| Summary: | This is chapter 1 of the State of Environmental Science in Svalbard (SESS) report 2023. During the last decades, temperatures in the Arctic have risen faster than in other parts of the globe. The cause of this rapid temperature increase remains elusive, but likely several factors are in play. Global warming due to the greenhouse effect, in which certain gases in the atmosphere trap heat, is one important factor. Cyclic changes in sea currents and ice coverage also probably play an important role. Moreover, high-latitude Svalbard faces more direct exposure to electromagnetic energy from the Sun; the converging geomagnetic field in this region concentrates electromagnetic energy into the atmosphere – sometimes manifested as spectacular aurora. Comprehending the relative contributions of these factors, and the intricate interplay between space, atmosphere, sea, and land, remains a challenge. Therefore, an interdisciplinary team of scientists initiated a project to collect as much data from the Svalbard region as possible, to investigate and better understand these interactions. Their findings were presented in the SESS-2022 report. This chapter updates the original SATS chapter in 2023 with additional data and new methodology. In addition to incremental updates to the existing data set, we include new measurements of sea surface temperatures from several regions around Svalbard, as well as global atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements. Our recent measurements continue to show rising ground temperatures and reduced temperature differences between summer and winter. We also observe increasing seasonal asymmetry, with peak temperatures shifting towards later parts of the year. To effectively process and make sense of the growing volume of data, we also explored the use of machine learning. As a proof of concept, we created a simple machine learning model that used upper atmospheric measurements, solar activity indices, and global CO2 levels as input variables to predict ground temperatures. This modelling exercise ...
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