The PAGE21 project has now been officially closed. The four years of research came to an end on October 31 2015, leaving only...
PAGE21 project was featured in a plenary session "Permafrost in the 21st century" at the 2015 Arctic Circle conference in Reykjavik,...
This year AWI will send a team of eight scientists to the Samoylov Island in the Lena-Delta in Russia.
Dr. Julia Boike directs the Helmholtz-University Young Researchers Group "Sensitivity of the permafrost in the Arctic". The Potsdam based research scientist has visited the island of Samoilov for more than ten years now. For the group, the greatest challenges this summer lie in the field work exploring the island and its surroundings, while developing ideas for future research projects and appropriate locations and circumstances.
Dr. Moritz Langer has been involved in activities around the Samoylov Research Station since 2007 and is the scientific coordinator of all AWI research at the site. His main responsibilities this summer will include taking care of already installed facilities and construction of a new station. He also announced that from time to time he will also be available to cook for the team. Whether and how the team will like his cookings, will reported on the blog.
Max Heikenfeld is the newcomer in the team and is looking forward to see how the techniques he has learned so far only in theory, will be applied in practice. The 24-year-old physics student from the University of Heidelberg is also responsible for the blog "Tundra Stories" and will therefore probably speak out a little more often than his colleagues. His main expedition goal is to collect data for his master thesis.
Karoline Wischnewski, will travel for the second time to northern Siberia. She is the groups expert on technology. The young engineer will be responsible for replacing items and recalibrating sensors. She will need to keep a special eye on the many ponds in the area - why, it reveals itself later.
Engineer Guenter Stoof is the "expert on emergencies and everything the others can not do". The camp caretaker will repair ruptured water pipes and torn boots. He finds the hidden loose connection on the alternator, is concerned of firewood, organizes trips and transports every Sunday and takes care of the pots and pans. On Sundays, thus, the Camp's cook has a day off.
Waldemar Schneider is the logistics expert of the team. He navigates in the Russian visa jungle, organizes and manages the cargo, and cares for guests and visiting scholars. His knowledge of the station is indispensable in expeditions to the Lena Delta.
Hanno Meyer is a geologist and responsible for the isotope laboratory of the AWI Research Unit Potsdam. His has done research in Siberia since 1998, but 2002 was the first time he visited the Samoylov Island. This year, the scientists will work together with a small team on the island outside of the Lena Delta reconstructing past climates from Permafrost.
Dr. Thomas Opel will arrive in August to his fourth expedition to the Siberian Arctic. He is involved in the reconstruction of the regional climate and environmental development in the last few millennia. To work together with colleagues he will stay about two weeks in a field camp on the island east of the Lena Delta Muostakh. There, and later also in the vicinity of the Samoylov Island, he will investigate permafrost deposits. His main interest is the abundant ground ice (ice wedges in particular), of which he will take plenty of samples.
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Main page of the English translation of the blog "Tundra Stories": http://page21.org/blogs/59-samoylov
Original German blog: http://www.awi.de/de/go/Tundra-Stories
Dr. Julia Boike
Dr. Julia Boike directs the Helmholtz-University Young Researchers Group "Sensitivity of the permafrost in the Arctic". The Potsdam based research scientist has visited the island of Samoilov for more than ten years now. For the group, the greatest challenges this summer lie in the field work exploring the island and its surroundings, while developing ideas for future research projects and appropriate locations and circumstances.Dr. Moritz Langer
Dr. Moritz Langer has been involved in activities around the Samoylov Research Station since 2007 and is the scientific coordinator of all AWI research at the site. His main responsibilities this summer will include taking care of already installed facilities and construction of a new station. He also announced that from time to time he will also be available to cook for the team. Whether and how the team will like his cookings, will reported on the blog.Max Heikenfeld
Max Heikenfeld is the newcomer in the team and is looking forward to see how the techniques he has learned so far only in theory, will be applied in practice. The 24-year-old physics student from the University of Heidelberg is also responsible for the blog "Tundra Stories" and will therefore probably speak out a little more often than his colleagues. His main expedition goal is to collect data for his master thesis.Karoline Wischnewski
