• Oasis of life in the ice-covered central Arctic

      Polarstern Expedition
      Under the ice of the Arctic, unknown habitats conceal an unexpected variety of living beings. On October 23rd, 46 scientists are expected to return to the home port in Bremerhaven [...] Bremerhaven from an Arctic expedition with the research vessel Polarstern. Over the past six weeks, they had explored life in ice, ocean and seabed with new robots and camera systems.

    • Climate Research in the Southern Ocean

      Polarstern Expedition
      The Alfred Wegener Institute has risen to the challenge of undertaking an expedition to the Weddell Sea in the Antarctic under pandemic conditions. Consequently, the participants [...] participants in this year’s first Polarstern expedition will be able to resume their long-term measurements in the Southern Ocean, gathering data that forms the basis for our understanding of polar processes and

    • Return from East Antarctica

      After more than six months, the research icebreaker Polarstern is returning to its home port of Bremerhaven after a successful Antarctic season. The expeditions to the southern hemisphere and the transit [...] geology of East Antarctica as well as student training. Because of this special study area for the Polarstern, there was a change of personnel in Hobart, which was the first port call in Australia in her more

    • Hausgarten Expedition ends

      Arctic
      On Sunday afternoon, the research icebreaker Polarstern returned from its roughly one month-long Arctic expedition to the Fram Strait between Greenland and Spitsbergen. In the so-called Hausgarten [...] 20 years of long-term research on the effects of global climate change on the Arctic ecosystem. Polarstern will spend the coming months in the shipyard for extensive maintenance work.

    • New MOSAiC team now bound for the Arctic

      crews, roughly 100 passengers were on board: researchers and Polarstern crewmembers. The two ships will tentatively rendezvous with the Polarstern near Svalbard this weekend, so that their passengers can relieve

    • ROV in Antarctic waters

      Polarstern Expedition
      Where the Earth’s plates meet, there is evidence of their motion. An expedition of the Research Vessel Polarstern will explore this activity in the Southern Ocean in detail. The

    • Unique Insights into the Antarctic Ice Shelf System

      Polarstern Expedition
      The world’s second-largest ice shelf was the destination for a Polarstern expedition that ended in Punta Arenas, Chile on 14 th March 2018. Oceanographers from the Alfred Wegener

    • How unstable is the East Antarctic Ice Sheet?

      Expedition start
      On the 6th of January, the research vessel Polarstern set off from Cape Town in South Africa for an expedition of around eight weeks to the Antarctic. Extensive preventative measures [...] further planned expeditions in the coming years. Interested parties can follow this and subsequent Polarstern expeditions live in a new app.

    • New equipment for the AWI - "Gardener"

      RV Polarstern starts the Arctic season
      Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) are setting out with the research vessel Polarstern towards

    • The changing Arctic Ocean

      After eventful and busy months, the Arctic season ends this weekend with the Polarstern expedition called ArcWatch-1. The team of almost 100 crew and scientists measured sea ice thickness and properties [...] sea. Their data show significant changes compared to previous expeditions. On 7 September 2023, Polarstern reached the North Pole, and on 20 September there was the world's first livestream of an ROV under-ice