The installation of the monitoring station for the WINTER-CZ project as been completed. It will upgrade the CNR research infrastructure of the arctic base “Dirigibile Italia”. The first data acquisition campaign will start between autumn and winter, with the first snowfalls.
The station, designed to be partially covered by the snow, has the goal to measure the winter fluxes of carbon dioxide, which from the soil rise through the snowpack. The carbon dioxide fluxes are calculated through the concentration gradient inside the snowpack, measured through a series of carbon dioxide sensors at different heights. Other variables are measured as well, such as the soil characteristics to better understand the microbiological processes or the wind to study its correlation with carbon dioxide fluxes variations.
The data, acquired continuously, will become part of the new CNR Observatory for the carbon dioxide fluxed in a Ny Ålesund, a new open-access database that follows the FAIR principles. They will be available through the IADC archive (Italian Arctic Data Centre) and through the Critical Zone Virtual Research Environment of the PNRR “ITINERIS” project.