Karoline Wischnewski, will travel for the second time to northern Siberia. She is the groups expert on technology. The young engineer will be responsible for replacing items and recalibrating sensors. She will need to keep a special eye on the many ponds in the area - why, it reveals itself later.Guenter "Molo" Stoof
Engineer Guenter Stoof is the "expert on emergencies and everything the others can not do". The camp caretaker will repair ruptured water pipes and torn boots. He finds the hidden loose connection on the alternator, is concerned of firewood, organizes trips and transports every Sunday and takes care of the pots and pans. On Sundays, thus, the Camp's cook has a day off.Waldemar Schneider
Waldemar Schneider is the logistics expert of the team. He navigates in the Russian visa jungle, organizes and manages the cargo, and cares for guests and visiting scholars. His knowledge of the station is indispensable in expeditions to the Lena Delta.Dr. Hanno Meyer
Hanno Meyer is a geologist and responsible for the isotope laboratory of the AWI Research Unit Potsdam. His has done research in Siberia since 1998, but 2002 was the first time he visited the Samoylov Island. This year, the scientists will work together with a small team on the island outside of the Lena Delta reconstructing past climates from Permafrost. Dr. Thomas Opel
Dr. Thomas Opel will arrive in August to his fourth expedition to the Siberian Arctic. He is involved in the reconstruction of the regional climate and environmental development in the last few millennia. To work together with colleagues he will stay about two weeks in a field camp on the island east of the Lena Delta Muostakh. There, and later also in the vicinity of the Samoylov Island, he will investigate permafrost deposits. His main interest is the abundant ground ice (ice wedges in particular), of which he will take plenty of samples.______________________________________
Main page of the English translation of the blog "Tundra Stories": http://page21.org/blogs/59-samoylov
Original German blog: http://www.awi.de/de/go/Tundra-Stories
Please note that this is a translation. To read the original German version of this AWI blog, follow this link.
In July, it's that time again. A research team of Russian and German scientists will make their way to northern Siberia, specifically to the Lena Delta in order to take a closer look on the permafrost. But why scientists go to Siberia - which at least feels like the end of the world? What they do there anyway?Both questions are legitimate and not so easy to answer, for there are many very different reasons. Most scientists who travel to the most remote regions of the Arctic have one thing in common: They want to know something about the climate. For some of them the research is all about the climate thousands of years ago. Others are interested in the "here and now". And still others are already busy with the future or want to know if life is possible on other planets with similar climatic conditions as in the Arctic.
One thing is though certain, the Arctic is a very good place to answer all these questions. In permafrost areas, the traces of the past are conserved like in a giant freezer. They are known as climate archives available, retrievable and decipherable by the researchers. In addition, the Arctic is kind of a "chill out area" for the climate of the earth cooling our planet. It is not only important that there is very cold in the winter during the long polar night, but spacious tundra landscapes also take large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in the form of plant remains in the soil. Over thousands of years, massive peat layers have been formed in this way, that are now deep frozen and preserved as permafrost.In looking forward, scientists who are searching for traces of the past are in fact preparing those that deal with the future. Because of the increasing global warming, the Arctic is thawing and the carbon on the peat could be decomposed and released as carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere. This in turn would contribute to global warming. This raises the crucial question: How safe is the carbon stored in Arctic permafrost?
In our research team, we examine if and how quickly the thawing will happen in the changing climate conditions. Not only does the temperature play an important role, but also the soil composition, soil moisture, the winter snow cover and vegetation.
To learn about the changes in the permafrost, we need a lot of data. We are using computer simulations that show how the permafrost response to climate change. The main basis of our work are different measurement instruments that can withstand harsh weather conditions in the Arctic and require regular maintenance. Each year, therefore, a Russian-German research team travels to the tiny island in the Lena Delta Samoilov, checks and repairs, if necessary, measuring instruments and builds new research tools. The research project that began in 1998 on a small scale, has become in this way to a solid Russian-German cooperation.We will report regularly throughout the summer as the cooperation continues.
