degrees Celsius. The polar 6 research aircraft of the Alfred Wegener Institute flies over the Arctic Ocean during an IceBird sea ice thickness campagne. (Photo: Esther Horvath) AWI researchers use the [...] the Earth’s crust, ice- and snow-covered areas, oceans and the atmosphere. Several times a year, Polar 5 and Polar 6 fly weeks-long expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctic. They carry on board a diverse range [...] Alfred Wegener Institute’s research is conducted in the inaccessible, ice-covered regions of the Arctic and Antarctic, making research aircraft indispensable. Currently the AWI relies on the research planes