Mapping Arctic Observing Systems and In Situ Data Collections

There is a great need for better information on the state and changes in the Arctic marine environment. Climate change in the Arctic is significant and will have far-reaching consequences for marine life and sustainable industrial development in the Arctic. It produces a lot of data from polar field satellites, but these are limited to the surface of sea, land and ice. Direct measurements (in situ) of the marine environment in Arctic waters are absolutely necessary to estimate the state and changes in the marine environment. Since collecting in situ data in polar regions most often funded by research projects, much of the data becomes time-limited and without a general plan. The H2020 INTAROS project has conducted a survey of Arctic in situ observing systems, in situ and remote sensing data collections (M. Tjernstrøm et al., 2019). Based on the questionnaires from this survey we have developed a user friendly web-based system for collecting and maintaining information about in situ observing systems and data collections in a project funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment. This system, ARCMAP, will be used to maintain and extend the INTAROS survey of Arctic observation systems and data collections, as a contribution to GEO and SAON.