Moritz Langer
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Main page of the blog "Tundra Stories": http://page21.org/blogs/59-samoylov
Please note that this is a translation. To read the original German version of this AWI blog, follow this link: http://www.awi.de/de/go/Tundra-Stories
Monday, 2 July 2012
Tomorrow we will finally leave for our expedition to the north of Siberia, and we are pleased that you want to accompany us on our journey here in the virtual world.The last few days flew by, while I needed to run some errands and all sorts of small things had to be done. The typical "I have everything that I need" feeling, which I have in the preceding evenings usually ceases right before departure, but this time it disappeared few days earlier. I was quite clear on the fact that one must give up everything familiar for two months. So I bought myself a really effective mosquito repellent and again a few batteries for safety. And who wants to find out in the middle of nowhere that the toothbrush is missing ...
The tour continues tomorrow, first to Tegel Airport in Berlin and after a stopover at Moscow's Vnukovo airport, to the small town of Tiksi, at noon on local time, on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. After a brief stay there, we will travel by helicopter to our final destination: the small island Samoylov in the Lena Delta, which for us will be for the next two months a research subject and home.
We fly east towards the sun and will experience an eight-hour time difference. For me, this time difference is a personal record. Since we will stay until September in the Arctic north near the Arctic Circle and the Midsummer was only a few days ago, there will still be the polar night in Samoylov during the coming weeks. The sun will not go down, so it will be almost equally bright during the day and night. The polar night is just one of many new experiences, which I am already very excited about.But besides these insights into daily life on the expedition, a great interest to us are also the important scientific questions that we want to introduce to you through the blog: As part of the EU research project PAGE21 our main research questions include: What is the current status of the permafrost in the Arctic, will the area become much warmer in coming decades due to the climate change? And what do these changes in turn do to the future climate on Earth?
We will be posting blogs from the north of Siberia approximately twice a week until the early September. And we would be very happy, if you decide to accompany us during this time as a loyal reader.
So, until the next posting from the Samoylov island,
Max
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Main page of the blog "Tundra Stories": http://page21.org/blogs/59-samoylov
Thursday, 5 July 2012
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Main page of the English translation of the blog "Tundra Stories": http://page21.org/blogs/59-samoylov
Original blog in German: http://www.awi.de/de/go/Tundra-Stories
Yesterday afternoon we reached Tiksi in northern Siberia. In comparison to the total travel it's only a stone's throw away from our final destination, the Samoylov Island in the Lena Delta.
"Tiksi, 3 degrees and rain", was what the boards promised at the airport in Moscow. And it proved true in the sense that our flight was almost completely over a densely cloudy Siberia. However, shortly before landing, the sky opened directly over the Lena Delta, giving a clear view of the polygons, ponds and lakes, which we will examine in the coming weeks. A good sign, inspiring us all finally begin the long-prepared work in the field.
The carrier with the majority of the expedition materials is also on its way to Tiksi, but unfortunately with somewhat slower progress than we have had, so that it may take a few more days until we reach Samoylov, the goal of our journey.
For the expedition, the team is now complete. The other participants of the first section - German and Russian scientists from Hamburg, St. Petersburg and Moscow - joined us in Moscow and in Tiksi.
The port city of Tiksi, is a slightly surreal sight. The wide gravel roads between the rows of houses, mainly prefabricated buildings that are built on concrete stilts, to not to sink into the permafrost soil, and otherwise a view of the surrounding tundra or the adjacent bay. When the sun appears every now and then between the dense fog, you can not deny that the gray sight of the city has a certain rugged beauty. The small shops that are available in this remote location are rather small and it will require a little more creativity in selecting recipes for dinner than back homw with Germany's well-stocked supermarkets. There are though a seemingly endless array of these small shops, so that at the end you can probably find almost anything here. Yesterday we had Pelmini for dinner, the Russian equivalent of tortellini with Smetana (sour cream). In contrast, we are having now a mixture of potatoes, canned fish, tomato sauce and beetroot salad.
The distances between the shops can be taken also as an advantage of course, since it is perfect opportunity for us to get to know more about the plans of the other working groups of the AWI-branch; Helgoland, Hamburg University and the Universities of Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yakutsk) for this summer experience while we travel back and forth. We are all looking forward working together and especially the free hours on Sunday evening to have good time together.
But now, everyone is waiting to be able to hear, "Hurry up, pack your things and get to the helicopter. We are going to the island! "
Max
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Main page of the English translation of the blog "Tundra Stories": http://page21.org/blogs/59-samoylov
Original blog in German: http://www.awi.de/de/go/Tundra-Stories