About GEM

Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring (GEM) is a long-term programme run by universities and research institutions in Denmark and Greenland. Over the past three decades, GEM has become a leading international barometer for climate change, measuring its impacts and ecosystem changes in the Arctic.Over the years the programme has developed from a comprehensive climate change and ecosystem monitoring program at a single site in the National Park of North-East Greenland to also include two almost equally comprehensive programs in West Greenland supplemented with strategic initiatives to study cross-cutting issues and use remote sensing and modelling efforts to integrate the information from the data gathered across the program.

The mission of GEM is threefold and embraces the following actions:

1.    To contribute to a coherent and science-based description of the state of the environment, including its biodiversity, in Greenland and the Arctic in relation to climatic changes with focus on ecosystem responses and on global impacts related to feedback processes.

2.    To provide science-based input on the state of the environment in Greenland and the Arctic for Danish, Greenlandic and international policy development, adaptation and administration.

3.    To provide a platform for cutting-edge inter-disciplinary research on the structure and function of arctic ecosystems.

Funding

The long-term monitoring efforts of the programme is funded by the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities (Klimastøtte til Arktis), the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (Miljøstøtte til Arktis), and by the Government of Greenland. Additional funding for programme development and improved process understanding is provided by the institutions behind the GEM programme and other external funding sources.

Data

GEM provides free and open access to all data collected. In addition to the main sites, data are also gathered through remote sensing, supplementary transects, and additional monitoring locations, supporting gradient studies and scaling analyses.

All datasets are:

• Openly available to the public
• Quality assured to ensure scientific integrity
• Assigned a DOI to support proper citation and reuse

GEM adheres to the FAIR principles - ensuring that data are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable -to promote transparency, collaboration, and long-term value for the scientific community and society. Link to the GEM database