News overview

While we in Germany are easing into the summer, in the Arctic the days are also growing longer, intensifying the incoming sunlight, which is what primarily determines the melting of sea ice.

By expanding the available information products on “sea-ice knowledge”, we can finally respond to a request that has long-since and repeatedly been expressed to the team: to complement information on the physical world and climatic aspects of sea ice with the important…

Satellite readings taken on 21 February 2022 showed, at 2.27 million km2 (Fig. 1), the absolute record low Antarctic sea-ice extent since the beginning of continuous satellite monitoring in 1979.

Arctic atmosphere, ice and ocean results from MOSAiC published. Atmospheric parameters and processes observed during MOSAiC

Arctic atmosphere, ice and ocean results from MOSAiC published. What’s happening in the Arctic Ocean under the sea ice: seasonal changes, regionality, eddies and mixing throughout a full year during MOSAiC.

MOSAiC - Arctic atmosphere, ice and ocean results from MOSAiC published. New perspectives on snow and sea-ice properties and processes.

It was nearly ten years ago when polar researchers first speculated that the dramatic loss of sea ice in the Arctic could have direct effects on the weather in the middle latitudes.

The way sea-ice thickness is currently calculated from satellite altimeter data must be improved. The airborne data presented in our recently published study are only the first step in finding new ways to tackle this issue.

Optimising climate models is definitely not the ideal task for people who need to see quick results.

Seven years ago, AWI researchers began constructing a new ocean observatory in Fram Strait, which has gathered data on the physics, chemistry and biology of the ocean round the clock – and in summer and winter alike – ever since.