How we’re keeping our footprint in the Arctic to a minimum By Marcel Nicolaus Our standards concerning the precision of our measurements and the overall scale of observations of the atmosphere, ice and ocean are naturally quite different from those 125 years ago, when Nansen first set out to ... [Read more]
From on board, 10 October 2019, by Stefan Hendricks for the ICE and Remote Sensing Teams | How we found the right floe for the ice drift through the Arctic Ocean First of all, the floe had to reflect the typical conditions in our region; this aspect is indispensable to arriving at ... [Read more]
On board ship, 22 September 2019, by Marcel Nicolaus | On departure day it once again became clear to many of us just how long the planning and preparation phase for MOSAiC had been. Since the first meeting in 2011, the ideas and plans gradually became more and more concrete and detailed, and the ... [Read more]
By Magda Cardozo | The Fram Strait the major gateway between the Arctic and the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Marginal Ice Zone. This means that during summer, Arctic sea ice travels southwards through the Strait. This makes the Fram Strait a rather unique area. However, our ... [Read more]
By Magda Cardozo, PhD student of Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen | In the open ocean, microbes are the most active and abundant organism, and control processes that are crucial for sustaining life on earth. We can study microorganisms from samples taken from a wide range ... [Read more]
By Carla and Rebekka | On Saturday, after a long stay at the dockyard, the Research Vessel Polarstern set out on its next expedition to the Arctic. We are students, have joined the crew for the first time and are very excited. During boarding our friends and family can accompany us and make ... [Read more]
By Damien Ringeisen | (Last blogpost from PS115.2 expedition to the Arctic after Polarstern's arrival in Bremerhaven) Is there a more iconic picture than a polar bear stranded on a piece of ice to illustrate climate change? As everybody surely knows, the artic sea ice is melting away. ... [Read more]
By Myriam Caron | 81°N 128°E. As an ArcTrain PhD Student studying geology in the polar regions, it is with great excitement that I came on board the R/V Polarstern, with the Arctic Ocean as a destination. After several years spent studying the Arctic, what a joy to finally be able to go ... [Read more]
By Charles Bruntte | 82N, 143E. We wake up to a radiant Sun and a calm sea. This is a very pleasant surprise after a few days of high waves that challenged everyone's tolerance to motion sickness. Today the wind is low and the air is not too cold. Samira and I take this opportunity to pay a ... [Read more]
By Sergei Freiman | Over the last three days, every inhabitant of the Polarstern could feel the beat of the seismic airguns that shake the entire vessel 4 times per minute. The shots sound like the heartbeat of an immense and calm animal. But how big has to be this incredible animal with such a ... [Read more]
