As a part of the on-going joint ESA-NASA AMPAC initiative, ESA organised a training course in collaboration with NASA, the Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System (SIOS) and the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS).
The course brought 22 students and multiple lecturers from all over the world to Longyearbyen, Svalbard to teach about understanding methane emissions from the permafrost. Expert lecturers from ESA, NASA, SIOS and UNIS provided theoretical and practical information on the use of satellite data from different missions together with airborne and ground-based data together with process modelling and artificial intelligence.
Longyearbyen is a town unlike any other, offering luxuries such as a floating sauna, while retaining a frontier element to it, with signs at all main entrances/exits to the town warning about the dangers of polar bears. Beyond the confines of Longyearbyen, a field trip was organised by SIOS/UNIS into the permafrost to show how in-situ measurements of methane are taken from the permafrost, complete with polar bear guards and a boat trip across the Isfjorden.
The training was designed to promote and disseminate EO data and in-situ solutions focused on Arctic Methane and Permafrost, with the key goal of building a large diverse community dedicated to tackling the challenging topic of understanding methane emissions from a changing Arctic.
For more information about AMPAC, please visit the dedicated page.