Work package POL 1: Processes and interactions in the polar climate system
A clear understanding of the physical processes which determine the interaction between
ocean, ice, and atmosphere on different space and time scales strongly contributes to
improving the interpretation and simulation of climate states and their changes. Our
research will focus on the assessment of the exchange of energy, mass (H2O and other
trace constituents), and momentum between the polar subsystems together with the
identification of the controlling parameters and investigation of the related processes within
each of the subsystems. Key processes to be studied are, among others, cloud and
precipitation formation, impact of aerosols, horizontal and vertical transports in the
atmospheric boundary layer over the polar ocean and over inhomogeneous ice surface,
growth, decay and transport of sea ice, shelf ice, and icebergs, and convection of dense
water along the continental slope, triggered by ice formation.
Furthermore, diffusion of trace gases within snow and their transfer between snow and
atmosphere will be investigated to support the interpretation of ice core signals. Studies on
the feedback between atmospheric processes in polar and in extra polar regions will be
carried out in cooperation with other HGF-institutes (TRACKS, see Programme
“Atmosphere and Climate”).
The research contributes to a consistent picture of the role of polar processes in the climate
system, and it supports the quantification of key processes responsible for polar changes.