Oceanography & Sea Ice NPI

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Oceanography & Sea Ice NPI

Oceanography and Sea Ice research at the Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway

We are a small interdisciplinary group of about 20 Earth scientists, part of the Ocean and Sea Ice section at the Norwegian Polar Institute (Tromsø, Norway), working on polar oceanography and sea ice. Here we share our knowledge about the polar regions and love for science!

12/06/2026

Shift in Arctic Ocean nitrogen due to sea-ice loss | A recently published article in the journal Communications Earth & Environment based on observations from Norsk Polarinstitutt's long-term monitoring in the shows that around 2009, the nitrogen concentration in Polar Surface Waters exiting the central Arctic Ocean in the Fram Strait showed a sharp decline. This reduction could be traced back to the decrease of sea ice in the upstream Arctic Ocean, particularly on the Siberian shelves and the Chukchi Sea, where it led to an increase in phytoplankton production. This could have resulted in increased benthic (life at the seafloor) denitrification, a microbial process which removes bioavailable nitrogen.

This change in nitrogen will likely have impacts on regional Arctic marine ecosystems as well as downstream biogeochemistry.

Article link:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-026-03569-x

Photos: Lawrence Hislop (NPI)

05/06/2026

To study sea-ice-air and sea-ice-water fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2) and biogeochemical processes in sea ice, we process sea-ice cores at Norsk Polarinstituttlarinstituttet and do analyses of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TA) at Havforskningsinstituttet.
This week, researchers from NPI and visiting Master/PhD students from France and Canada processed sea-ice cores from the Arctic Ocean, collected in Fram Strait between 2021 and 2023. Processing of sea-ice cores for measurements of DIC including CO2 involves several steps; 1) inspection of the core and cutting in 10-cm pieces in the ice lab at -20°C, 2) each 10-cm piece is placed in gas-tight bags and air is removed from the sealed bags, 3) the sea-ice sample is melted and melted samples are transferred to glass bottles for 4) further analyses in the chemistry lab at Havforskningsinstituttet.
Together with salinity and temperature, we calculate CO2 to better estimate the role of sea ice for CO2 fluxes and ocean acidification, crucial for both climate and ecosystem.

Photos: A. Fransson, Norsk Polarinstitutt

15/05/2026

This week it is 100 years since a crew of 16, including Roald Amundsen (expedition leader), Umberto Nobile (pilot), and Lincoln Ellsworth (navigator), crossed the North Pole with the airship “Norge”, starting in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway, and ending the crossing in Teller, Alaska, USA.

At Ny-Ålesund, the airship mast, which was built but finally not used for the “Norge” in 1926, and remains of the fixing points for the former airship hangar, along with information in the local museum, remind of this expedition. An open question in 1926 was if there would be land in the Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard. The expedition could confirm that there was only sea ice.

Read more and see more photos here (polarhistorie.no, in Norwegian): https://polarhistorie.no/ekspedisjoner/amundsen-ellsworth-nobile-transpolar-flight/
On the commemoration at Ny-Ålesund this week: https://npolar.no/en/newsarticle/100-years-of-cooperation-in-the-arctic-from-the-airship-norge-to-a-blue-arctic-ocean/

Photos:
1: The “Norge” over Ny-Ålesund in May 1926 (Photo: Hans Ragnvald Hjelle, Photo Library Norwegian Polar Institute).
2: The “Norge” on the way into the airship hangar, May 1926 (Photo: Severin Worm-Pettersen, Nasjonalbiblioteket).
3: The airship tower at Ny-Ålesund, as it looks now (Photo: Sebastian Gerland, Norwegian Polar Institute).
4: Plate at the airship mast remembering the trans-polar flight of the “Norge” (Photo: Sebastian Gerland, Norwegian Polar Institute).
5: Remains of old anchoring point for wires of the former airship hangar at Ny-Ålesund, with Kongsfjorden and tre kroner mountains in the background (Photo: Sebastian Gerland, Norwegian Polar Institute).

Norsk Polarinstitutt

08/05/2026

| This week, some of us are participating in the General Assembly 2026 of the European Geosciences Union - EGU. The conference takes place in Vienna every year and is a huge event, with more than 20 000 participants, covering all fields of geosciences, including ocean and cryosphere research. It is held in a hybrid format, allowing for attendance in person as well as virtual presentations.

This year our team contributes with presentations on sea ice and the Arctic Ocean, and co-convenes sessions. It is an intensive week, with days full of exciting science being presented from all fields or geo- and earth sciences. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are prominently featured and being adapted to geoscience research.

Photos: 1,3,4: P. Itkin; 2: M. Granskog, Norsk Polarinstitutt

30/04/2026

This year’s field campaign to monitor sea ice in Kongsfjorden, , was just completed – it took place with only little snow-free sea ice, only in the very innermost parts of the fjord. A recent mild spell with above freezing temperatures and occasional rain made the remaining sea ice surfaces very slippery and snow free.

The survey included measuring ice thickness and collecting ice samples for recording physical, chemical and biological properties of the ice. This year’s scenario falls into the category of those with very little sea ice in Kongsfjorden. While also occasionally seeing years with more sea ice, years with little sea ice have become more abundant, and are the new “normal”.

