Scientists in the high Arctic are lifting their labs into the air to avoid damage from melting permafrost.

Ny-Ålesund in Norway's Arctic is the world's most northerly settlement. A team of scientists surrounded by glaciers, polars bears, walruses and arctic foxes call this hostile environment home while they're researching the Arctic's ice, ecosystems and atmosphere.

"The polar night is always the hardest," explains Marion Maturilli, a scientist studying Arctic climate dynamics with the French and German Polar Institutes, who is based at the station.

For more than 50 years, Ny-Ålesund has housed an international community at the top of the world just 1,200km (745 miles) from the North Pole. Remnants of scientific equipment from the mission which mapped the lines of longitude which define our time zones, still stand at Ny-Ålesund. More recently, Nasa used the base for its satellite lasers and measurements of the Earth's electrical field. Now, scientists from 10 countries live there to conduct their research. For almost three months at a time, they wake and go to sleep in darkness. Their experiments stretch from space to the mysteries of phytoplankton, microplastic pollution, walrus behaviour and alterations in Arctic cyclones.

The need to protect the unique polar archipelago resulted in the Svalbard Environmental Protection Act, which was one of the world's first international environmental protection agreements. But the impact left on this pristine landscape by the researchers is necessary, the scientists say.

Maturilli's team records long-term series of temperature and solar radiation measurements at Ny-Ålesund. Everyday for 30 years, the team at the German station used a weather balloon to raise a radiosonde – a small instrument which measures atmospheric conditions – which has to be carefully operated to prevent icing up in the clouds. The results are used to make accurate up-to-date weather forecasts but also document the long-term changes of temperature in the upper air of the region. These measurements depend on having precise and accurate reference points made at the station's high latitudes which give the global coverage and even our place in space.

"It doesn't sound spectacular but our daily measurements have produced reliable data for an international climate reference observing network," says Maturilli.

But to limit the impact of the settlement, only around 30 people are permitted live at the research station year-round.

"We do everything we can from planning to execution to change the Arctic as little as possible but this research is vital", explains Iain Rudkin, the Arctic Operations Manager for the British Antarctic Survey.

Efforts to mitigate their own environmental impacts are a high priority according to Geir Gotaas, leader of the Norwegian Polar Institute at the base.

Scientists are careful to collaborate to avoid any duplicated research. The teams on the base share data and boat rides to collect Arctic specimens and are planning to transition to electric snowmobiles – although there are challenges. "In the field researchers typically cover long distances and bring a lot of heavy equipment, and EV snowmobiles aren't up to the task – yet," says Gotaas.

And, while protecting the rare ecosystem is enshrined in the Svalbard Treaty, the carbon footprint must also be limited so the science itself is not derailed.

"It's very important to limit our carbon footprint when we are working in such a unique environment", Maturilli says. She explains that if a car or engine snowmobile visits the atmospheric lab, the data for these periods is not usable due to the carbon increases. (Read more about why Ny-Ålesund is the town with the cleanest air in the world.)

"Worsened battery performance in cold conditions and any projects which involve sea or diving activities are very difficult because the logistics use up many resources," she adds. "We co-ordinate within the international community of climate researchers, each........

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