We are proud to present you the winner project of the SIOS Innovation Award announced during the Svalbard Science Conference 2021 in Oslo, Norway:
'A Terrestrial methane seepage observatory' by professor Andy Hodson (UNIS) and his team Eleanor Jones (UNIS), Sebastian Sikora (UNIS), Gabriella Kleber (Univ Cambridge), and Dimitri Kalenitchenko (Univ La Rochelle).
The team will receive 300 000 NOK to support their project to implement real-time, continuous methane emission monitoring from a representative coastal hotspot for methane emission: the Lagoon Pingo near Longyearbyen.
The SIOS innovation award is a cooperation between SIOS and SSF to enhance the innovative aspect of science in Svalbard, and thus the entire Arctic. The aim is to spark the development of innovative technologies or methods in order to improve observation capabilities and/or decrease environmental footprint of research and monitoring in the field of Earth System Science in Svalbard.
The proposals were evaluated by external reviewers and evaluation criteria were 1) Innovation, technical feasibility, and scientific quality, and 2) Contribution to optimising the SIOS observing system and advancement in Arctic Earth System Science.
"All received proposals were of high quality, we would like to thank all applicants and really hope that your ideas will be supported in the future" said Heikki Lihavainen, director of SIOS, during the award ceremony.
The winning team will take up their innovative work in January 2022, with four planned deployments of the equipment in the following summer and winter.
From left to right: Dr Eleanor Jones who received the award on behalf of the project, Heikki Lihavainen, SIOS director, and Inger Jennings, SIOS access and logistics officer.
