News
PS121 - Weekly report No. 4 | 01.09. – 08.09.2019
Last activities
This is the last weekly report for PS121, which describes our activities on board during a full week of research. The research activities have continued to go well, and there is already a feeling on board that the expedition is nearing the end.
PS121 - Weekly report No. 3 | 25.08. – 31.08.2019
Long-term observations
In the last weekly report, we reported that a long-term observatory such as the HAUSGARTEN is defined by the implementation of regular, standardized investigations at set stations. Because of this, the course of an expedition such as PS121, for which the work is mostly dedicated to furthering the long-term observatory HAUSGARTEN, can be sketched out pretty well before the expedition.
PS121 - Weekly Report No. 2 | 18.08. – 25.08.2019
Working in Hausgarten
A large part of the work and projects that we scientists planned for this expedition are closely related to furthering the long-term observatory HAUSGARTEN, established by the AWI’s Deep-Sea Group 20 years ago, and to supporting the Helmholtz Infrastructure Initiative FRAM (Frontiers in Arctic Marine Monitoring). The long-term observatory Hausgarten is a network of twenty stations in the Fram Strait, whose coordinates are re-visited by us every year in the summer months.
Blog
Polarstern-Blog
Mapping floes
From on board, 10 October 2019, by Stefan Hendricks for the ICE and Remote Sensing Teams | How we found the right floe for the ice drift through the Arctic Ocean First of all, the floe had to reflect the typical conditions in our region; this aspect is indispensable to arriving at representative conclusions. Secondly, […]
Author: Polarstern Fahrtleiter
Polarstern-Blog
Anchors Aweigh for MOSAiC Leg 1
On board ship, 22 September 2019, by Marcel Nicolaus | On departure day it once again became clear to many of us just how long the planning and preparation phase for MOSAiC had been. Since the first meeting in 2011, the ideas and plans gradually became more and more concrete and detailed, and the entire […]
Author: Polarstern Fahrtleiter
Polarstern-Blog
Exploring the Arctic sea ice
By Magda Cardozo | The Fram Strait the major gateway between the Arctic and the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Marginal Ice Zone. This means that during summer, Arctic sea ice travels southwards through the Strait. This makes the Fram Strait a rather unique area. However, our understanding of the Arctic Ocean is […]
Author: Polarstern Fahrtleiter
Where is polarstern?
Figures and facts
| Port of registry | Bremerhaven |
|---|---|
| Length | 118 metres |
| Width | 25 metres |
| Max. draught | 11.20 metres |
| Max. displacement | 17,277 tons |
| Empty weight | 12,012 tons |
| Commissioning AWI | 1982 |
| Engine | 4 x KHD RBV 8M540 |
| Engine power | 19,198 PS (four engines) |
| Range | 19,000 nautical miles / 80 days |
| Max. speed | 16 knots |
| Operation area | Everywhere including pack ice zone |
| Crew | 44 |
| Days on sea per year (2013) | 310 |
| Shipyard | Nobiskrug, Rendsburg and Howaldswerke - Deutsche Werft Kiel AG, Germany |
| Scientists per day / long term sailing | none / 53 |
More Information
Polarstern is not only a research vessel but also a gigantic measuring instrument. Data are constantly collected aboard, some of them are also sent consecutively to different receivers. Further information about Polarstern can be found on the following pages:
AWI
Cruise Reports (data overview)
Extern