Archive of News and Press Releases
Polarstern returns to Bremerhaven
19th Arctic research expedition successfully concluded
On 13th October, Polarstern, research ice-breaker of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, will return to Bremerhaven after a 20 week long research cruise in Arctic waters. Over 200 scientists from 11 nations made use of the 118 metre long ship to research biological, geological and oceanographic processes west of Ireland, in the Arctic deep sea and in the fjords of east Greenland, during two cruise legs.
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Victor disembarks
Polarstern completes eleven week international deep sea expedition
According to plan, the Polarstern, research ice-breaker of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), will enter the port of Tromso, Norway, on August 7th. The aims of the completed expedition were to examine deep sea corals southwest of Ireland, the Hakon Mosby mud volcano northwest of Norway and the AWI "Hausgarten", a long-term deep sea station west of Svalbard in a depth of 2600 metres. Victor 6000, a deep sea remotely operated vehicle (ROV) run by French…
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Coral Paradise in the deep, dark and cool waters west of Ireland
On Friday, June 20th 2003, the German research ice-breaker POLARSTERN of the Alfred-Wegener-Institute (AWI) for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven/ Germany will visit the port of Galway/ Ireland, after a 3-week international expedition to study the deep-water coral reefs to the west of Ireland. Over 40 scientists working on a variety of European-funded research projects and from marine institutes in Ireland, Belgium, the UK, France and Germany are participating in the expedition. They will depart the ship to return to their home institutes in…
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A hole develops in the ozone layer
Beginning of an international measurement campaign in the Antarctic
On 14th June an international measurement campaign, lead by scientists
from the Alfred Wegener Institute's Potsdam research centre, will begin
in the Antarctic, with the aim of uncovering the still unclear processes
of ozone destruction during the Antarctic twilight. Nine measurement
stations in the Antarctic, including the German Neumayer Station run by
AWI, will release hundreds of weather balloons over the course of four
months, providing a precise picture of when, where and…
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AWI-Director elected member of the Russian
Professor Jorn Thiede, director of the Alfred Wegener Institute for
Polar and Marine Research, was elected as a foreign member of the
Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) at a general assembly held on May 22nd.
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World climate and the Arctic
Climate researchers meet in Potsdam
On 2nd and 3rd of June, 2003, climate experts from Europe and
the USA will meet together at the Alfred Wegener Institute's Potsdam
centre for a workshop on comparing current computer models of the
Arctic.
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French Deep-Sea Robot on German Research Ice-breaker
Marine Scientists go to ground in the deep-sea
On the 22nd of May, Polarstern, the research ice-breaker of the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), departs Bremerhaven on a twelve week deep-sea expedition in the northern North Atlantic and Arctic. A team of altogether 150 scientists, engineers and technicians will study geological, biological, chemical and oceanographic processes during three separate cruise legs. The research cruise is being organised by the Alfred Wegener Institute and the French Ifremer (Institut Francais de Recherche pour l'Exploitation…
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Satellite validation in Arctic ice
Sea ice scientists lead by the Alfred Wegener Institute of Polar and Marine Sciences (AWI) are presently investigating the accuracy of the environmental satellite “Envisat” and the upcoming ice-satellite “CryoSat” for sea ice measurements in the Arctic. For this purpose, the German research icebreaker “Polarstern”, during its ARK XIX cruise, is currently frozen into the pack, 900 km from the North Pole, with air temperatures down to –30°C.
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Arctic Heat Trap
Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) have managed to explain the origin of unusually warm water masses in the Arctic. Ocean currents simulated by a computer model explain measurements made during the nineties which indicated unexpected warming but also, in some places, unexpectedly low temperatures. As a result, the circulation of water masses through this section of the world ocean is better understood. The model does not only reproduce data from the past two decades, it can also be used to make predictions. The publication of these…
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Polar aircrafts back from Antarctic
East Antarctic glacier is stable
On Friday, 14 March 2003, at nine o'clock in the morning, the two Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) polar aircrafts will arrive back in Bremerhaven Luneort. Scientists measured the ice thickness in the Antarctic glaciers, to work out whether the ice thickness was increasing or decreasing in these areas. From data obtained in the previous season (2001/2002), AWI researchers calculated that the glacier, Jutulstraumen, approximately 120,000 square kilometers in size, belonging to the east Antarctic, had a constant mass. „This…
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