CATS – The Changing Arctic Transpolar System

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With the joint Russian-German research project „CATS – The Changing Arctic Transpolar System“ (March 1, 2017 - February 29, 2020), a consortium of 10 research institutions and universities in Russia and Germany investigated how climate change will affect the highly sensitive Arctic environment and to what extent these changes may impact the climate in Europe. The main research region are the western Laptev Sea shelf and continental slope, Vilkitsky Strait and Cape Baranov (Severnaya Zemlya), located in the Russian EEZ. This topographically complex region features strong polynyas, sea-ice formation, and a variety of shelf processes that impact the circulation and water masses of the Arctic Boundary Current near the region of origin of the Transpolar Drift Stream. The Arctic Boundary Current transports a large amount of heat along the continental slope, which could potentially melt the entire Arctic sea-ice cover if released to the surface.

 

 

German project leader:

Dr. Heidemarie Kassens
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research

Russian project leader:

Prof. Dr. Vladimir Ivanov
FSBI Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute

 

Project duration:1 March 2017 – 29 February 2020

 

Funding bodies:

  • Federal Ministry of Education and Research of the Federal Republic of Germany (BMBF)
  • Ministry of Science and Education of the Russian Federation

 

 

Members of the project consortium

 

Partner organization

Principal investigator

GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (coordinating institute from the German side) Dr. Heidemarie Kassens
FSBI Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, St. Petersburg (coordinating institute from the Russian side) Dr. Vladimir Ivanov
Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven Prof. Dr. Torsten Kanzow
Christian Albrechts University Kiel Prof. Dr. Dieter Piepenburg
Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dr. Yaroslav Ovsepyan
Hamburg University Prof. Dr. Lars Kaleschke / Prof. Dr. Thomas Pohlmann
Mainz Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Literature Dr. Robert Spielhagen
Lomonosov Moscow State University Dr. Ekaterina Taldenkova
Trier University Univ-Prof. Dr. Günther Heinemann

 

 

Work packages and tasks

 

Work package Title and scientists in charge Tasks (task coordinator)
WP 1

Dynamics of physical processes in Siberian shelf seas and their impact on the transpolar system

Dr. Jens Hölemann / Dr. Vladimir Ivanov

Task A: Hydrography and watermass formation in the Laptev Sea (TRANSDRIFT XXIV, XXV) (Mikhail Makhotin)

Task B: The shelf-edge system: influence of shelf processes on the Arctic Boundary Current (TRANSDRIFT XXIV, XXV) (Dr. Markus Janout)

Task C: Hydrodynamic modeling of changes in sea ice and their impact on ocean dynamics (Dr. Vladimir Ivanov)

WP 2

Changes of atmosphere/sea-ice/ocean interactions and their impact on the transpolar system

Dr. Aleksandr Makshtas / Univ.-Prof. Dr. Günther Heinemann

Task A: Processes in the atmospheric boundary layer of the high Arctic (Cape Baranov & historical data) (Dr. Aleksandr Makshtas

Task B: Monitoring of sea-ice properties and production (multi-sensor satellite remote sensing) (Dr. Sascha Willmes)

Task C: Modeling of atmosphere/sea-ice/ocean interaction (Univ.-Prof. Dr. Günther Heinemann)

WP 3

Biogeochemical cycles in the Laptev Sea

Prof. Dr. Martin Frank / Andrey Novikhin

Task A: Mechanisms controlling the distribution of nutrients in the Laptev Sea (TRANSDRIFT XXIV, XXV) (Dr. Georgi Laukert)

Task B: Changes of the hydrochemical structure of the Laptev Sea (TRANSDRIFT XXIV, XXV) (Andrey Novikhin)

WP 4

Ecological consequences of climate change in the Siberian shelf seas

Prof. Dr. Dieter Piepenburg / Dr. Vasiliy Povazhnyy

Task A: Dynamics of pelagic particle processes and benthic functional diversity patterns (TRANSDRIFT XXIV, XXV) (Prof. Dr. Dieter Piepenburg)

