New Cost-Effective Technologies Applied to the Study of the Glacier Melting Influence on Physical and Biological Processes in Kongsfjorden Area (Svalbard)

The Arctic region is greatly affected by climate change, with evident alterations in bothphysical and biological processes: temperatures are changing at a rate that is twice the global averageand phytoplankton productivity is directly affected by ice melting. Continuous monitoring of thisecosystem is fundamental to gain greater understanding of the impact of changes on the naturalenvironment, but the Global Ocean Observing System only provides partial coverage in these extremeareas, which are particularly difficult to reach. Technological progress in oceanographic measurementcapabilities is indispensable for the implementation of marine observatories, especially in theseremote regions. In recent years, autonomous systems and cost-effective technologies have proved tobe valuable for increasing spatial and temporal coverage of data. This is the case with the innovativeArLoC (Arctic Low-Cost) probe, which was designed and developed for easy integration into varioustypes of platforms, enabling continuous measurement of temperature, pressure and fluorescence ofchlorophyll a. This work reports on the results of two scientific campaigns carried out in Kongsfjorden(Svalbard Islands) in 2018 in the framework of the UVASS (Unmanned Vehicles for AutonomousSensing and Sampling) research project. The ArLoC probe was integrated onboard the PROTEUS(Portable RObotic TEchnology for Unmanned Surveys) unmanned semi-submersible vehicle and thisallowed us to collect important data in the stretches of sea near tidewater glacier fronts. The acquireddata showed several significant effects of glacier melting such as: high temperature and salinitygradients, which cause considerable variations in water mass stratification, and an increase in turbidityand the chlorophyll a concentration, which directly affects primary productivity and the trophicchain. During the surveys, ArLoC proved to be an easy-to-integrate, very reliable instrument, whichpermitted high spatial resolution investigation of ecological processes during glacier melting as neverstudied before.