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German Polar Star in the “Home Garden”

 

Photo: Meereis Portal

The icebreaking research vessel Polar Star (Polarstern) is the only expedition vessel of its class in Germany and the main base for German polar research. Since entering service on December 9, 1982, the vessel has traveled more than 1.78 million nautical miles, thus circumnavigating the Earth at the equator more than 82 times. In addition to performing tasks in the Arctic, the Polar Star is a supply vessel for expeditionary cargo and personnel to the German Neumayer III station in Antarctica.

Thanks to a major overhaul from 1999 to 2001, Polar Star remains one of the most powerful research vessels in the nation's history even after more than 40 years of service. It offers scientists from around the world the opportunity to conduct research safely and efficiently in the most extreme regions of the planet.

Registered at the port of Bremerhaven, the vessel has a length of 118 meters, a beam of 25 meters, a draft of 11.20 meters and a maximum displacement of 17,277 tons. Built by the shipbuilding company Deutsche Werft Kiel AG and commissioned in 1982, the vessel is powered by four diesel engines with a total output of 19,198 hp. with an autonomous cruising range of 19,000 nautical miles, providing the crew with provisions and water for 80 days. Spending an average of about 305 days at sea each year, the Polar Star has a top speed of 16 knots and can navigate through pack ice. Crew of vessel 44.

The Polar Star has a well-equipped meteorological observatory, which is used both for research and for regular meteorological services for the onboard helicopter and the ship's navigation service. The observatory is constantly staffed by a meteorologist who makes weather observations every 3 hours and is responsible for the daily lifting of weather balloons. The received data is immediately encoded and transmitted to the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) via email, thereby contributing to global weather forecasting.

On July 12, 2024, following through the Norwegian Tromsø, a new team of researchers arrived aboard the Polar Star, which for four weeks will be in the area of ​​​​the German long-term environmental observatory between the east coast of Greenland and Svalbard. This observatory was founded 25 years ago by researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute and the Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research.

The observatory, known as the “Home Garden” (HAUSGARTEN), is a set of automatic, autonomous special sensors and instruments operating continuously in the surface sea layers and down to the seabed at a depth of 5500 meters. Some of the equipment is located under the ice, and autonomous systems take measurements all year round. There researchers study natural and climate change-induced changes in the polar marine ecosystem.

Sources: Meereis Portal, AWI (POLARSTERN), AWI (Aktuelle Meteorologische Daten), AWI (follow polarstern), AWI (5.6.2024 press release)

17.07.2024