The Climate Laboratory in Tromsø is jointly maintained by UiT The Arctic University of Norway (UiT) and Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy (Nibio). The Climate Laboratory offers excellent facilities for controlled growth experiments, as it has 6 daylight and 4 dark phytotrons for experimental use. The temperature of the daylight phytotrons can be adjusted from 6 °C to 27 °C and the dark rooms from +0.5 to 27 °C. In the phytotrons, air humidity, light intensity, quality and photoperiod can be adjusted. Being located at 69° 39’ N, 350 km north of the arctic circle, it is the northernmost phytotron in the world and offers opportunities to study plant growth with the unique light conditions characteristic of the arctic. During the summer there is practically no dark period, and the spectral composition is different from that at lower latitudes.
The most important research topics at the Climate Laboratory are the effect of climate factors on quality of food plants, the adaptation of plants to different growth conditions, monitoring the effects of estimated climate change, and morphogenetic responses to light conditions. UiT is right now investing in the development of flexible image based phenotyping infrastructure at the climate laboratory.