Summary
The ICEtoFLUX project focuses on hydrologic dynamics and related effects in the Bayelva catchment (Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard), from its glaciers and proglacial system down to the Kongsfjorden sector affected by the river. Experimental activities on hydrology, geo- and environmental chemistry, microbiology and geophysics, and numerical modelling, will concern different water cycle components to quantify hydrologic processes in Arctic environments and related transport of biotic and abiotic compounds.

Objectives
The main goal is the quantitative characterization of hydrologic processes and related transport of inorganic-organic chemical compounds and microbial biomass in the Arctic. The study will regard the Bayelva catchment, from its glaciers and periglacial/proglacial systems up to the Kongsfjorden affected by the river. On-site activities will be performed from the beginning to the end of melting period, to:
1) quantify the dynamics of feeding to the proglacial water network, by characterizing, chemically and physically, main water sources and their interaction;
2) investigate presence, extension and evolution of underground water-active layers, both above and below the permafrost, as possible groundwater resource or input to river flow;
3) quantify the mobilization of organic tracers and pollutants, suspended solids and microbial biomass, and their transfer to the fjord;
4) define relationships between meteorological variables and water quantity and quality parameters to provide forecasting on the system evolution.

Project Partners
• Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse (CNR-IGG)
• Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Ambiente, del Territorio e delle Infrastrutture - Politecnico di Torino (DIATI)
• Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geoambientali - Università di Bari (DISTeGEO).