Academic News
Climate change is a crucial global issue. In 2022, the Arctic Expedition Team of National Central University (NCU) organized by members of the College of Earth Sciences at NCU carried out several scientific missions such as geophysical survey, satellite geodesy, permafrost and groundwater monitoring, and wave and current survey of the Arctic Ocean. The research team successfully acquired precious research data on the Arctic. In addition, NCU collaborated on a joint research project with Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland, embodying citizen diplomacy and widening the international visibility of Taiwan as well.
In August 2022, the NCU Arctic Expedition Team organized by members of the College of Earth Sciences and led by Dr. Ni Chuen-Fa, professor at the Graduate Institute of Applied Geology, conducted field research for one week in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago largely covered with glaciers. Dr. Giletycz Slawomir Jacek, Polish assistant professor at the Department of Earth Sciences of NCU, played a crucial role in communication and coordination for the whole research project, making the whole expedition go smoothly.
Dr. Ni Chuen-Fa, professor at the Graduate Institute of Applied Geology, led the research team to conduct permafrost and groundwater monitoring. They dug wells by hand near a research station in the Arctic, building five observation wells along the geophysical survey lines to analyze the water level, water temperature, and soil samples. Meanwhile, the NCU research team launched the joint transdisciplinary monitoring project with the polar research team from Poland.
Due to global warming, numerous glaciers have been vanishing rapidly for more than ten years. “As deglaciation occurs, it will significantly reduce the Earth’s crust loading and result in so-called ‘crustal rebound.’ This time we have set up Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) equipments in the Arctic area; we will be able to carry out the observation in the future,” said Dr. Chang Wu-Lung, associate professor at the Department of Earth Sciences of NCU.
