Temperature and salinity time series in Svalbard fjords – 'Integrated Marine Observatory Partnership (iMOP II)

• Main Authors: Cottier, Finlo, Skogseth, Ragnheid, David, Divya, De Rovere, Francesco, Vogedes, Daniel, Daase, Malin, Berge, Jørgen
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System 2022
• Subjects: Svalbard; fjords; mooring; temperature; salinity; observatory; Rijpfjorden; Fram Strait; Isfjord*; Isfjorden; Kongsfjord*; Kongsfjorden; Rijpfjord*; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/5751717; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5751717

This is chapter 1 of the State of Environmental Science in Svalbard (SESS) report 2021. We show temperature records from five marine observatories located around the fjords of Svalbard – Kongsfjorden (3 observatories), Isfjorden and Rijpfjorden. We have analysed the records from these observatories (the shortest is 5 years, the longest is 18 years) to determine trends in the water temperature. We investigated trends in the warmest part of the year (September to November) and the coldest part (March to May). In those fjords facing west towards the Fram Strait we typically see increasing temperatures, the maximum rate being 1.5°C per decade for the coldest period of the year in Kongsfjorden. This has resulted in much less sea ice in these western fjords. In the far northeast, Rijpfjorden shows no signs of warming at any point in the year. We also investigated the salinity of the bottom water in the outer part of Kongsfjorden and show that the salinity peaks in October and that there is a gradual increase in salinity since 2003 at a rate of 0.1 per decade. Finally, the proportion of Atlantic type water in Kongsfjorden has been very high since 2014.