7 months on a drifting ice floe

Life on the ice floe

„The high amount of work caused by the extensive measuring program let the time on the ice flow go by extremely fast“, Jürgen Graeser said on his return. Daily life was structured by the measurements on the one hand and by the meals with the colleagues on the other. A cook was responsible for the meals of the whole team, but each overwinterer helped him with the kitchen work for one day every three weeks. This kitchen service coincided with the station service controlling the condition of the ice floe and the presence of polar bears near the station. These tasks turned out to be very important, for in the course of the winter the ice floe produced crevices several times, but those crevices closed again. Moreover, frequent visits of polar bears regularly caused for alarm among the participants. Jürgen Graeser had the possibility to communicate with the Potsdam colleagues via satellite telephone and to relay the actual measuring data promptly.

Future projects

The long-term aim is to significantly reduce the great imprecision of present climate models in polar regions. To create models, mathematical descriptions for physical processes taking place under natural conditions are used. These so-called „parameterizations“ are based on measured data, and only an excellent data base can enable them to produce realistic climate simulations. In November 2008, the scientists taking part in the NP-35 project will discuss the results of their expedition in the course of an international workshop in Potsdam. Altogether, the NP-35 project is one more significant milestone for the Potsdam atmospheric researchers. The results deliver an important base for the international focal projects CliC (Climate and Cryosphere) and SPARC (Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate Change) by the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP, http://wcrp.wmo.int/).

Notes for editors:

Your contact person at the Research Unit Potsdam of the Alfred Wegener Institute are Jürgen Graeser (Tel: +49 (0)331/288-2111; e-mail: ), Prof. Dr Klaus Dethloff (Tel: +49 (0)331/288-2104; e-mail: ), Dr Marion Maturilli (Tel: +49 (0)331/288-2166; e-mail: ), Dr Annette Rinke (Tel: +49 (0)331/288-2130; e-mail: ) and Dr Markus Rex (Tel: +49 (0)331/288-2127; e-mail: ). Your contact person about the polar aircraft Polar 5 is Dr Andreas Herber (Tel: +49 (0)471/4831-1489; e-mail: ). Your contact persons at the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute AARI in St. Petersburg are Dr Vladimir Sokolov ( ) and Dr Alexander Makstahs ( , Tel: 007 812 352 3081). Your contact person in the public relations department of the Alfred Wegener Institute is Dr Susanne Diederich (Tel: ++49-471-4831-1376, e-mail: ).

Please send us a copy of any published version of this document.

Further information on NP 35 can be found on our website www.awi.de.