Archive of News and Press Releases
Endurance test for AWI robot "Tramper" in the deep sea
During their latest expedition on board the research vessel Sonne (So 242-2), researchers and engineers from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) successfully used the autonomous AWI robot, Tramper, for the first time on a deep-sea mission. The continuous-track vehicle’s first demo missions took place at a depth of about 4150 metres in an area of the subtropical Southeast Pacific around 850 km off the coast of Peru.
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In the Makarov Basin
On September 9, we sailed south along 120°W from the Amundsen Basin across the Lomonosov Ridge into the Makarov Basin, thereby conducting Large Rosette, Ultra-clean Rosette and XCTD casts.
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Where is the world’s permafrost thawing?
This Saturday at a conference in Quebec, Canada an international research team will present the first online data portal on global permafrost. In the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (www.gtnp.org) researchers first collect all the existing permafrost temperature and active thickness layer data from Arctic, Antarctic and mountain permafrost regions and then make it freely available for download. This new portal can serve as an early warning system for researchers and decision-makers around the globe. A detailed description of the data collection…
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Revived oceanic CO2 uptake
A decade ago scientists feared that the ability of the Southern Ocean to absorb additional atmospheric CO2 would soon be stalled. But the analysis of more recent observations show that this carbon sink reinvigorated during the past decade.
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Summer School: Facing Natural Hazards
The growing world population, climate change, rapid urbanisation, and the international interdependence of economies are all increasing our vulnerability to natural hazards. Such major global challenges are the focus of the second Potsdam Summer School on "Facing Natural Hazards". From 14 to 23 September 2015, 40 young professionals from 28 countries will meet with renowned scientists from Potsdam's Earth and Environmental Science institutions as well as with international experts.
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The transect along 60° E
During the past ten days we continued our transect along 60°E towards north, which we had started at the end of week 35.
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Arctic sea ice is not recovering
Hamburg/Bremerhaven, Germany: Even before the annual summer minimum, typically seen in mid-to-late September, the Arctic sea ice covers 4,35 million square kilometres. The Northeast and Northwest Passages are mostly ice-free already. Scientists from Universität Hamburg and the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) estimate that the ice extent will not hit a record low in 2015 but confirm the negative trend. During the International Polar Meeting in Munich, Germany, leading sea ice specialists will be available for interviews and background discussions.
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Fast, Normal, Large, Ultra-clean!
Big relief! As of last Sunday our “Large Rosette” is finally working.
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Visualisation of the Invisible
The Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and the TU Dresden’s Institute for Cartography present their joint three-dimensional map of the Antarctic continent and the seafloor of the Southern Ocean at this year’s International Cartographic Conference in Rio de Janeiro.
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Between boxes and containers
The beautiful fjord landscape distracted us from the worry if all last minute freight sent to Tromsoe really had made its way onboard - but of course everything was already safely stored by the cargo officer and the crew.
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