Tarfala – an important platform for Arctic research

In the northern most part of Sweden on the eastern side of Sweden´s highest mountain Kebnekaise you will find Tarfala Research Station (TRS). Situated in the rocky high alpine environment with extreme weather conditions in the winter this research station, belonging to Stockholm University, is an outpost in roadless country. The station was founded in the 1940´ but even before that researchers were in the Tarfala valley to study glaciers. Storglaciären is the largest glacier in the Tarfala valley. Tand the first measurements on this glacier were made in 1945. It started as basic research into the relationship between glaciers and climate. The mass balance of the glacier - how much snow is accumulated during the winter and how much that melts away in the summer - has been measured since then and how all this is linked to precipitation and temperature changes. This makes the measurement of Storglaciären the longest detailed glacier measurement series in the world.

The research station also does annual measurements of the height of the top glacier of the southern peak of Kebnekaise. This glacier is getting thinner and thinner which implies that the southern peak since 2019 has lost its status as Sweden´s highest peak to the Kebnekaise northern peak (which consists of solid bedrock). The results from this measurement use to get a lot of media attention every year.

Celebrating the first 80 years

In 2025 it was 80 years since the first systematically measurements of Storglaciären started, and TRS celebrated this with an 80 years anniversary in the form of a two days international conference in Stockholm in August. There was a broad consensus among the participants that TRS is an important infrastructure for both research and education on glaciers and on Arctic climate in general. Several participants stressed the importance of the world unique long time series from Tarfala for long time observations and research on glaciers and climate change.

The research station is also in charge of investigating regularly the four Swedish reference glaciers that are part of the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) long-term efforts on collecting mass balance at about 60 reference glaciers around the world.

Michael Zemp is professor of Zürich University and president of WGMS. At the conference he emphasized that these measurements are the back bone for global knowledge about glaciers and how they change. A key factor is also that the data from the glaciers within WGMS is open and researchers from all over the world can get access to the data.

Tarfala Research Station is not only of interest for glaciologists. Researchers within several research areas visit the station and run project there, like in geology, plant ecology, hydrology, limnology and zoology. Teachers also bring students here for field courses and excursions in several subjects. This make TRS an important asset not only for Stockholm University but also for other universities and research institutions around the world.

Testing ground for Arctic expeditions

TRS is also important as a testing ground for equipment that will be used during Arctic expeditions and for training people in how to handle Arctic conditions before they are going on expeditions. Since the late 1940´ the station has been a hub for testing and training Polar expeditions. A recent example was when the Arctic expedition GEOEO on icebreaker Oden went to northern Greenland in 2024. Much of the equipment was tested in Tarfala, like ice penetrating radar and remotely controlled vehicles that carried sensors.

Tarfala can tell what we can expect to find on Mars

The Tarfala valley is not only of interest for research on what is happening on Earth. Alicia Rutledge is assistant professor at Northern Arizona University and affiliated to the American space agency NASA. She is running a project in Tarfala where she is studying how glaciers interact with the bedrock. There are glaciers on planet Mars,. Bbut we do not know much about them and their history – and they are hard to study on spot. This is where Tarfala comes in. There is reason to believe that the processes behind glacial build up and melting is similar on Earth and Mars. By studying the bedrock in front of the retreating glaciers in Tarfala you can find out information about the bedrock and what kind of minerals we are expected to find beneath the glaciers at Mars. This is important information if/when mankind is going to Mars.

Importance of long measurement series

Johan Kuylenstierna is Director General of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket) and honorary doctor at Stockholm University. For long he has closely followed the work at TRS and says that research stations are of great importance.

“Environmental monitoring that includes long measurement series has significant value for understanding longer-term changes and trends. The fact that some of the world's longest measurement series of glaciers are located in Tarfala is of particular value because it is a region that is greatly affected by climate change. Long measurement series help to distinguish natural variability from longer-term trends and human impact.”

He continues:
“Tarfala's role as a research station is also of great importance as a meeting place and field station for current and future researchers in a number of areas and for being able to carry out practical training in a field environment. The meeting place Tarfala should not be underestimated and is an area that can certainly be developed even further. A place for a meeting between research and policy, for example”.

Will glaciers survive this century?

Nina Kirchner is professor of glaciology at Stockholm University and director of TRS. She emphasizes that glaciers are an important part of the climate system and that shrinking glaciers are an indicator of global warming. That's why it's important to research glaciers and keep a close eye on their condition. The status for Swedish glaciers, like glaciers all around the world, is not good. At the beginning of 2025, there were 270 glaciers in Sweden. The Swedish glaciers are about 6 000 - 8 000 years old and have sometimes grown and sometimes shrunk during that time. The trend now is that they are shrinking. Eight Swedish glaciers have disappeared during the summer of 2024, which was the most negative year yet for glaciers in Scandinavia. If it goes on like this Storglaciären is expected to disappear in 2087. According to the model simulations done by researchers glaciers will not survive this century.

"The melting we are seeing now is greatly accelerated. We see it not only at single glaciers, but at many, in Sweden, Scandinavia, the Alps and worldwide. We need to make a shift. It is not possible to preserve glaciers without strictly limiting climate warming", says Nina Kirchner.

Read more about Tarfala Research Station
Read article: UN Year for Melting Glaciers (and the work at TRS)