Assumption and realization of Arie catchment measuring system, Spitsbergen

Geoecosystems of polar areas are particularly sensitive to climate change. The fluctuations of mean annual temperatures of Svalbard areas recorded for many years and progressing glacier recession indicate unequivocally that the Arctic areas strongly react to long-term weather and climate changes. Energy released in the form of proglacial waters contributes considerably to the transformation of the biotic and abiotic systems. However, it is necessary to note that once the polar environment has changed, it is a very hard and long process to restore it to its former state. In this way natural processes accelerate for the next environmental changes (Zwoliński 2007). As suggested by Kostrzewski et al. (2006), of great significance in the terrestrial geoecosystems of the Arctic is the recession of glaciers and the decline of permafrost and snow covers. The monitoring of the polar environment in the Svalbard area included periodic research in glaciated basins with areas considerably larger than that of the suggested Arie catchment. This means that the glaciated mesoand micro-basins omitted by the researchers may prove particularly important geoindicators of periodic weather changes for the polar zone. The dynamics of energy flow and matter cycle in a small-sized basin differs definitely from that in big catchments. It is reasonable for balance investigations to use a river basin as the reference spatial unit. In many areas of the Arctic, glaciated and non-glaciated geoecosystems are basic spatial units in environmental investigations (Kostrzewski, Zwoliński 2003, Kostrzewski et al. 2004). The measuring system of the glaciated Arie basin has been geared to the needs of the doctoral projects undertaken: – Operation of the geoecosystem of the glaciated Arie catchment, and – Impact of superimposed ice on runoff from a glacial catchment. In the research, the Arie catchment is treated as an independent structure with an autonomous flow of energy and matter reflecting the mechanism of processes operating in the polar zone.