Photo 1: Drilling for measuring ice thickness.
Photo 2: Sea ice floes and small icebergs in inner Kongsfjorden.
Photo 3: Packing ice cores for later analysis.
Photo 4: Fast ice in Raudvika in inner Kongsforden, view from air.

Photos: S. Gerland, Norsk Polarinstitutt

24/04/2026

ASOF 2026 | This week, the annual workshop on Arctic-Subarctic Ocean Fluxes (ASOF, asof.awi.de) took place at Universitetet i Bergen where latest results on ocean exchanges and processes in the Arctic and Subarctic regions were presented and discussed.
The workshop kicked off with celebrating the 150th anniversary of the start of modern marine research in the Nordic Seas in a joint session with the One Ocean Week, including a historical overview about oceanographic research conducted in the region starting in 1876 with the Vöring expedition.
The remaining of the meeting was focussed on ongoing research conducted in the Arctic Ocean, across the Arctic gateways, and the subpolar North Atlantic, based on observations as well as different models.
All in all, it was a great workshop with many interesting contributions and scientific exchanges!

📷 1&4: L. de Steur, 2&3: A.-M. Wefing, Norsk Polarinstitutt

17/04/2026

NEW POLARIA EXHIBITION | This week marked the opening of a new exhibition at Polaria, the Arctic experience center located next to the Fram Centre in Tromsø.

The exhibition was developed in collaboration with Framsenteret scientists and featuring multiple contributions from Norsk Polarinstitutt. The new “Researcher’s room” offers a unique window into our work, giving tourists, school students, and the public insight not only into how scientists at the Fram Centre work, but also why, and what drives them. Visitors can meet researchers face-to-face on a large screen, ask questions, and get a rare glimpse into life aboard the research vessel Kronprins Haakon in the Arctic Ocean. The exhibition also features portraits of nearly 350 researchers, technicians, students, and staff, alongside interactive displays showcasing the breadth of research at the Fram Centre. A key goal is to inspire children and young people to take an interest in polar research.

Photos: 1-3: E. Kjeldsen, Polaria, 4-5: S. Gerland, Norsk Polarinstitutt

14/04/2026

Sir William Martin Conway, the 1st Baron Conway of Allington, was born 170 years ago on 12 April 1856. The name Conway is known to many of scientists working in the Ny-Ålesund area of Svalbard, Norway, because the glacier Conwaybreen, which is located in the very inner northeastern corner of the fjord, is named after him. Also several other places on Svalbard have been named after him.

The Conwaybreen glacier front is still impressive, as our sea ice scientist can confirm when monitoring the changes of landfast sea ice in the fjord. Compared with the northern glacier front of Kronebreen and several other glaciers in the Ny-Ålesund area, the front of Conwaybreen changed its position in recent years only little, likely because the glacier front has earlier retreated to shallow water or land. Conway made extensive expeditions to Svalbard in both 1896 and 1897, and he published among others the books “The first crossing of Spitsbergen” (1897) and “No man’s land” (1906). He was also known as a mountaineer, with expeditions to the Andes and Karakorum, and for his many other interests such as in arts, archeology and politics.

See more information on Sir Martin Conway here:
https://polarhistorie.no/personer/martin-conway/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Conway,_1st_Baron_Conway_of_Allington

Photos/Illustrations:
1: Portrait of Martin Conway (downloaded from Wikimedia Commons, Source: Alexander Bassano and Vandyk Studios, National Portrait Gallery, London)
2: Conwaybreen in spring 2003 (Photo: S. Gerland, Norsk Polarinstitutt)
3: NPI research team on landfast sea ice with Conwaybreen in the background, spring 2021 (Photo: S. Gerland, Norsk Polarinstitutt)
4: Front positions of Conwaybreen (upper part of figure) and northern branch of Kongsbreen since 1969 (lower part of figure; illustration: J. Kohler, NPI Glaciology).

20/03/2026

How thick is the sea ice we are breaking? | The Norwegian research icebreaker can travel at a speed of about 3 knots through half meter thick sea ice. But this is a crude estimate that in fact depends on many factors like sea ice pressure within the ice cover, sea ice temperature, snow depth on top of the ice, and the deformation state of the ice.

To get a good and continuous measurement of the sea ice thickness the ship is traveling through, we have now deployed an electromagnetic transmitter-receiver antenna from the ship’s bow. The antenna produces a signal that interacts with the nearest “good” conductive layer – the liquid ocean’s surface – and measures the strength of the response. This strength is related to the distance of this layer. Sea ice thickness is then derived by subtracting the elevation of the antenna over sea ice. This is an established technology for sea ice thickness measurements from aircrafts and sledges. We will now also collect sea ice thickness data directly from the ship - this will not only be useful for the ship's performance assessments, but also for comparisons with sea ice thickness measurement from satellites.

📸: 1 K. Kovacs, 2&3 P. Itkin (Norsk Polarinstitutt)

27/02/2026

It has been an exciting and intense week at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow this week with many presentations from our team on both and marine science. Ranging from the deep ocean, ocean-ice interactions, to sea ice and even birds. We have seen many interesting presentations from other participants that are also relevant to design our future work and had a lot of fruitful conversations with other participants on future collaborations. Overall it has been great to have in Europe.

📸 1&5: M. Muilwijk, 2&6: M. Granskog, 3: B. Merkel, 4: P. Dodd. Norsk Polarinstitutt

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