Cryosphere Research Infrastructure Platform (CRYO-RI)

CRYO-RI-Platform will launch an interdisciplinary, internationally recognized, and regionally focused snow and ice (cryosphere) research cluster.

Snow and ice contribute to the unique identity of Northern Finland.

Climate change will reduce the spatial and temporal coverage of snow and ice, but also increase the variability resulting in low and high snow years - both posing challenges to northern natural and built environment.

The current regional infrastructure and services are built and planned on stationary snow and ice conditions, which will need to be re-evaluated, and the changes documented with high-quality monitoring systems.

The current infrastructure for regional snow and ice monitoring and management approaches needs to be updated and harmonized to adapt to the dynamic and rapid changes in the cryosphere.

CRYO-RI-Platform addresses this challenge.

Our joint efforts will develop measurement set-ups for cutting-edge research at the intersection of earth and life sciences, which will support regional business and resource management.

We will:

(1) develop decentralized inexpensive digital solutions for regional cryomonitoring

(2) utilize emerging technology (drones, distributed temperature sensing, stable water isotopes, biologgers, remote sensing) for advanced monitoring and research of the cryosphere

(3) develop existing infrastructure for state-of-the-art snow, ground frost and river ice monitoring station network and cryolaboratory analysis

(4) provide a data sharing platform and online visualisations to allow instantaneous easy access to the CRYO-RI data.

The unique CRYO-RI  cryolaboratory, instrument pool, measurement station network and data sharing platform will be constructed, maintained and operated in a regional collaboration between the University of Oulu (UOULU) and three research institutes (GSF, SYKE, FMI).

The CRYO-RI-Platform provides data and measurement infrastructure that are accessible for regional civil engineering, consulting, hydropower companies, local livelihoods (reindeer husbandry) and tourism to boost their snow and ice related operation and planning.

The platform facilitates excellent science and offers unique possibilities to train new generations of scientists and practitioners.

The CRYO-RI platform will advance the regional preparedness for adapting to the rapidly changing snow, ground frost and river ice conditions.