematococcus group, forming a sister relationship to H. lacustris and H. pluvialis, which are considered synonymous. Therefore, we identified our Arctic strain as H. pluvialis.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.409-416
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• 2008

Recently, KARI developed "KOMPSAT-2 Terminal for Polar Station" which is high performance system newly required for stimulating KOMPSAT-2 application. The KOMPSAT-2 Terminal for Polar Station consists of one receiving system and two processing systems. The receiving system has been installed at Svalbard Satellite Station located at Norwegian Svalbard island. and the two receiving systems have been installed at Kongsberg Satellite Service AS located at Tromso Norway and Spot Image SA located at Toulouse France respectively. In this paper overall items of KOMPSAT-2 Terminal for Polar Station, which includes requirements, designs and operation concepts, are to be addressed with the verification result on its performance.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2011

This study describes measurements of fast ice recorded on May 23, 2009, in Kongsfjorden (translated as 'Kongs Fjord'), an inlet on the west coast of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard Archipelago. Seasonal fast ice is an important feature for Svalbard fjords, both in relation to their physical environment and also the local ecosystem, since it grows seaward from the coast and remains in place throughout the winter. Ice thickness, snow, ice properties, and wind speed were measured, while SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) data was observed simultaneously observed two times from ALOS-PALSAR (L-band). Measured ice thickness was about 25-35 cm while the thickness of ice floe broken from fast ice was measured as 10-15 cm. Average salinity was 1.9-2.0 ppt during the melting period. Polarimetric data was used to extract H/A/alpha-angle parameters of fast ice, ice floe, snow and glacier, which was classified into 18 classes based on these parameters. It was established that the area of fast ice represents surface scattering which indicates low and medium entropy surface scatters such as Bragg and random surfaces, while fast ice covered with snow belongs to a zone of low entropy surface scattering similar to snow-covered land surfaces. The results of this study will contribute to various interpretations of interrelationships between H/A/alpha parameters and the wave scattering Phenomenon of sea ice.

• The Korean Journal of Petroleum Geology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2007

Gravity characteristics are investigated in the vicinity of the DASAN scientific station, located at the Svalbard Archipelago, the Arctic using ArcGP data. Boundary effects of free-air gravity anomalies, which appeared generally at the continental margin, are erased after Bouguer correction was applied. Complete Bouguer anomalies produced after terrain correction by GrOPO30 show that gravity anomalies increase from continent to marine. This phenomena seem to be related to the rise of Moho discontinuity. The cut-off frequency of 0.16 was decided after power spectrum analysis and the gravity anomalies were divided into two parts. Residual anomalies in high frequency part show that characteristics of high values along the faults and of low values related to thick sediments in the continent. Characteristic is low values from basement subsidence of continental slope or thick sediments in the marine. The undulation of Moho discontinuity from 3-D inversion modeling show typical characteristics of continental margin that become higher from Svalbard archipelago to Knipovich ridge bordering Eurasian plate.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.69-79
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• 2014

Soil organic carbon (SOC) in the Arctic is vulnerable to climate change. However, research on SOC stored in the high Arctic regions is currently very limited. Thus, this study was aimed at understanding the distribution and characteristics of SOC with respect to geomorphology and vegetation in Svalbard. In August 2011, soil samples were collected near the Vestre Lov$\acute{e}$nbreen moraine. Sampling sites were chosen according to altitude (High, Mid, and Low) and differences in levels of vegetation establishment. Vegetation coverage, aboveground biomass, and SOC contents were measured, and density-size fractionation of SOC was conducted. The SOC content was the highest in the Mid site ($126.9mg\;g^{-1}$) and the lowest in the High site ($32.1mg\;g^{-1}$), although aboveground biomass and vegetation coverage were not different between these two sites. The low SOC content measured at the High site could be related to a slower soil development following glacial retreat. On the other hand, the Low site contained a high amount of SOC despite having low vegetative cover and a high ratio of sand particles. These incompatible relationships between SOC and vegetation in the Low site might be associated with past site disturbances such as runoff from snow/glacier melting. This study showed that geomorphological features combined with glacier retreat or melting snow/glacier effects could have affected the SOC distribution and vegetation establishment in the high Arctic.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2021

Background: Abandoned coal piles after the closure of mines have a potential negative influence on the environment, such as soil acidification and heavy metal contamination. Therefore, revegetation by efficient species is required. For this, we wanted to identify the role of Silene acaulis in the succession of coal piles as a pioneer and a nurse plant. S. acaulis is a well-studied cushion plant living in the Arctic and alpine environments in the northern hemisphere. It has a highly compact cushion-like form and hosts more plant species under its canopy by ameliorating stressful microhabitats. In this research, we surveyed vegetation cover on open plots and co-occurring species within S. acaulis cushions in coal piles with different slope aspects and a control site where no coal was found. The plant cover and the similarity of communities among sites were compared. Also, the interaction effects of S. acaulis were assessed by rarefaction curves. Results: S. acaulis was a dominant species with the highest cover (6.7%) on the coal piles and occurred with other well-known pioneer species. Plant communities on the coal piles were significantly different from the control site. We found that the pioneer species S. acaulis showed facilitation, neutral, and competition effect in the north-east facing slope, the south-east facing slope, and the flat ground, respectively. This result was consistent with the stress gradient hypothesis because the facilitation only occurred on the north-east facing slope, which was the most stressed condition, although all the interactions observed were not statistically significant. Conclusions: S. acaulis was a dominant pioneer plant in the succession of coal piles. The interaction effect of S. acaulis on other species depended on the slope and its direction on the coal piles. Overall, it plays an important role in the succession of coal piles in the High Arctic, Svalbard.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.164-168
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• 2014

The ecosystem of the Arctic region has been increasingly affected by global warming. Archaeal ammonia monooxygenase alpha subunit coding gene (amoA) which is a key enzyme for nitrification was used to investigate the effect of runoff water of ice melt on microbial community of nitrogen cycle. The archaeal amoA genes at coastal area of Svalbard, Arctic region were PCR-amplified and sequenced after clone library construction. Analysis of archaeal amoA gene clone libraries suggested that the station 188 which is in the vicinity to the area of runoff water harbor lower ammonia-oxidizing archaeal diversity than the station 176 and 184. The average amino acid sequence identity within all archaeal amoA gene clones was 94% (with 91% nucleotide sequence identity). While all the clones of the station 188 were affiliated with Nitrosoarchaeaum clade containing strains isolated from low-salinity and terrestrial environments, about 45% of total clones of the station 176 and 184 were related to marine Nitosopumilus clade. Interestingly, other typical archaeal amoA gene clones of thaumarchaeal I.1b clade frequently retrieved from terrestrial environments was identified at station 188. Microbial community of nitrogen cycle in marine sediment might be affected by input of sediments caused by runoff glacier melt waters.