THE 2ND JOSTICE EXPLORATORY WORKSHOP

by Jacob Yde, September 16, 2023

The 2^nd JOSTICE Exploratory Workshop was held in Jostedalen on September 11-14, 2023. The 24 participants included a healthy mix of researchers on all steps of the career ladder from bachelor students to professor emeritus and with a wide variety of interdisciplinary expertise. In addition, several stakeholders and researchers interested in JOSTICE data and results attended the workshop.

The consequences of climate extremes were observed directly on the opening day of the workshop when a severe rainstorm causes a 50-year event of water level height at Lake Nigardsbrevatnet and flooding of the only road into Jostedalen. However, the weather cleared up on the following day and allowed perfect conditions for the many planned field activities. As with the 1^st JOSTICE Exploratory Workshop at Tungestølen in 2021, the main purpose was to provide a platform for collaborative fieldwork and knowledge transfer.

A major task during the workshop was to conduct temporal vertical air temperature profiling above Nigardsbreen and its foreland for Work Package #3. This job required three drone teams in addition to data collection from weather stations, weather balloons, LiDAR, and paragliding. Good weather with both sunny and cloudy conditions allowed successful collection of valuable data that will be analyzed in the coming months.

The calving front of Austdalsbreen on September 12, 2023 (photo: Jonathan Carrivick). 

Other field campaigns during the workshop included the ongoing analysis of calving processes of Austdalsbreen into Lake Styggevatnet and high-resolution remeasurements of several outlet glaciers for digital elevation modeling and quantification of ice-marginal glacier changes. The JOSTICE project aims to provide present and future modelled runoff for Jostedalsbreen outlet glacier basins. These results are essential for evaluation the dynamics of downstream geomorphology, biogeochemistry, and ecology. Therefore, data collection was conducted on the surface of Nigardsbreen, in the proglacial Lake Nigardsbrevatnet and within the foreland of Nigardsbreen.

The results from the 2^nd JOSTICE Exploratory Workshop will contribute to new and interesting knowledge on the natural and societal consequences of climate-forced glacier changes of Jostedalsbreen. The data will be made publicly available after processing and interpretation.