Catchment Biogeochemistry
The section for catchment biogeochemistry works to understand how various pollutants are spread in the environment and how they affect the water quality in rivers, lakes, and fjords. Our studies lay the foundation for and support political guidelines and improvements to reduce unwanted environmental impacts.
Hans Fredrik V Braaten
Kari Austnes
Leah Amber Jackson-Blake
Magnus Dahler Norling
François Clayer
Jacqueline Knutson
Øyvind Kaste
Rolf David Vogt
Rolf Høgberget
Barkha Tiwari
Cathrine Brecke Gundersen
Areti Balkoni
The section works with a number of different pollutants, including nutrients, environmental toxins, and plastics. We study the connection between elementary cycles of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in the catchment area and the effects they have on soil and water when they are affected by stress factors such as acidification, liming, fertilization, and climate change.
The section leads the international cooperation program for assessment and monitoring of the impact of air pollution on rivers and lakes (ICP Waters). This program is subject to the UN Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) and has participants from around 20 countries.
We study biogeochemical processes by combining field work, experiments, and modelling. The section leads large national monitoring programmes, national and international research projects, and projects where we collaborate with political and industrial players.
The section is responsible for NIVA's modeling platform Mobius, which streamlines model development and the use of biogeochemical models for research and management. The platform makes it easy to build fast models that work against standardized data formats, user interfaces and tools for sensitivity and uncertainty analysis (https://github.com/NIVANorge/Mobius).
The section's employees are stationed in Oslo, Grimstad and Tromsø.