Status of the Arctic BSRN Site Ny-Ålesund(78.9°N, 11.9°E)
Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, is located in the North Atlantic part of the Arctic where warming trends are much larger than in other regions of the globe. Under polar night conditions, the increase of surface temperature during the recent two decades exceeds 3 K per decade. Although the warming is bottom-amplified, it extends throughout the entire troposphere. Here, the according increase in winter longwave radiation since 1992 is highlighted. Indications for Arctic climate change are also observed during the sunlit period: the Ny-Ålesund shortwave radiation measurements provide information on the distinct albedo drop between the snow cover surface and the dark tundra ground after snow melt. The long-term changes in the observed shortwave radiation quantities indicate that the snow free season tends to start earlier, with implications for the Svalbard ecosystem. Furthermore, an overview of BSRN-related auxiliary data from Ny-Ålesund is provided.