Ocean-Cryosphere Exchanges in Antarctica: Impacts on Climate and the Earth System (OCEAN:ICE)

Ocean-Cryosphere Exchanges in Antarctica: Impacts on Climate and the Earth System (OCEAN:ICE)

This project is aimed to assess the impacts of key Antarctic Ice Sheet and Southern Ocean processes on Planet Earth, via their influence on sea level rise, deep water formation, ocean circulation and climate. The loss of ice from Antarctica is enormously important for sea level rise, and most of the loss of ice from the continent happens at the ocean-ice sheet interface, driven by warm ocean currents, so this is why OCEAN:ICE is focusing on the processes that are driving that melting.

Initially the project was implemented by the consortium of 17 partners, led by Danish Meteorological institute (DMI) under the Horizon Europe programme. In September 2023, DMI and the National Antarctic Scientific Centre applied for and have been granted additional funding to welcome NASC as a new partner in the project. In addition to the European Commission, the project is funded by the UK Research and Innovation.

The project will run until 31 October 2026.

The NASC participates in three work packages:

  • WP 10 “Subpolar circulation, heat delivery and water mass export” is the oceanographic component of the project. NASC will fill in some of the remaining “data gaps” around Antarctica by deploying an additional set of innovative equipment – profiling floats in the Southern ocean. These are autonomous oceanographic instrument platforms used for making subsurface measurements in the ocean without the need for a vessel, propeller, or a person operating it. Such floats measure the physical and chemical parameters of the ocean in detail, such as measuring the direction and water velocity or the temperature and salinity. These measures will help to understand better the seasonal exchanges between cold Weddell Sea waters and relatively warmer central West Antarctic Peninsula waters. Within this WP, 6 argo floats will be deployed at Bransfield Strait during the Antarctic season of 2024-2025.
  • WP 11 ‘Atmosphere and Ocean Dynamics’. This package focuses on the implementation of dynamic modelling of the atmosphere and ocean based on historical estimates of precipitation (rain/snow) and the occurrence of extreme events. In addition, NASC researchers will examine the impact of precipitation on ice shelf mass budget by snowfall and rain using high resolution regional atmospheric modelling.
  • WP 12 ‘Project management, data management, dissemination, communication, engagement’. This package is dedicated to communicating project results and integrating them into global science.
  • Evgen Dykyi, Director of the National Antarctic Scientific Center, responsible for the overall coordination of the project;
  • Viktor Komorin, Acting Director of the Ukrainian Research Centre for Marine Ecology, responsible for WP 10  “Subpolar circulation, heat delivery and water mass export”;
  • Anastasiia Chyhareva, researcher at the Department of Atmospheric Physics and Geocosmos of the National Antarctic Scientific Center, responsible for the implementation of WP 11 ‘Atmosphere and Ocean Dynamics’;
  • Svitlana Krakovska, Senior Research Scientist at the Department of Atmospheric and Geospace Physics of the National Antarctic Scientific Center, responsible for the implementation of WP 11 ‘Atmosphere and Ocean Dynamics’;
  • Olena Marushevska, Assistant Director of the NASC, responsible for the implementation of WP 12 ‘Project management, data management, dissemination, communication, engagement’;
  • Yuliia Kryvytska, Head of the Department of Scientific and Technical Projects Financing and Accounting – Chief Accountant of the NASC, responsible for the procurement of scientific equipment within the project, as well as for the preparation of financial reports.

OCEAN ICE will provide:

  • Practical experience how to use the innovative oceanographic equipment (argo floats) to study the dynamics of water masses in the Southern Ocean;
  • Involvement of Ukrainian scientists in global modelling of sea circulation and atmospheric phenomena to better understand the impact of glacial melting on the Southern Ocean currents and the corresponding meteorological changes;
  • Integration of Ukrainian oceanographic and meteorological data into a single worldwide system that will provide a new assessment of ice sheet melting and its impact on ocean circulation.

Project website: https://ocean-ice.eu/