Applicant

Dr. Niels Fuchs
Universität Hamburg
Institut für Meereskunde
Bundesstraße 57
20146 Hamburg

Project description

In our project MARMOT4antice, we will advance understanding of salt, mass, and heat fluxes in Antarctic sea ice through an integrated approach combining field observations, laboratory experiments, and advanced process modeling. Sea ice formation and evolution in both hemispheres are critical drivers of climate and ecosystem dynamics, as they strongly impact exchange processes between the polar atmosphere, ice, and ocean. Through its influence on vertical mass and heat transport, the thermo-dynamic state of the ice plays a pivotal role in regional exchange processes, potentially with far-reaching impacts on the broader climate system. Some of the most advanced sea ice models can resolve these detailed properties and methods, using mushy-layer physics and explicit schemes for brine dynamics. These models, however, have all been developed with a focus on Arctic conditions, and so they often lack key components specific to the Antarctic sea ice environment. This project aims to address this gap by observing and integrating fundamental Antarctic-specific properties into the thermodynamic single-column model SAMSIM. To achieve this, we will supplement vertical temperature buoy measurements in Antarctic sea ice with a specialized instrument capable of measuring the volume fractions of different phases within the ice. This instrument will be deployed in the sea ice at Neumayer-Station III. Additionally, we will simulate relevant processes in our sea ice laboratory to accurately incorporate these parameters into the model. The resulting insights will be preserved in the model and made freely accessible, thereby enhancing our understanding of Antarctic sea ice physics and its influence on regional and global climate interactions.

DFG Programme Infrastructure Priority Programmes

Term since 2026