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Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

2022

Abstract

The number of people affected by snow avalanches during recreational activities has increased over the recent years. An instrument to reduce these numbers are improved terrain classification systems. One such system is the Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale (ATES). Forests can provide some protection from avalanches, and information on forest attributes can be incorporated into avalanche hazard models such as the automated ATES model (AutoATES). The objectives of this study were to (i) map forest stem density and canopy-cover based on National Forest Inventory and remote sensing data and, (ii) use these forest attributes as input to the AutoATES model. We predicted stem density and directly calculated canopy-cover in a 20 Mha study area in Norway. The forest attributes were mapped for 16 m × 16 m pixels, which were used as input for the AutoATES model. The uncertainties of the stem number and canopy-cover maps were 30% and 31%, respectively. The overall classification accuracy of 52 ski-touring routes in Western Norway with a total length of 282 km increased from 55% in the model without forest information to 67% when utilizing canopy cover. The F1 score for the three predicted ATES classes improved by 31%, 9%, and 6%.

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Abstract

Groundwater utilization and groundwater quality vary in the Baltic and Nordic countries mainly because of different geological settings. Based on the geology, the countries were treated in the following three groups: (1) Fennoscandian countries (Finland, Sweden, and Norway), (2) Denmark and Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), and (3) Iceland. Most of the utilized groundwater resources are taken from Quaternary deposits, but Denmark and the Baltic countries have in addition, important resources in Phanerozoic rocks. The groundwater quality reflects the residence time of water in the subsurface and the chemical composition of the geological formations. Concentrations of ions in the Fennoscandian bedrock are elevated compared to Iceland, but lower than in Denmark and the Baltic countries. Compared to groundwater in the bedrock, groundwater in Quaternary deposits has usually lower concentrations of dissolved minerals. Unconfined Quaternary aquifers are vulnerable to contamination. Examples from Denmark and the Baltic countries illustrate challenges and successful effects of mitigation strategies for such aquifers related to agricultural application and management of nitrogen. Confined and deeper groundwater is better protected against anthropogenic contamination, but water quality may be affected by harmful compounds caused by geogenic processes (viz, sulfide, arsenic, fluoride, and radon).