sea ice covered regions in the Arctic and Antarctic oceans make satellite remote sensing the only tool that is able to obtain a full picture of sea ice conditions. The Sea Ice Physics section is actively [...] Sea Ice Remote Sensing Map of Arctic sea ice thickness (April 2015) obtained from CryoSat-2 data (Graphic: Alfred Wegener Institut) Contact: Dr. Stefan Hendricks The inaccessibility and sheer size of sea [...] the European Space Agency (ESA) is based on a radar altimeter that fully maps Antarctic sea ice and Arctic sea ice up to a latitude of 88°N. This coverage is unparalleled in comparison with all previous and

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

Nordic Seas Southern Ocean - Overturning Circulation Ocean-Ice Shelf Interaction Southern Ocean climate interactions (SO-Klim) Ocean Acoustics Group - AWI OZA Projects - AWI OZA Outreach Activities - AWI OZA [...] LTER Observatory HAUSGARTEN FRAM Ocean Observing System Publications Data Geosciences Geophysics Research Focus Formation of the Arctic Basin Ultraslow spreading mid-ocean ridges OBS studies Hydrothermal [...] CHARTER (AC)3 CliC Arctic CORDEX CRiceS MOSAiC PolarRes QUARCCS Award POLEX StratoClim SynopSys REKLIM Publications Physical Oceanography Main Research Topics Circulation in the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic

patterns and linkages. Establishment of sea surface temperature and sea ice records for the Arctic and Southern Ocean covering the MIS 5e warm interval. [...] latitudes are particularly sensitive and vulnerable to future global warming. The potential of polar oceans and their marginal seas to amplify on a global scale warm climate conditions and sea level change

institutions in 3 European countries studied processes of the energy transfer between the ocean and the atmosphere in the Arctic. The project was conducted from 1998 to 2000 with a major field campaign involving [...] addressed the effects of clouds and of Arctic Haze on the radiative fluxes at the surface and in the atmospheric column for various states of the surface in the European Arctic. Major emphasis was put on convective [...] over the ice-free ocean and on stratiform clouds at low levels and their radiational exchange with sea ice. The effects of clouds on the radiative fluxes for various states of the ocean surface were studied

sensitivity experiments addressing questions such a What would happen to the global climate system if Arctic sea ice vanished? Climate models are also used in the Climate Dynamics section to carry out predictions [...] Traditionally, theoretical work in the Climate Dynamics section focusses on the behaviour of the ocean.

better understand and quantify the role of clouds in the lower Arctic atmosphere. A special focus is on the amplified climate change in the Arctic. To that aim measurements during ACLOUD and AFLUX were/are [...] Airborne Observations In, Below and Above Arctic Clouds Map of the areas for aircraft operation illustration the coordination activities at Polarstern and Ny Alesund (Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut) ACLOUD [...] research institutes (listed below) embedded in the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre TR 172: ArctiC Amplification: Climate Relevant Atmospheric and SurfaCe Processes, and Feedback Mechanisms (AC)³

rview.html Arctic Ocean Science Board : The Board supports large-scale multinational and interdisciplinary Arctic research projects. www.aosb.org Arctic ROOS : Arctic Regional Ocean Observing System [...] hic Information System (OBIS). www.iobis.org Ocean Colour Data Portal . oceanographicdata.org/REASoN_OceanColorDataPortal.html OceanSITES : A global network of deap sea reference stations [...] for the study of atmosphere-ocean interactions in the tropical Atlantic. www.pmel.noaa.gov/pirata/ POGO: Partnership for observation of the global ocean. www.ocean-partners.org/ PISCO : long-term

SIPRE corer Exposed Holocene ice wedge at the shore of the Arctic Ocean Aerial view of the city of Kotzebue, Arctic Alaska Rainbow over the the Arctic tundra Old 'Welcome to Kotzebue' sign, Kotzebue, Alaska

Earth System Models We simulate Arctic sea ice for the past, current and possible future climates, with regional sea ice-ocean and Earth System Models. Regional ocean-sea ice models have the advantage [...] al., 2014 ). We test those parameterizations in regional sea ice ocean models such as NAOSIM ( Köberle and Gerdes, 2003 ) and an Arctic model set-up of the MITgcm ( Castro-Morales et al., 2014 ). After [...] usually much coarser spatially resolved but have the advantage of simulating the atmosphere model, the ocean and the sea-ice simultaneously. Earth System Models (ESMs) additionally include vegetation and chemistry