The NTNU UAV Icing Lab is pleased to be part of SUSTAIN-ARCTIC, a newly funded Horizon Europe project working to reduce the environmental footprint of Arctic research. With €5.67 million in EU funding, the project brings together 11 institutions from six countries and runs from October 2026 to September 2029.
Research in the Arctic is essential for understanding climate change, but remote locations and harsh conditions make observations resource-intensive. SUSTAIN-ARCTIC will develop and test solutions ranging from cleaner energy and improved waste management at research stations to autonomous observations and digital tools.
Of particular interest to our lab is the observational pyramid, which combines ground-based measurements, unmanned systems, and satellite observations. Drones provide an intermediate layer, connecting detailed local measurements with the wider coverage of satellites. The project will explore how this approach can improve environmental observations while reducing the need for transport and extensive field operations. This builds on our experience with drone operations in cold climates and scientific fieldwork in Svalbard.
We look forward to working with our international partners to make Arctic observations more sustainable, reliable, and accessible.
Project partners
- Politecnico di Torino, Italy — Project coordinator
- National Research Council (CNR), Italy
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway
- SIOS Svalbard, Norway
- NORCE Research, Norway
- Aarhus University, Denmark
- University of Helsinki, Finland
- Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Finland
- ACTRIS ERIC, Finland
- Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
- Analysis and Experimentation on Ecosystems (AnaEE ERIC), France
