• Observatories

    Understanding the ocean, and the complex physical, biological, and biogeochemical systems operating within it, is a challenge for the opening decades of the 21st century. The establishment of multidisciplinary ocean observatories by the Alfred Wegener Institute will help to provide the means to accomplish this goal. Ecological time-series work [...] in 1999. Since 2014, the establishment of the FRAM (Frontiers in Arctic marine Monitoring) Ocean Observing System improves our monitoring capacities. LTER Observatory HAUSGARTEN Ocean Observing System

  • QUARCCS

    navigation conditions through the Northern Sea Route. WP5 connects Arctic climate changes and sea ice decline evaluated in WP1-4 to biodiversity and biological productivity changes in the Arctic Ocean. WP5 [...] ocean-ice model and the state-of-the-art coupled atmosphere-ice-ocean regional climate model of the Arctic (HIRHAM-NAOSIM) with high [...] , W. Smethie, and R. Rember, (2018), Radium isotopes across the Arctic ocean show time scales of water mass ventilation and increasing shelf inputs, J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, doi:10.1029/2018JC013888

  • Experimental work at the deep seafloor

    food availability, which is a common scenario for the changing Arctic Ocean, we installed cages (2 x 2 m in dimension, 50 cm in height) at the deep seafloor (2500 m water depth). The solid lids of these [...] increased near bottom flow on meiofauna diversity in the deep Arctic Ocean. Deep-Sea Research I 73(3): 31-45. Freese, D., Schewe, I., Kanzog, C., Soltwedel, T., Klages, M. (2012): Recolonisation of new habitats by meiobenthic organisms in the deep Arctic Ocean: an experimental approach. Polar Biology 35: 1801-1813. Guilini, K., Soltwedel, T., van Oevelen, D., Vanreusel, A. (2011):

  • EU-Projekte

    of the INTAROS project is to build an efficient integrated Arctic Observation System (iAOS) by extending, improving and unifying existing systems in the different regions of the Arctic. Contact: T [...] observations in all parts of the oceans from the air-sea interface to the deep seafloor. Contact: A. Boetius, I. Schewe, F. Janssen, A. Purser SenseOcean (Marine sensors [...] ocean biogeochemical sensor technology. It will produce fundamental innovations in analytical sciences fusing together new techniques for

  • Completed Projects

    of (sub)mesoscale eddies in the Arctic Ocean, especially in the MOSAiC period in comparison with the past. Interactions of the ocean with the atmosphere and sea ice, as [...] that shape the ocean hydrography and influence the mixed layer dynamics. However, their properties and precise roles in the Arctic Ocean are still poorly [...] of the global model will be increased to 1 km in the whole Arctic Ocean and further refined to subkilometer scales at the MOSAiC sites. The decades-long eddy-resolving model results for the Arctic

  • Research Focus

    the pathways of the oceanic circulation and the evolution and dynamic of ice sheets, which form a key component in the long-term simulation of palaeo-climate [...] form the base for new IODP/ICDP drill proposals. Formation of the Arctic Basin Polarstern for geophysics in the Arctic Ocean Research projects on the formation of the Arctic Ocean Development of the North [...] and its precursors? Follow this link Gateways of the Southern Ocean What was the effect of the opening of the gateways of the Southern Ocean? Lakes as climate archives Old lake-level terraces at the

  • FLO CHAR

    FLO CHAR The project "Fluxes from Land to Ocean: How Coastal Habitats in the Arctic Respond" (FLO CHAR) focuses on the biogeochemical effects of climate change on the most rapidly evolving ecosystem on Earth, the shallow Arctic coastal environment. Background of Project FLO CHAR: Accelerated climate change in the Arctic is dramatically altering terrestrial [...] and infrastructure on which local communities rely. Particularly Arctic coastal waters and shelves are impacted strongly as they sit at the interface between the warming land and ocean. At the same time

  • We are on the way – finally!

    2016 we set sail for the long passage from Bremerhaven to the Arctic. We, that is 45 crew members and a total of 51 scientists, engineers, technicians and students with the common goal to conduct [...] in the atmosphere, the water column and at the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean.

  • The benefits of models

    section, where it is constantly being refined. Unlike traditional ocean models, which are based on structured grids, FESOM uses triangle-based unstructured grids to simulate ocean currents, hydrography [...] and represents one of the most important connections between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic. In the past few years, we’ve seen a major decline in Arctic sea ice in the region. In addition, more [...] . Right now, I’m working with a regional climate model for the Arctic. The model consists of several components: the atmosphere, sea ice, ocean and land. Simulations with this model help us interpret

  • Engergy Budgets

    Energy Budgets Schematics of energ fluxes in ice covered oceans (Photo: Stefanie Arndt, AWI) The radiation budget of sea ice dominates the sea-ice energy balance and the exchange of energy between the atmosphere and the ocean in ice-covered regions. We are focusing on solar short-wave radiation and work on quantifying the amount of sun light that is [...] high-quality and comprehensive data sets from remote regions of the Arctic and Antarctic. Contact: Dr. Marcel Nicolaus Dr. Ran Tao Surface albedo of ice-covered regions in the Arctic and Antarctic mostly