Ongoing projects

CMEMS ARC-MFC 24-28

The production of Arctic ocean data for the EU's "Copernicus"-program is led by the Nansen Center. Copernicus provides updated forecasts and reanalyses for the Arctic Ocean, including sea ice, biological, and chemical variables. Forecasts are relevant for safe navigation in the Arctic.

EO4SA

The "Earth Observation for Sustainable Aquaculture" project is investigating applications for aquaculture management and the marine industry. Researchers are developing and demonstrating applications related to, among other things, harmful algal blooms affecting the shellfish farming industry and fish mortality due to salmon lice outbreaks.

Climate projections for Reisa National Park and Pasvik Nature Reserve

This project is co-developed with national park managers. It diagnoses future climate scenarios for Northern Norway along warm-wet and cold-dry axes. Using regional climate models, it assesses plausible changes in ecosystems and recreational uses — such as winter activities, fishing, and birdwatching — across selected national parks, informing adaptive strategies.

CRAFT

The project "Co-creating Research for Just Arctic Future Infrastructure Transformations, Resilience, and Adaptation" (CRAFT) focuses on addressing the challenges of Arctic infrastructure development amidst climate change, socio-economic, and political shifts. It brings together researchers from Arctic regions like Alaska, Norway, Greenland, and Canada, along with Indigenous communities, to collaboratively map existing expertise and identify best practices for co-producing place-specific knowledge on infrastructure planning, maintenance, and adaptation.

SYSTEM STUDY

The objectives of the project "Future Earth Observation System Architecture – System of Systems analyses from a science need perspective" (System Study) are to analyse in detail the measurement requirements of selected science questions, and identifying the extent to which the planned constellation of Earth observations satellites and other measurements in the coming decade can satisfy the needs and requirements. Among the SQ are: How has the ocean carbon cycle responded to anthropogenic CO2 and climate change?; What are the key drivers for the mass balance change in the ice sheet, the ice shelves and the glaciers?; Where and how are the ecosystem undergoing critical transitions?    

CryoRad

Observing the Earth at low-frequency passive microwave has been a success with the SMOS and SMAP satellites, providing unique data on the ocean, sea ice and land. But no-one has explored even lower frequencies, which should provide more precise sea ice thickness, ocean salinity in cold waters and brand new observations like sea ice salinity or profiles of ice sheets temperature. ESA thus has selected "CryoRad Earth Explorer 12 Phase 0 Science and Requirements Consolidation Study" and 3 other mission concepts among 17 candidates Earth Explorer for an 18-months assessment study phase. Researchers at the Nansen Center will quantify the potential impact of the sea ice thickness, sea ice salinity and ocean surface salinity on the TOPAZ model system.

UpperDyn

The "Upper Ocean Dynamics" project will deliver new capabilities for assessing variability and uncertainty in upper ocean dynamics. It will provide decision makers a means of quantifying the effects of local patterns of sea level rise, heat uptake, carbon storage and change of oxygen content and pH in the ocean. The project's approach will account for transport on scales that are currently not always well represented in computer simulations, yet are observable by satellites, drifters and floats and expected to significantly contribute to the ESA Digital Twin Components for the Ocean.

Icebergs Monitoring and Forecasting

The project "Icebergs Monitoring and Forecasting" aims to analyze and evaluate datasets from the Copernicus Program, particularly from the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service. These datasets will be integrated into the OpenBerg model to generate iceberg risk maps. The demonstration will feature two use cases—one focused on Greenland and the other on the Barents Sea.

Voyage - Doppler 

During the 6-week sail voyage from Tromsø via Reykjavik to Nice in April to June 2025, in-situ ocean data will be collected in the Norwegian Sea, the North Atlantic, and the Mediterranean Sea. This is part of the second One Ocean Expedition. The "Voyage - Doppler" project aims to compare these data with ocean surface current radial velocities derived from Sentinel-1 SAR Doppler shift signals obtained during the same period, to validate these satellite-based data. During the sail voyage, the project will also contribute to the Advanced Ocean Training Course 2024-2025  for around 50 students in collaboration with ESA and NASA.