Arctic long-term Observation

Overview

The Arctic is an environment where global climate change is strongly manifested. The Arctic Amplification, represented by the atmospheric warming trend in the Arctic being about three times that of the global average, is also manifested in sea-ice and the ocean. We are establishing a strong baseline of important ocean quantities in a historically poorly observed region of the world. Additionally, we monitor and study the variability of the Arctic Ocean freshwater content and of the northward transport of warm and salty water from the Atlantic into the Arctic. For this we use a variety of autonomous systems in addition to icebreaker-based surveys. Our focus areas are the boundary current from the Fram Strait to the Siberian Arctic and the upper Arctic basin. There is a strong link between the variability of physical parameters in the ocean that we observe and changes in biogeochemistry and the ecosystem.

Team