Finally, we are let loose

Today, HAUSGARTEN resembles a network of 21 stations at water depths ranging between 300 and 5,500 m, where sampling was performed by us both in the water column and on the seafloor. Climate-induced changes of plankton communities in Fram Strait are investigated by the AWI/ GEOMAR research group PEBCAO (“Phytoplankton Ecology and Biogeochemistry in the Changing Arctic Ocean”). The HGF Young Investigators Group SEAPUMP (“Seasonal and regional food web interactions with the biological pump”) studies the particle flux to the deep sea, while the HGF-MPG Joint Research Group for Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology mainly investigates variations at the deep seafloor. Long-term studies at HAUSGARTEN contribute to various large national and international research and infrastructure projects. Two working groups from the University of Bremen – for plankton-ecology and for air-chemistry – are complementing the expedition program with their closely related research topics.

Our first two days at sea were characterized by the usual excitement of becoming familiar with our new surroundings on this huge icebreaker. Labs have been shared and setup and everybody worked hard to prepare for their upcoming research programs. This first phase of preparation is always hectic and the fact that we are at full capacity meant that we needed to unload a huge amount of equipment and instruments. It was not uncommon for someone to block the working space of another. However, it is always remarkable to see how quickly such phases pass and the rapidity in which the chaos is organised due to one another’s cooperation and understanding. Everybody was in the same boat, literally.

Actually two working groups had to start their research programs immediately after leaving port in Tromsø.

The Lab container from the IUP (University Bremen) was already used on the previous cruise leg PS106, so no equipment installation was necessary. Our measurement campaign is part of the project Arctic Amplification (TR172), which deals with the question of why the artic region is warming much faster than the rest of the earth. The container is equipped with two FTIR spectrometers, which are used to measure radiation emitted by the sun, the atmosphere and thin clouds. These spectrometer record interferometers of the occurring radiation and calculate the corresponding spectra. From the solar absorption spectra, the amount of water vapour and some atmospheric trace gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) or ozone (O3) can be retrieved. In contrast to that, from the atmospheric and cloud radiation spectra, cloud properties and aerosols can be retrieved.