• Main Research Topics

    Observations in the Arctic Ocean 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 [...] Main Research Topics Physical Oceanography of the Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas are integral parts of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, and hence key regions for the [...] the global climate. The perennial sea ice cover makes the Arctic Ocean distinct from subarctic oceans – the presence of… Find out more PhytoOptics Analytical bio-optical techniques are applied to extract

  • Physical Oceanography

    Observations in the Arctic Ocean 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 [...] deep oceans. We explore the importance of physical processes in the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans for a changing climate and the polar ecosystems. Polarstern in der Arktis / Polarstern in the Arctic Contact [...] Hoppmann @ awi.de Our Team Main research topics of our group Physical Oceanography of the Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas are integral parts of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation

  • Freshwater fluxes

    the Eurasian shelf seas. Ocean waters with salinities below the average salinity of the Arctic Ocean also contribute positively to the fresh water balance of the Arctic Ocean. Such waters flow in from [...] shows the total Arctic (liquid + sea ice) freshwater content (integrated in the area in blue on the map) freFresh water content cha (Graphic: T. Kovacs, Alfred-Wegener-Institut) The Arctic Ocean receives freshwater [...] interchange of waters between the Arctic and the Nordic seas results in in seasaw fluctuations in fresh water content between the basins. To reach an equilibrium, the Arctic Ocean must on averageexport freshwater

  • InnoLab for Arctic Research

    the impact of the Arctic on global climate. In addition to this major campaign, numerous field work activities take place every year in the mainland Arctic and in the adjacent Arctic Ocean. The coast plays [...] drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate ). From fall 2019 to fall 2020, the German research icebreaker POLARSTERN drifted frozen through the Arctic Ocean. The data collected will be valuable [...] Ecological processes in the terrestrial Arctic: Prof. Dr. Ulrike Herzschuh • Permafrost processes in the Arctic: Prof. Dr. Guido Grosse • Atmospheric processes in the Arctic: Prof. Dr. Markus Rex AWI Research

  • This Evening Sees the Start of MOSAiC – the Greatest Arctic Research Expedition of All Time

    of Tromsø. Escorted by the Russian icebreaker Akademik Fedorov, she will set sail for the Central Arctic. On board researchers will investigate a region that is virtually inaccessible in winter, and which [...] global climate. They will gather urgently needed data on the interactions between the atmosphere, ocean and sea ice, as well as on the ecosystem. Thanks to the collaboration between international experts

  • UDASH

    Since the early 20th century hydrographic measurements have been carried out in the Arctic Ocean. Although today the Arctic is a hotspot of climate change, data sampling is still sparse due to the large sea [...] climate studies in the Arctic Ocean. Many of the collected data are publicly available, but scattered across different electronic archives. Consequently, scientists working on Arctic climate change have to [...] awi.de The „Unified Database for Arctic and Subarctic Hydrography“ (UDASH) is an attempt to gather all publicly available temperature and salinity data for the Arctic Ocean and to provide them on a high quality

  • Sea-ice extent in the Arctic at a historical low

    seriously impacted the sea-ice cover: in the Russian Arctic (the sector from 30 to 180° East), roughly 1 million square kilometres less of the ocean is covered with ice than in the past seven years.
    [...] Sea Ice
    The Arctic sea-ice extent is the lowest it’s ever been in July since the beginning of satellite observation. The sea-ice retreat is especially pronounced off the Siberian coast, as a result

  • Polarstern Expedition to the Arctic Ice

    Today, the research vessel Polarstern will depart on a seven-week-long voyage to the Arctic, where the onset of summer also marks the beginning of the annual sea-ice melting. Over the past 40 years, the [...] zone, the team of researchers on board will investigate how heat fluxes and water layering in the ocean, as well as the characteristics of the ice, interact and influence melting. A further focus of the

  • Polarstern departs for the Arctic

    in the Arctic: the AWI’s Hausgarten observatory in the Fram Strait, where experts from various disciplines are investigating all aspects of the ecosystem, from the water’s surface to the ocean depths, [...] in order to determine the impacts of climate change on biodiversity in the Arctic. After roughly a month underway, in mid-September Polarstern will reach the Norwegian port of Tromsø, where she’ll receive [...] her final preparations for the one-year-long MOSAiC expedition, prior to leaving for the Central Arctic on 20 September.

  • Little researched current impacting on winter sea ice in the Arctic

    is thought to be the warming of Atlantic water that flows from Europe’s Norwegian Sea into the Arctic Ocean, passing through the Barents Sea and the Fram Strait in the process. However, not all the Atlantic [...] In the last few decades, the Arctic sea ice has receded ever further, including increasingly in winter when the extent of sea ice is at its most prominent. One of the main drivers of this development is