Salt and freshwater processes altering Stratification in a Changing Arctic Ocean (StratCAO)

• Applicants: Professor Benjamin Rabe, Ph.D.; Dr. Gunnar Spreen
• Subject Area: Oceanography
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 583567708

The upper Arctic Ocean is currently changing at a dramatic rate. The summer sea ice area has about halved and the upper ocean has warmed by 0.8 °C since the 1970s. Changes were reported on the Atlantic and Pacific side and within the Central Arctic, but many observations are not, yet, analysed in a synergetic way. Especially, the strong sea ice melt is related to changes of the upper ocean stratification, which, for cold Arctic waters, is dominated by salinity. Long-term observations (20 years) of ice-tethered, drifting measurement platforms (“buoys”) and satellite data are jointly analysed here, including observations of sea ice properties and the upper ocean. The aim is to identify feedback processes and to determine the relative contribution of sea ice to upper ocean exchange processes of salt and freshwater. These processes, in turn, alter the ocean stratification and affect the overall sea ice and upper Arctic Ocean changes. A synthesis will compare the results of this study to results from other analysis on the ocean and sea ice exchange with lower latitudes. As a result, we will obtain a better understanding of the regional causes for sea ice melt and changes in upper ocean stratification in the Arctic.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Taiwan
• Co-Investigators: Professor Torsten Kanzow, Ph.D.; Dr. Marcel Nicolaus
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Ying-Chih Fang