MV POLARSTERN's MOSAiC Expedition: A portrait of endurance and strategic research in the remoteness

摘要

Promoted as the largest polar expedition in history, MOSAiC - the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate-was organised by an international consortium of leading polar research institutions led by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). The expedition was charged with making the most intense observations ever undertaken at the Arctic - arguably, the epicentre of global warming - with the aim of gaining a better understanding of a broad spectrum of factors impacting climate change. Uniquely, the expedition took 389 days in the region, thereby experiencing an unprecedented full polar winter on site. PO-LARSTERN drifted 3,400 km on a zigzagging course, covering a distance of 1,923 km in the process. 2 floes were used. 337 scientists and experts and 105 crewmem-bers of Polarstern were part of MOSAiC. 20 countries or respectively 37 nationalities were involved. More than 80 institutes participated in the mission. Around 150 people were 'on site' at any given time. In addition, there were hundreds of people on the supply vessels and on land who supported MO-SAiC's research and logistics. The mission's total budget was in excess of €140M, with operating costs (excluding instrumentation and research personnel) estimated at circa € 200,000 per day.