Researching the effects of climate change on the Arctic.

Between Greenland and Svalbard, researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute are getting a comprehensive picture of the consequences of climate change in the Arctic Ocean.

In the Fram Strait between Greenland and Spitsbergen there is a unique long-term observatory; the AWI-Hausgarten. Scientists have installed a network of 21 measuring stations at water depths of between 250 and 5,500 meters over an area of around 30,000 square kilometers. Samples have been taken at these stations every summer since 1999, providing researchers with important data on the physical and chemical properties of the water and the organisms living in it. In addition, instruments anchored to the seabed continuously take samples and measurements there. Mobile, autonomous devices have also been in use all year round for several years. Over the years, a valuable long-term data series has been created in the AWI-Hausgarten, which provides a comprehensive picture of the sometimes dramatic consequences of climate change in the Arctic Ocean from the sea surface to the deep sea.

Image: Esther Horvath