Ny-Ålesund
Ny-Ålesund (78º 56' N 12º E) is owned by the Kings Bay Company (www.kingsbay.no) who mined the area from 1917 to 1963. In 1991 Ny-Ålesund became an international research community. Today there are fourteen stations owned by ten nations (Norway has more than one station). Kings Bay provides the community infrastructure including power and water supply, harbour facility, air link to Longyearbyen and shared dining facility.The annual Ny-Ålesund population averages 21,000 person days with a daily population ranging from 25 - 120 persons. Ny-Ålesund is home to an atmospheric chemistry monitoring station (NILU), the Network for Detraction of Stratospheric Change (AWI), a radio telescope (Statens Kartverk) an atmospheric research rocket launch site (SvalRak) an international marine laboratory as well as stations involved in earth, life and atmospheric research.
Visitors to Ny-Ålesund do so with the approval of one of the research stations. Casual visitors are not allowed access to the infrastructure and are discouraged from walking on the local tundra or ice which are kept as pristine as possible for research purposes. Anyone wishing to visit Ny-Ålesund should contact their national operator or the Norwegian Polarinstitutt who cater for those from countries who do not own a station in Ny-Ålesund.
Norway
Norsk Polarinstitutt
Norwegian Institute for Air Research
Norwegian Space Centre
Norwegian Mapping Authority
University of Tromsø
United Kingdom
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
The station is managed by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS)
Japan
National Institute of Polar Research
Germany
Alfred Wegener Institute
France
Institut Francais Polaire, Paul Emile Victor (IPEV)
Italy
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR)
South Korea
Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI)
Sweden
Stockholm University
Netherlands
University of Groningen. Arctic Centre
China
Polar Research Institute of China
In 2005 a marine lab was constructed by the Kings Bay Company. The lab is largely financed by a consorium including , Norsk Polarinstitutt, Italy, France and Japan, USA and the Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory ,UK.
The Ny-Ålesund Science Managers Committee (NySMAC) was established in 1994 to enhance research cooperation and coordination at Ny-Ålesund. Representatives from each station discuss research activity, environment protection rules and laws and development of the international research community. The committee meets twice a year and holds Ny-Ålesund seminars every four years.