Water quality

How are northern ecosystems affected by climate change, and how do different ecosystems affect each other? This 5-year Fram Centre research program aims to provide critical new knowledge related to: (1) Cross-ecosystem climate change impacts; and (2) How to best integrate cross-ecosystem linkages into cohesive management approaches.

The programme collects monitoring data from approximately 20 countries in Europe and North America to monitor and investigate the extent to which air pollution affects lakes and rivers, particularly regarding acidification, heavy metals and pollutants.

MULTISOURCE is an EU-funded project that will facilitate the systematic, city-wide planning of nature-based solutions for urban water treatment, storage, and reuse. Through seven technical pilots across Europe and USA, a wide range of urban waters will be treated throughout the project, while decision support tools will be co-designed together with local, national, and international stakeholders. NIVA and the City of Oslo together with 18 other partners are working on the treatment and reuse of urban stormwater using nature-based treatment solutions. The Norwegian pilot treats road runoff from Tåsenveien.

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. 

The section employs observational, experimental, and modeling approaches to further our understanding of physical, chemical, biological, and biogeochemical processes and services of the marine environment.