AWI researchers discover a new island during a Polarstern expedition in Antarctica. 🏝️
The team was surprised by the sudden appearance of an island that had previously only been marked as a danger zone on the available nautical charts. The island is about 130 metres long.
www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
As EERIE begins its transition from delivery to legacy, we've asked several project scientists to share their views.
▶️ Watch EERIE Project Coordinator @thomasjung.bsky.social (@awi.de) explain achievements, expected impact and challenges left: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phd5...
#MeetThePeople
New AWI study shows that the combination of heat and drought events will further increase and affect especially those countries that contribute less to climate change.
www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
Photo: Alexander Schulz
Last week, 66 international researchers gathered in Potsdam for the Arctic System Science Conference. The conference covered the latest insights into polar research, including the findings of the MOSAiC expedition as well as future initiatives such as the TARA Polar station. @iasc-arctic.bsky.social
Tim Oaklay (left) presents Philippe Schoeneich (right) with the membership certificate during the joint GCOS meeting in Harwell, UK, on 13 February 2026.
Since February, the GTNP-P has been an official part of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). This is operated by the WMO, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Council for Science.
📸 A. Bombelli
Construction of the new Polarstern is gathering pace: A 5.66-metre-long model has successfully demonstrated the capabilities of the future research icebreaker in the HSVA ice channel. 🧊🚢 Construction of the ship is scheduled to begin in spring 2027.
www.awi.de/ueber-uns/se...
📹AWI/Ocean Architects
Polar5 before taxing to start from Longyearbyen airport.
Ready to go! #COMPEX RF06 heading for #NyAlesund and #EArthCARE. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard
@unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int
Cloud streets forming over the marginal ice zone as seen by Awadhesh Pant from University of Cologne aboard Polar 5.
Polar 5 on the runway in Longyearbyen aftera successful research flight.
#Polar5 has been out today to the North of Svalbard in the origin region of a cold air outbreak. People aboard could investigate beautiful cloud streets starting in the marginal ice zone. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard
@unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int
A group of people standing in the sun next to water. They laugh and have paddles in their hands.
Any ocean (biogeochemical) modeller wants to be part of this fun crowd for a while?
We're hiring a 🧪 PostDoc at @awi.de to assess carbon pathways into the interior 🌊 ocean and timescales of carbon sequestration with Lagrangian tools.
jobs.awi.de/Vacancies/21...
#hiring #scijobs #oceanpeak
Welcome back to Bremerhaven, Hajo! 👏👏👏 Glaciologist Hajo Eicken is taking over as AWI Director today, returning after nearly three decades at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, where he most recently led the nternational Arctic Research Center.
Photos: Kerstin Rolfes
#PhD - Metabolic Rhythms and Mitochondrial Adaptation in Mussels with @awi.de Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
Where: Bremerhaven, Germany
Deadline: March 22 2026
Discover more 👇
champ.ly/O76u9398
#Polar5 on the runway in Longyearbyen with the crew getting ready for the flight.
It's day 4 of #COMPEX and we already had two successful flights: one to Northwest with clouds over ice and one to Southeast sampling the contrast between clouds over the ocean and ice. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard
@unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int
Another paper in the 25 years of @awi.de #HAUSSGARTEN #Observatory series is published.It's on the open access long term storage archives, which are the repositories for much of the monitoring & experimental data & describes novel ways these can now be accessed.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Rot-weißes Forschungsflugzeug auf verschneiter Rollbahn vor kahlem Waldrand und blauem Himmel.
Rot-weißes Flugzeug fliegt über schneebedeckte Gebirgskette an einer arktischen Küste mit tiefblauem Meer.
🛫 Research flights in the Arctic
As part of the international COMPEX research campaign, scientists from #UniCologne, #UniLeipzig, and @awi.de are investigating how clouds and sea ice interact—and what role these interactions play in the rapid warming of the Arctic.
▶️ uni.koeln/QM7Q8
🥁Happy to announce the publication of "Multibeam seabed bathymetry of the Long-Term Ecological Research observatory HAUSGARTEN (Fram Strait)", another paper in our "25 years of HAUSGARTEN time series synthesis" series.
@awi.de #Arctic #DeepSea
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🪸Our new paper led by Lily Böhringer is out: Benthic megafauna from @awi.de #HAUSGARTEN Observatory in the #Arctic #DeepSea went through significant changes. From 2002-2021, selected taxa populations declined ranging from 28% for crinoids to 93% for soft corals.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The wintering team at Neumayer Station III is now taking you along on their daily adventures in Antarctica! Regular posts are available in the new On Expedition app. 🐧❄️
onexpedition.awi.de?lang=en
#RECCAP2 paper alert, Jemma Wadham led the polar chapter, summarizing knowns and (large) unknowns of carbon stocks and fluxes from ice sheets to land fringes, fjords, 🌊 oceans and sediments.🧪 Excellent reference starting point for future work.
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
@awi.de
How do clouds form in Antarctica? ☁️
AWI researchers have conducted flight-based aerosol measurements in Antarctica for the first time in around 20 years. The aim of the campaign was to investigate the processes of cloud formation in Antarctica.
📸 P.Joppe
@mpic.de @tropos-de.bsky.social
🧊 Good morning from #Bremerhaven, where ice is forming in the marina in front of
@awi.de!
Stay tuned for our surprise! 🎁❄️
Why rivers in the far north are turning orange? AWI scientist Guido Grosse@grosseguido.bsky.social explains the answers in an interview with the @financialtimes.com.
www.ft.com/content/2ffa...
An international Antarctic research drilling project in which the AWI is also involved, has achieved a major success: The team succeeded in drilling the longest sediment core to date under a section of the Ross Ice Shelf in West Antarctica.
www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
@uni-kiel.de
📸 ATovey SWAIS2C
🦠 Wow, another publication in our 25 years #HAUSGARTEN Observatory series, focussing on "Microbial and chemical signatures of melting sea-ice: export of bacteria, microeukaryotes, and molecules" in the #Arctic.
@awi.de @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Today, on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we celebrate women in polar research! 🐧🧊
Our AWI photographer Esther Horvath documents in her work life and research in the Arctic and Antarctic. In her TEDx Talk, she offers shines a light on the women scientists.
youtu.be/VyoJ0R4tLoU
Phew, what a day: a keynote presentation, policy panel discussion & 💉 blood sampling for @wecfgermany.bsky.social’s PFAS campaign!
Thanks a lot, @exitplastik.bsky.social for inviting me to Berlin & organising this great workshop with many interesting & insightful discussions & trainings! 🙏
@awi.de
Portrait Hajo Eicken
Prof. Dr Hajo Eicken is the new director of the Alfred Wegener Institute! Born in Bremerhaven, the glaciologist will relocate from Alaska to take up his position as scientific director on 20 March. 🎉⚓
www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
@helmholtz.de
📸: University of Alaska Fairbanks
Polarstern will be departing Punta Arenas for the Weddell Sea🚢 Until April, an AWI-led team will study sea ice, ice shelves, and ocean interactions in this key climate region, where summer sea ice has declined since 2017, presumably as a result of warmer surface water.
www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
