Photo of the first on sea deployment of the AUV during a Polarstern expedition in 2010 (Fram Strait). (Photo: Michael Ginzburg)

INTAROS partners the Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) recently celebrated 20 years of long-term ecological research in the deep Arctic Ocean. 

20 years ago, scientists from AWI laid the “foundation stone” for a unique long-term observatory in the partly ice-covered Fram Strait between Greenland and Svalbard, which they call their HAUSGARTEN. The deep-sea observatory was the first of its kind, and still is the only one of its kind for year-round physical, chemical and biological observations in a polar region. Here researchers investigate how a polar marine ecosystem alters in a period of global change.

The HAUSGARTEN stations are spread over an area of roughly 30,000 km2 between 78° and 80° North and between 6° West and 11° East. In this area, deep-sea researchers regularly carry out investigations at a network of 21 stations at depths ranging from 250 to 5500 metres. Using a multidisciplinary approach, they study all parts of the marine ecosystem, from the surface down to the deep seafloor, in order to determine the effects of climate change on the biodiversity of the marine Arctic. Samples and measurements are taken in the water column and at the seafloor every year during regular summer expeditions. In addition, instruments anchored to the sea floor continually take samples and measurements; more recently, mobile autonomous devices have been in operation all year round.

Here, you can read the full story on how far things have come since the establishment of Hausgarten and how the station continues to be pivotal in advancing our scientific knowledge of the Arctic and its natural processes.

This site is a key element of INTAROS's field scope, contributing data during fieldwork season 2018 and fieldwork season 2019.

For more news about the INTAROS Summer Fieldwork Season 2019, stay tuned to our website and social media.

You can check out all the observing sites assessed by INTAROS in this interactive map.

Images from the sea bed at Hausgarten. Copyright @AWI.