The projects of the Physical Oceanography group

Antarctica InSync is a global scientific project that will synchronise research in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. The implementation and analysis phase will take place between 2027 and 2030, with joint field campaigns on land, at sea and in the air.…

The joint research project GROCE (short for Greenland Ice Sheet Ocean Interaction) is a research initiative funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, involving eight German institutes and universities. The goal of this project is…

An overview of the projects within the PhytoOptics group.

The loss of mass from the Antarctic Ice Sheet and the associated rise in global sea levels are linked to reduced support from ice shelves and the subsequent acceleration of glaciers. The thinning of ice shelves, caused by increased basal melting, allows…

The properties of the atmosphere, sea-ice and the polar oceans, and feedbacks between these domains play an important role in global climate. At the same time, the seasonal evolution of sea-ice dominates biological processes and biogeochemical cycles in…

In September 2019, the German research icebreaker Polarstern set sail from Tromsø to drift in the Arctic Ocean for a year—trapped in the ice. The goal of the MOSAiC expedition was to study the Arctic, the epicenter of global warming, more closely than…

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 ice cover. Yet both the historical and the…

The Arctic boundary has been observed over many years to better understand and monitor the exchanges between the Arctic Ocean and its neighboring oceans. The unique geometry of the Arctic—surrounded by the land masses of North America, Greenland and…

5,000 metres seawater plus ice separate the seafloor from boisterous life in the upper water layers of the Arctic Ocean. Additionally there is a strong change between 24 hours of light during summer and permanent darkness in polar night. Nature with…