GeoBasis provides long term data of terrestrial and hydrological variables describing the dynamics of the physical environment in Low and High Arctic. The GeoBasis monitoring programme is currently running at two monitoring stations: in high arctic Northeast Greenland at Zackenberg and in low arctic West Greenland at Kobbefjorden near Nuuk. Collected data are used to improve current model predictions for future changes in the arctic terrestrial ecosystems and to quantify the feedback mechanisms from the Arctic ecosystem to the climate.
Monitoring programme
The GeoBasis programme is divided into several sub programmes: Snow and permafrost monitoring includes measurements for modelling of snow cover and vegetation (the seasonal and spatial variations in extent, snow depth, snow density, NDVI, etc.), micrometeorological measurements (energy balance, inversions etc.), active layer depth, etc. Carbon flux monitoring includes measurements of CO2-flux and CH4-flux between the tundra and the atmosphere using eddy-correlation techniques and automated chambers in different habitats (dry heath and wet fen). Soil water moisture and chemistry monitoring includes sampling of soil water from characteristic vegetation types to monitor transport and availability of nutrients for the vegetation in the active layer.
Hydrology and sediment transport
Monitoring includes measurements of discharge and sediment, solute and organic matter yield in the main river and tributaries in the valley system. Geomorphological monitoring includes measurements of the dynamics of selected coastal and periglacial landscape elements like rates of soil fluctuation and ice wedge growth, cliff recession and changes of shore profiles.
The main monitoring period is depending on site from end of April/May when the snow cover starts to melt until beginning of September/October when the temperatures fall below freezing again. The low arctic Nuuk site has the longest season. However, many automated systems ensure a year-round monitoring of snow cover, meteorology and hydrology.
Organisation and Data Access
GeoBasis at Zackenberg in Northeast Greenland was initiated in 1995 while GeoBasis-Nuuk in the low arctic southwest Greenland was initiated in 2007. The programmes at both sites are currently maintained by Department of Bioscience at Aarhus University in co-operation with Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management at University of Copenhagen. The programmes are financed by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. The programmes are constantly evaluated and updated with available methodology to ensure that data can fulfil the objectives of the programme. Data from GeoBasis are summarised in the ZERO Annual Report published by the Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University and distributed through a web-database. All GeoBasis data are public domain. However, we would very much like to assist/cooperate in any scientific evaluation that you may want to perform using GeoBasis data.
