Latest News

The Polar Expert Group of the European Commission has published the 3rd of it's "User Requirements for a Copernicus Polar Observing System" reports. This report, subtitled "Phase 3 Report - Towards Operational Products and Services", incorporates recommendations from the KEPLER project led by MET.

The yearly maximum (in the Arctic) and minimum (in the Antarctic) sea-ice extent occurs in February/March. With satellite data processed at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, the status of the sea-ice extrema this spring is summarised.

Satellite monitoring over 1982-2015 shows earlier onset of snow melt on Svalbard. The most pronounced shift is in valleys, where the ground is snow-free 1-2 days more every year during summer. Snow cover variability in lowlands correlates with the variability of sea ice in the adjacent seas, especially in June.

2020 was the warmest year on record for Norway since the temperature measurements began more than 120 years ago. For Svalbard, although not beating the record from 2016, 2020 was also a warm year with the warmest summer in the 121-year record for Svalbard Airport. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute conducts in-situ measurements and remote sensing observations of the cryosphere: terrestrial snow cover, permafrost and sea ice. What types of cryospheric observations are available on cryo.met.no for the Svalbard area, and what characterized these for 2020?

2020 holds the second-lowest sea-ice extent on record in the Arctic, following the record-low in 2012. Therefore we update our daily Arctic sea-ice extent figure which includes the two recent years with the lowest sea-ice extent as reference curves.