The collection of background oceanographic data over a longer time is of great importance. Time series stations in the fjords allow us to track the changes in the environment and the separate unique events from permanent changes.

Under the lead of Jørgen Berge (UiT/UNIS) and Finlo Cottier (SAMS), we are maintaining two long-term observatories. One is located in Rijpjorden (established in 2006 by UNIS & SAMS), the other one in Kongsfjorden (established 2002 by SAMS). The observatories consist of a set of standard instruments which are deployed every year (CTDs, ADCPs, sediment traps), as well as “guest instrumentation”, which we add upon request by collaborating researchers (e. g. AURAL hydrophones (NPI), RAS autonomous water samplers (FAABulous/AWI/APN), settlement plates (APN) and more).  For the instrumentation setup please refer to the mooring diagrams.

All collected data will be made freely available online soon. We are currently working with NORCE and Sigma2 in an effort to store the data for long-term availability and with a user friendly interface to explore them online. We will be using the NetCDF format where ever possible. Users will be able to create and download their own datasets online, using only the variables they are interested in. In the meantime, please contact Jørgen Berge if you wish to access and use data from the observatories.

The Kongsfjorden mooring is now funded by the Norwegian Research Council through SIOS, and will be in operation until at least 2026. See also the SIOS homepage

The observatories are registered in the Research in Svalbard database.

Kongsfjorden: RIS 11107

Rijpfjorden: RIS 11106

You can download the mooring diagrams as PDFs here and as PNGs here.

Enlighten portal preview
Preview of the visualisation portal for KROP and other data
Example_mooring_diagram_KF16-17
Example of a mooring diagram: Kongsfjorden 2016-2017

Rijpfjorden mooring diagrams 2006-2022 (diagrams updated 2022-05-02)

Kongsfjorden mooring diagrams 2006-2022 (updated 2022-08-02)