Chapter: Harmonising environmental research and monitoring of priority pollutants and impurities in the Svalbard atmosphere (HERMOSA)

Atmospheric pollution research and monitoring in Svalbard occupies a significant position in pan- Arctic research on priority pollutants (AMAP 2016,2017), providing observations of their long-range atmospheric transport (Iversen and Joranger 1985; Hung et al 2010). Atmospheric research in Svalbard has been increasing in diversity and magnitude in recent years, with more comprehensive longterm observational efforts and numerous shortterm intensive field experiments. Coordination of the research and scientific exchange in terms of common sampling and analytical protocols, joint data analysis, publications, and related planning of future research has growing potential. Coordination offers two advantages: it lowers the environmental footprint of researchers coming to Svalbard (by reducing the number of people necessary to collect samples for various impurities) and allows researchers to see a bigger, interconnected picture of environmental processes.