Third European Conference on Permafrost (EUCOPP2010)

Welcome to the Third European Conference on Permafrost, Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway

Longyearbyen is an exciting place for permafrost scientists in both the academic and engineering communities as it is completely underlain by continuous permafrost. Many periglacial landforms, both mountainous and lowland types, can be studied within the vicinity of Longyearbyen. The construction of new buildings relies heavily on the development of new techniques for frozen ground foundations. The majority, if not all, of the buildings in Longyearbyen have their foundations seated within the permafrost.

Currently there are many research projects related to frozen ground dynamics, permafrost engineering and air-ground interactions. Many of these research sites will be shown during the conference. Several of the locations were instrumented as part of the IPY project TSP-NORWAY and several other sites are run by international research partners who have ongoing activities.

The conference will focus on both arctic and alpine permafrost research, and recent achievements like the permafrost related IPY campaigns. Issues related to CO2-storage in permafrost areas will also be covered. A preliminary list of the planned topics can be seen here. The conference will also host the official IPA Executive Committee and Council meetings.

EUCOP III is hosted by The University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS, which provides modern conference facilities. Modern hotels and cheaper student accommodation will be available for the conference participants. More information on this will follow.

The organizers can be contacted at the following email address: post@EUCOP2010.no