Archive of News and Press Releases

Weekly report

Between Ile-de-France and Norske Oer

This week started with a disappointment. As a result of very dense sea ice coverage we were unable to recover 3 moorings deployed near the northern edge of the embayment of the 79°N Glacier, in order to observe the circulation at the transition from Norske Trough in the south to Westwind Trough in the north.
[Translate to English:] Das NETCARE-Team des deutschen Forschungsflugzeuges Polar 5
Press releases

Ten years of exploration with the AWI’s research aircraft Polar 5

The 1st of October 2017 marks the ten-year anniversary since the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) research aircraft Polar 5 began service. In that time, the Basler BT-67 has flown more than 1.3 million kilometres to fulfil essential scientific and logistical duties. In the course of 48 measuring campaigns, predominantly for atmospheric research and geophysics purposes, the airplane has landed on the Arctic sea ice near the North Pole, and at the South Pole.
AWI-Gebäude A43 Telegrafenberg Potsdam
Press releases

AWI Potsdam: Celebrating 25 years

The founding of the AWI Potsdam 25 years ago represented the successful reunification of German polar research. In honour of this occasion, today representatives of the scientific community and politics will look back on a quarter century of polar research at the Alfred Wegner Institute’s Potsdam facilities – including Brandenburg’s Minister for Science, Research and Culture, Dr Martina Münch, and Karl-Eugen Huthmacher from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. They will also inaugurate a new annex on the Telegrafenberg. 
Weekly report

At the 79°N Glacier

We are looking back on a very active and exciting week. In the beginning our work was still concentrated on the area of the shelf break of Northeast Greenland at the mouth of Westwind Trough, with the latter representing a depression leading toward the inner shelf. In the trough relatively warm Atlantic Water can be found near the sea floor.
Müll-im-Meer-Forschung am AWI Helgoland
Press releases

From River Weser to the North Sea

Around the globe, the pollution of rivers, lakes and seas with plastic litter is on the rise. A new project jointly coordinated by the University of Bayreuth and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) is the first to approach the problem from a holistic perspective. In the model region Weser – Wadden Sea National Park the participating researchers will use e.g. empirical and model-assisted analyses to discover how minute plastic particles (microplastics) make their way from land to sea, which input and…
Weekly report

The forerunners of Greenland

In the evening of 12 September the research icebreaker R/V Polarstern left the port of Tromsø (Norway). On board there are scientists from seven nations who cover the range from physical oceanography, geochemistry, glaciology, geodesy, geology, geophysics, atmospheric physics and chemistry as well as marine biology and  biogeochemistry. The aim of the “Greenland ice sheet/ocean interaction” (GRISO) expedition is to unravel the complex physical interactions between the ocean and the ice sheet of Northeast Greenland, as well as their implications for the…
Press releases

Arctic sea ice once again shows considerable melting

This September, the extent of Arctic sea ice shrank to roughly 4.7 million square kilometres, as was determined by researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute, the University of Bremen and Universität Hamburg. Though slightly larger than last year, the minimum sea ice extent 2017 is average for the past ten years and far below the numbers from 1979 to 2006. The Northeast Passage was traversable for ships without the need for icebreakers.
Symbolbild Klimamodellierung
Online news

In the right place at the right time

Over the next five years, nine research centres of the Helmholtz Association will collaborate to create a flexible, mobile measuring system for Earth observation: MOSES – Modular Observation Solutions for Earth Systems. Researchers will use this system to investigate how short-term dynamic events such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall are linked to the long-term development of Earth and environmental systems. MOSES is being coordinated at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig.    
Weekly report

New technical possibilities in the deep sea

The second week of our expedition was in focus of the in ROBEX new developed robotic systems.
Weekly report

Expedition „ROBEX-DM“

On Tuesday August 22 at 19:00 POLARSTERN left Tromsö with an unusual freight on board into direction of Svalbard. Unusual, because 10 of the 40 scientists on board are space experts and special are also the new and innovative robotic systems, which should improve our capabilities in deep-sea research. The new technologies include 3 different types of benthic crawler, each designed for its specific scientific purpose on the bottom of the sea, a glider for water column studies, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to support AUV operations under sea ice and an…