ICOS Sweden

The Paris agreement as well as the Swedish climate mitigation targets see improved scientific knowledge as an essential tool in policies mitigating and adapting to climate change.

To support tackling this challenge, we apply for funding of continued operations of ICOS Sweden and its participation in the European Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS RI).

The overall objective of ICOS RI is to provide scientists and policy makers with high-quality data to improve our understanding of the biogeochemical cycles of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and their key drivers in European ecosystems and adjacent regions.

ICOS Sweden contributes with a national observation network consisting of six Ecosystem stations (three forests, and three mires), three Atmosphere stations, and two Ocean stations.

The Ecosystem stations measure exchanges of GHGs between ecosystems and the atmosphere; the Atmosphere stations include tall-tower measurements of concentrations of GHGs in the well-mixed boundary-layer; and the Ocean stations observe carbon and ecosystem exchanges in the Baltic Sea.

These stations are essential for ICOS RI, as they provide otherwise scarce data from northern latitudes, which are undergoing the fastest climate change in the world.

Climate warming could destabilize carbon stored in boreal forest soils, accelerate degradation of the mires, and acidification of the seas, with concomitant impact on Sweden’s economy and commitment to enhance carbon sinks. The ICOS Sweden research infrastructure is already in place and has been in operation at most stations since 2014.

The requested funding continues the measurements, updates the aging instrumentation, maintains, and advances the expertise of the personnel, fosters collaboration with other measurement programs, and stimulates scientific studies and modelling efforts.