MOSAiC provides the first comprehensive picture of global warming in the Arctic
The results present the first comprehensive picture of climate processes in the central Arctic, which is warming more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet.
The project, based on the observation of several climate processes in the region, involves IEEC researcher at the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) Estel Cardellach, and researcher Carolina Gabarró from the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), among others.
Hundreds of international researchers are analysing the measurements made during the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition, during which hundreds of environmental parameters were recorded in the central Arctic Ocean, with unprecedented precision and frequency, during a complete annual cycle. Three papers with results from the expedition are published today in the journal Elementa: specifically from the atmosphere, snow and sea ice study groups, highlighting the importance of examining all components of the climate system together. These results present the first complete picture of climate processes in the central Arctic, which is warming more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet, affecting both global weather and climate.
Shrinking sea ice is a symbol of global warming. In the Arctic, its extent has almost halved in summer since satellite records began in the 1980s. Other properties of the ice, such as its thickness, have been studied to a lesser extent, but are equally relevant. Questions about what this means for the future of the Arctic and how it will affect climate change were the impetus for the landmark MOSAiC expedition, which took place on the German research icebreaker Polarstern between September 2019 and October 2020.
With the published results, the research team is building the most comprehensive observation-based picture of climate processes in the Arctic, where the rate of surface air warming is more than double that of the rest of the planet since the 1970s. Studying the relevant processes over a full year required a special approach, as the Central Arctic Ocean is ice-covered in winter and therefore difficult to access.
Ice floe in which MOSAiC was trapped during Leg 4 on 30 June 2020. / Markus Rex (Alfred-
Wegener-Institut).
Therefore, during the expedition, the icebreaker entered an ice floe to become deliberately trapped and drift with the ice across the Arctic due to natural transpolar drift. "We encountered a drifting ice floe that was more dynamic and faster than we expected. This not only challenged the teams on the ground in their daily work, but also resulted in changes in sea ice properties and thickness distribution," says Dr Marcel Nicolaus, sea ice physicist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and co-leader of the Ice Team in the MOSAiC project.
The Earth Observation group of the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) led by the researcher and member of the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC — Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya) Dr Estel Cardellach, has participated in the work published today in the journal Elementa. The group was responsible for an experiment—funded by the European Space Agency (ESA)—that was installed on the ice floe to study the interaction between sea ice and navigation signals transmitted from satellites (such as GPS). "The equipment was designed to be able to operate in the extreme conditions of the Arctic, autonomously and almost continuously," explains Cardellach. "We investigated what kind of information about sea ice is contained in the acquired data. Are the observations sensitive to its thickness, its roughness, the amount of salt or the presence of water on the surface, and so on?.” As Dr Cardellach explains, preliminary results suggest that this measurement technique using navigation signals could be applied from low-cost satellites to monitor the poles continuously.
The Barcelona Expert Center (BEC), a group dedicated to remote sensing of the oceans, of the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) has been responsible for placing a radiometer on the Arctic surface that works at a frequency of 1.4 GHz, instrument similar to the one carried by ESA's SMOS satellite (acronym for Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite), which can measure the thickness of sea ice. "The objective of this experiment," explains the ICM-CSIC researcher, Dr Carolina Gabarró, "has been to obtain radiometric measurements under different conditions in order to better understand how they affect certain parameters (snow thickness, temperature and salinity of the ice) to the emissivity of ice, and to be able to improve the measurements of ice thickness obtained by the SMOS satellite.” And she adds: “This is a fundamental variable to monitor the drastic changes that are taking place in the Arctic. We are very happy with the results we have obtained with this radiometer, designed and developed in Spain.”
The three papers published today serve as a reference for a wide range of future scientific work. "The physical observations are the basis for interpreting biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem processes, and for supporting the coupled models we use to learn even more about climate feedbacks and the global impacts of Arctic change. These changes can affect weather and climate around the world. It is fascinating how accurately we can map individual processes and relate them to each other," says Dr Markus Rex, director of MOSAiC and atmospheric scientist at AWI. He adds: "I am happy to see that hundreds of MOSAiC participants have contributed to these publications. The international cooperation with expedition participants from so many countries continues productively and with a high degree of coordination, even though the expedition ended more than a year ago. In this way, we will be able to provide increasingly important information on climate change, which will provide a knowledge base for societal transformation towards a sustainable approach to planet Earth".
The Ice and Atmosphere Teams make short transects by dragging a remote sensing instrument,
while digging snowpits at the same locations to observe snow stratification and perform stability
tests. / Lianna Nixon (Alfred-Wegener Institut).
About MOSAiC
During the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition, experts from 20 countries explored the Arctic for a whole year. Between 2019 and 2020, the German research icebreaker Polarstern drifted frozen in the ice across the Arctic Ocean. The MOSAiC expedition was coordinated by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). More than 80 institutes pooled their resources in a research consortium to make this unique project a success and to obtain the most valuable data possible. The total cost of the expedition was about 150 million euros, mostly funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Press release made in collaboration with the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), the Communication and Dissemination Office of the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC), the Communication Office of the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) and the Communication Office of the Delegation in Catalonia of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC).
Main Image
Sampling
Caption: 24-hours marathon sampling to record a "snapshot" of the daily cycles of the Arctic summer.
Credit: Lianna Nixon (Alfred-Wegener Institut).
Links
More information
This research is presented in three papers entitled «Overview of the MOSAiC expedition: Snow and sea ice», of Nicolaus, M. et al., «Overview of the MOSAiC expedition – Atmosphere», of Shupe, M.D. et al. and «Overview of the MOSAiC expedition: Physical oceanography», of Rabe, B. et al., that appear today in the journal Elementa.
The Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC — Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya) promotes and coordinates space research and technology development in Catalonia for the benefit of society. IEEC fosters collaborations both locally and worldwide and is an efficient agent of knowledge, innovation and technology transfer. As a result of 25 years of high-quality research, done in collaboration with major international organisations, IEEC ranks among the best international research centers, focusing on areas such as: astrophysics, cosmology, planetary science, and Earth Observation. IEEC’s engineering division develops instrumentation for ground- and space-based projects, and has extensive experience in working with private or public organisations from the aerospace and other innovation sectors.
IEEC is a private non-profit foundation, governed by a Board of Trustees composed of Generalitat de Catalunya and four other institutions that each have a research unit, which together constitute the core of IEEC R&D activity: the Universitat de Barcelona (UB) with the research unit ICCUB — Institute of Cosmos Sciences; the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) with the research unit CERES — Center of Space Studies and Research; the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) with the research unit CTE — Research Group in Space Sciences and Technologies; the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) with the research unit ICE — Institute of Space Sciences. IEEC is a CERCA (Centres de Recerca de Catalunya) center.
Contacts
IEEC Communication Office
Barcelona, Spain
Ana Montaner and Rosa Rodríguez
E-mail: comunicacio@ieec.cat
Lead Researcher at IEEC
Barcelona, Spain
Estel Cardellach
Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC)
Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC)
E-mail: estel@ieec.cat, estel@ice.csic.es