ARKTIS: Arctic Research and Knowledge Transfer Initiative Switzerland

How will open-ocean summer conditions affect the Central Arctic Ocean ecosystem

As the Central Arctic Ocean approaches its first ice-free summers under a changing climate, understanding how the shift from ice-covered to open-ocean conditions will affect the Central Arctic ecosystem is a critical scientific challenge. ARKTIS addresses this gap by enabling collaborative, multidisciplinary research on the Tara Polar Station during the POLARIS I and POLARIS II Arctic Ocean drifts. Our research clusters: Microbiology, Biodiversity, Biogeochemistry, Atmosphere, and Sustainability Robotics will play a major role in generating the first multi-annual, integrated dataset from the Central Arctic Ocean to advance predictions of future climate, biogeochemical cycles, and ecosystem dynamics.