Marine Technology Reporter Blogs - image: awi/whoi

Forty-four expedition participants are on board the research vessel Polarstern in an effort to study an area between Spitsbergen and Greenland. Researchers are from institutions in the US, Germany, Belgium and the UK. Long term oceanographic measurements will be taken during the expedition before traveling to AWI Hausgarten for a two-week biological focus. The largest area of study will be in Fram Strait, the only deep-sea water connection between the Atlantic and Arctic Ocean. Important measurements regarding how much water is exchanged between these two seas and what salt transport and heat is associated with this process are important pieces in understanding the complex correlations between the Arctic’s atmosphere, ocean, and sea ice.