Description

The road infrastructure is a very important part of the basic and often critical infrastructure in a small Arctic society with only 40 km of roads in and around Longyearbyen in Svalbard. Road design and construction methods developed in Norway need to be adapted to Arctic environments to prevent severe permafrost degradation following the construction of roads, as well as cycle and pedestrian infrastructure in Svalbard. The community of Longyearbyen, located in the Svalbard archipelago at 78°N, is experiencing increasing maintenance costs associated with transportation infrastructure due to permafrost degradation and changing climatic conditions. To address and better understand these challenges and how to manage them most efficiently, the community seeks to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the condition of its transportation network, including an inventory of existing damage and its spatial extent. In addition, there is a need to investigate and evaluate long-term permafrost mitigation and adaptation measures that can improve transportation infrastructure resilience and reduce future maintenance requirements in a rapidly warming Arctic environment.

Internship Tasks

1. Map observed road damage, surface water flow paths, location of winter icings, and ponded areas throughout the town using GIS tools.

2. Review archival photographs and other historical records to assess changes in permafrost-affected areas over time inside Longyearbyen.

3. Integrate collected data and analysis results, including maps, into the Thawing LYR Data Portal (https://portal.thawinglyr.com/).

4. Review and document existing mitigation and adaptation solutions implemented in other Arctic communities and identify potential approaches that could be applied in Longyearbyen to improve infrastructure resilience and reduce permafrost-related damage and operational costs.

5. Weekly frost tube measurements at different locations in town.

6. Use drone surveys and digital models (DMs) to evaluate thaw settlement

7. Blog post on the internship for the PermaIntern webpage (min once) during the internship.

Duration: Approx. 3 months during spring, summer, or early autumn 2027.

Number of student positions available: 2

Where: Longyearbyen Community Council, Lokalstyre, Svalbard.

Internship host: 

Lillian Risvaag, Operations Engineer – Roads and Local Environment

The Community Council in Longyearbyen / Longyearbyen Lokalstyre

Supervisors: 

1) Julie Malenfant-Lepage, Postdoctoral Researcher, Norwegian University of Science and Technology & owner of Malenfant-Lepage Consulting.

2) Hanne H. Christiansen, Professor, Technical University of Denmark and Aarhus University.

Stipend: The Community Council in Longyearbyen will be able to provide basic accommodation in Longyearbyen, while the EU Illuq project will be able to provide travel support. No salary is provided.

How to apply

Send a CV, academic transcripts, and a motivation letter to Julie Malenfant-Lepage (julie.m.lepage@ntnu.no).