group is also involved in the programs ‘International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean’ (IBCAO) and ‘Indian Ocean Bathymetric Compilation’ (IOBC) and creates separate detailed bathymetric models [...] and regional bathymetric models When you are looking in an atlas at the world’s oceans, you might think we know the ocean depths pretty well. But did you know that only approximately 18 % of the seafloor [...] is involved in creating and improving ocean floor maps by working closely together with other international partners in the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) community. GEBCO has a number

greenhouse gas loading scenarios. The mass balance of Arctic sea ice is therefore determined not only by changes in the energy balance of the coupled ice-ocean-atmosphere system but also by the increasing influence [...] influence of dynamic effects. One aspect of the mass balance of Arctic sea ice are changes of ice volume export rates through major gates of the Arctic, such as Fram Strait. The Sea Ice Physics group investigates [...] Sea Ice Thickness - Mass Balance The Arctic sea ice extent and thickness have undergone dramatic changes in the past decades: The summer sea ice extent is declining at an annual rate of approximately 12

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

ice influence the observed variability of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice? How do variations in melt and freeze rates impact the ocean and the atmosphere in the Arctic and Antarctic? What are the consequences [...] polar ocean due to Arctic sea ice retreat? We apply, improve, and develop various methods to study sea ice and snow processes in both hemispheres, including the interaction of atmosphere and ocean. Contact [...] are the reasons for the dramatic changes in Arctic sea ice during the last decades? Why is the development of sea ice in the Antarctic so different to the Arctic and shows strong regional differences? How

Prof. Dr. Guido Grosse Arctic permafrost landscape dynamics and Earth System feedbacks Permafrost coring in the Fish Creek Delta, North Alaska (Photo: Alfred Wegener Institut) Arctic permafrost landscapes [...] DOCconcentrations, the origin of DOC and the temporal variability in two permafrost regions along the Arctic Ocean. My study areas are the Lena Delta and Bykovsky Peninsula in Siberia, and a transect from Teshekpuk [...] Global warming will continue to warm the Arctic resulting in the degradation of permafrost soils. This leads to large-scale ground subsidence. Vast regions of the Arctic are covered with ice-rich silts containing

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

Radiation in the Arctic (AWIPEV Research Base in Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen) Pyranometer in Ny-Ålesund. (Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut) Ny-Ålesund is situated 78.9° N north of the arctic circle. During the [...] fundamental role in determining the thermal conditions and the circulation of the atmosphere and the ocean, shaping the main characteristics of the Earth's climate. The radiation budget components at the surface

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

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 [...] sets from remote regions of the Arctic and Antarctic. Contact: Dr. Marcel Nicolaus Dr. Christian Katlein Dr. Gerit Birnbaum Surface albedo of ice-covered regions in the Arctic and Antarctic mostly depends [...] to the atmosphere (albedo), that is absorbed by snow and sea ice, ant that is transmitted into the ocean (transmittance). We perform various radiation measurements during our field campaigns using Polarstern

impacts of changes to the Arctic marine environment and identify key socio-economic vulnerabilities and opportunities globally and regionally for the Arctic To value the impacts of Arctic-related climate change [...] IceArc: Arctic Ice Climate and Economics The project The ICE-ARC project aims to understand and quantify the multiple stresses involved in the change in the Arctic marine environment. Particular focus [...] focus is on the rapid retreat and collapse of the Arctic sea ice cover and to assess the climatic (ice, ocean, atmosphere and ecosystem), economic and social impacts of these stresses on regional and global