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Participation in ESA Training Course on Arctic Methane and Permafrost 2024

Lay summary

Description of the programme

The Training Course on Arctic Methane and Permafrost 2024 was organised under the umbrella of the Arctic Methane and Permafrost Challenge (AMPAC) by ESA, NASA and SIOS in Svalbard. We had the chance to spend a week in Longyearbyen learning about methods to monitor Arctic Methane emissions from thawing permafrost – from field work to satellite remote sensing. The course was designed to bring together students and lecturers from diverse background and bridge the gap between field science and remote sensing to tackle the challenges of monitoring permafrost. We had the chance to go on a field trip to see a pingo, a permafrost feature where methane is released, and to perform chamber measurements ourselves.

How did you benefit from the programme?

As a remote sensing scientist, being in the field and performing local-scale measurements is not part of my daily work life. The lectures helped me to learn more about remote sensing products of the Arctic permafrost region that I was not aware of before and even more importantly, to get a better understanding how the different disciplines of field measurements, models, and remote sensing data can be used together. I had chance to get to know great scientists from different disciplines. Our discussions allowed me to see new perspectives and gave me lots of new ideas for my research.

What were the highlights of the training?

Staying one week in a place like Svalbard and seeing permafrost in the real world (and not only from satellite images) has been absolutely stunning. I think, however, that the exchange with the other students and lecturers has been my highlight of the training: Both the scientific and personal backgrounds of the participants of the course were so diverse and led to engaging and refreshing discussions. I come home with new ideas and motivation to continue to work in this important and fascinating research field.

Would you recommend the programme to other students?

I would highly recommend this summer school to any PhD student or Postdoc that is working in the field of permafrost and is interested in getting to know more about the interplay of different disciplines such as field work, modelling or remote sensing. The course gives a great overview of the different techniques showcasing exemplary studies, highlighting state-of-the-art datasets, and basics in field measurements. Being part of this course provides the opportunity to meet an international and diverse group of researchers. If, however, the main interest lies within hands-on experience on processing remote sensing or field data, this course might not be the right choice.

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