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PAGE21 Researcher Profiles: Frans-Jan Parmentier
- Details
- Created on Thursday, 11 April 2013 13:50
Next in line on our researcher series is Frans-Jan Parmentier from Lund University in Sweden.
At -30 it's cold, but it's ok if you dress warm! Photo by Frans-Jan Parmentier.Name
Frans-Jan Parmentier
Institution
Lund University
Nationality
Dutch
Unfortunately, warmer temperatures also lead to an increase in soil respiration, which releases CO2 into the atmosphere. Besides, higher soil temperatures also lead to an increase in methane emissions. Since methane is a very potent greenhouse gas, this can reduce the ability of Arctic ecosystems to take up greenhouse gases.
To be able to study these processes – and to predict what their cumulative effect is – many research stations have been set up around the Arctic in recent years. I myself ran such a station on the tundra of Northeastern Siberia during my PhD, and since recently I've started measurements at a new station on Svalbard in the high Arctic.
Besides these site-specific studies, my research extends further and tries to answer questions in the larger Arctic context. Recently, I've also become interested in connections with the Arctic Ocean, where large amounts of sea ice have disappeared. This has amplified Arctic warming, but has also led to many changes in the exchange of CO2 in methane from ocean waters.
Of course, all of this is done in an Arctic environment. In winter, temperatures can easily drop to -30 while you're working outside. But when the sun is shining, the temperature doesn't matter much. Dress warm, and enjoy the scenery!
There's one catch though: in Svalbard there are more polar bears than people. So you always have to bring a rifle out into the field with you. Luckily it's very rare too meet one. Our site is not far from the city of Longyearbyen, and other people in the neighborhood will often see a polar bear before you do.
Despite all the outdoor fun, fieldwork is only a short time of the year. Other days I'm in the office, behind my computer and analyzing data, where you have to use programming languages such as Python or Matlab to be able to handle the large datasets you work with. Luckily for me, I really enjoy this part as well. Or you're writing an article, which requires a lot of language skill. All in all, every day is different!
Research Focus
In my research, I study how Arctic ecosystems respond to global warming, and how this leads to changes in the natural exchange of greenhouse gases. This is important, because the Arctic is one of the regions of the world where global warming is the strongest, and this affects natural greenhouse-gas exchange.
For example: snow has started to melt earlier in the polar region, and returns later in autumn. This leads to changes in Arctic ecosystems: when plants are able to start growing earlier in the year, they also photosynthesize longer. This way they take up more CO2, which would be a beneficial response to climate change.
Unfortunately, warmer temperatures also lead to an increase in soil respiration, which releases CO2 into the atmosphere. Besides, higher soil temperatures also lead to an increase in methane emissions. Since methane is a very potent greenhouse gas, this can reduce the ability of Arctic ecosystems to take up greenhouse gases.
To be able to study these processes – and to predict what their cumulative effect is – many research stations have been set up around the Arctic in recent years. I myself ran such a station on the tundra of Northeastern Siberia during my PhD, and since recently I've started measurements at a new station on Svalbard in the high Arctic.
Besides these site-specific studies, my research extends further and tries to answer questions in the larger Arctic context. Recently, I've also become interested in connections with the Arctic Ocean, where large amounts of sea ice have disappeared. This has amplified Arctic warming, but has also led to many changes in the exchange of CO2 in methane from ocean waters.
The Monitoring Station. Photo by Frans-Jan Parmentier.
What parts of your research will be a direct input to PAGE21?
Within Page21, I study the exchange of CO2 and methane at a high arctic site in the beautiful valley of Adventdalen on Svalbard.
We established this station in 2011 and have been measuring the exchange of CO2 by the ecosystem, as well as the amount of methane being emitted from the soil. The data we collect is shared within Page21 to improve our understanding of the system.
What is the current challenge within this topic?
In the past couple of years much more data has become available from the Arctic, but many questions remain unanswered. The spatial variability is high, and it is therefore difficult to bridge the gap to models. But this mismatch must be solved if we want to be able to predict how greenhouse-gas exchange is likely to change in the future.
How did it happen that you became a researcher?
When I was studying Environmental Sciences in Amsterdam, fieldwork was a normal part of the curriculum and there I learned how to do my own measurements. While doing that, I always enjoyed being outside in the field, and working with my own data afterwards. I considered for a while to do something similar for a company, but I came to realize that in research you have much more freedom to go after a burning question, and contribute to something that lasts.
Adventdalen in February 2013. Sunlight just returned. Photo by Frans-Jan Parmentier.
Why do you like being the researcher?
Not only the freedom, but in my field I get to see beautiful places in the Arctic such as the tundra on Svalbard or the fjords of Greenland. And all this while trying to contribute something to our understanding of how greenhouse-gas cycling works in those areas, and to help in solving a piece of the global warming-puzzle.
How does a typical working day look like?
That depends. If I'm out there doing fieldwork, we do whatever is required. Is the equipment working properly or do we need to fix things? Do we need to install new equipment? Or if everything is running correctly, does the equipment perhaps need calibration? And if the automated measurements are running properly, can we do some manual measurements to support the rest of our data?
Of course, all of this is done in an Arctic environment. In winter, temperatures can easily drop to -30 while you're working outside. But when the sun is shining, the temperature doesn't matter much. Dress warm, and enjoy the scenery!
There's one catch though: in Svalbard there are more polar bears than people. So you always have to bring a rifle out into the field with you. Luckily it's very rare too meet one. Our site is not far from the city of Longyearbyen, and other people in the neighborhood will often see a polar bear before you do.
Despite all the outdoor fun, fieldwork is only a short time of the year. Other days I'm in the office, behind my computer and analyzing data, where you have to use programming languages such as Python or Matlab to be able to handle the large datasets you work with. Luckily for me, I really enjoy this part as well. Or you're writing an article, which requires a lot of language skill. All in all, every day is different!
Adventdalen in Summer. View towards the fjord. Photo by Frans-Jan Parmentier.
Funniest response ever when you told somebody that you are a "polar researcher"?
Most people don't understand what a 'polar researcher' is the first time round. I guess they don't meet them often! But once they get it, they're almost always intrigued and wish they could go as well. Although they're often worried that they'll get eaten by a polar bear.
What are your plans for the upcoming three / five years?
Improving our station on Svalbard, and also trying to delve deeper into connections between the Arctic Ocean, sea ice and the land.
Which expeditions do you participate this year?
This year, I will probably have many trips up to Svalbard.
We try to automate most of our measurements but sometimes you still have to go up there and make sure everything is ok. That's also the biggest challenge: trying to make sure our measurements are continuous without too many gaps. Most often, power is the issue there. We use solar panels but in winter it's pitch-dark. We do get some additional power from fuel cells, but they turned out to be unreliable due to the cold. To solve this problem, we installed a small wind generator in February 2013. Hopefully this will lead to a good dataset this year.
Nicest experience so far on expedition?
Apart from the beautiful scenery, the Arctic feels different in winter and summer. In summer, there is sunlight all day. When there are no clouds, you will need sunglasses at midnight in Svalbard! On the other hand, in winter it's completely dark. But on some clear nights the northern lights come out, and that's always a great spectacle! These kind of experiences always make it enjoyable to go up to the Arctic, regardless of the time of year.