Task B: Biological community changes in the Laptev Sea (historical data, TRANSDRIFT XXIV, XXV) (Dr. Vasiliy Povazhnyy)

WP 5

Long-term and paleoceanographic changes of the Arctic climate system

Dr. Robert Spielhagen / Prof. Dr. Leonid Timokhov

Task A: Long-term variability of the thermohaline state of the Arctic transpolar system (historical data) (Prof. Dr. Leonid Timokhov)

Task B: Holocene sea-ice variability, water mass distribution and sea-level history in the western Laptev Sea (TRANSDRIFT XXV) (Dr. Ekaterina Taldenkova)

WP 6

Project management

Dr. Heidemarie Kassens / Dr. Vladimir Ivanov

 

 

 

Members of the CATS team

 

Organization Name Position Field of research Email address
Alfred Wegener Institute
Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Dr. Henning Bauch   Holocene sea-ice variability, water mass distribution and sea-level history in the western Laptev Sea (Task 5B) hbauch (at) geomar.de
Prof. Dr. Christian Haas   Hydrodynamic modeling of changes in sea ice and their impact on ocean dynamics (Task 1C) christian.haas (at) awi.de
Dr. Jens Hoelemann
  • German scientist in charge of WP 1 
The shelf-edge system: influence of shelf processes on the Arctic Boundary Current (Task 1B) jens.hoelemann (at) awi.de
Dr. Markus Janout
  • Coordinator of Task B/WP 1
The shelf-edge system: influence of shelf processes on the Arctic Boundary Current (Task 1B) markus.janout (at) awi.de
Prof. Dr. Torsten Kanzow
  • Principal investigator AWI
The shelf-edge system: influence of shelf processes on the Arctic Boundary Current (Task 1B) torsten.kanzow (at) awi.de
Dr. Casper Kraan   Mechanisms controlling the distribution of nutrients in the Laptev Sea (Task 3A) casper.kraan (at) awi.de
Dr. Thomas Krumpen   Hydrodynamic modeling of changes in sea ice and their impact on ocean dynamics (Task 1C) thomas.krumpen (at) awi.de
Prof. Dr. Ruediger Stein   Holocene sea-ice variability, water mass distribution and sea-level history in the western Laptev Sea (Task 5B) ruediger.stein (at) awi.de
Prof. Dr. Anya Waite   Dynamics of pelagic particle processes and benthic functional diversity patterns (Task 4A) anya.waite (at) awi.de
Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute Ekaterina Vladimirovna Bloshkina   The shelf-edge system: influence of shelf processes on the Arctic Boundary Current (Task 1B) bloshkinaev (at) mail.ru
Dr. Petr Vitalyevich Bogorodsky   Monitoring of sea-ice properties and production (Task 2B) bogorodski (at) aari.ru
Ekaterina Arkadyevna Chernyavskaya   Changes of the hydrochemical structure of the Laptev Sea (Task 3B) cherni_ka (at) mail.ru
Dr. Anna Vladimirovna Danshina   Hydrodynamic modeling of changes in sea ice and their impact on ocean dynamics (Task 1C) danshina (at) mail.ru
Dr. Vladimir Vladimirovich Ivanov
  • Principal investigator of CATS (MON)
  • Principal investigator AARI
  • Scientist in charge of WP 1
  • Russian coordinator WP 6
  • Coordinator Task C/WP 1
Hydrodynamic modeling of changes in sea ice and their impact on ocean dynamics (Task 1C)
 
Vladimir.Ivanov (at) aari.ru
Valery Yuryevich Karpiy   Long-term variability of the thermohaline state of the Arctic transpolar system (Task 5A) valkar (at) mail.ru
Vasily Yuryevich Kustov   Processes in the atmospheric boundary layer of the high Arctic (Task 2A) kustov (at) aari.ru
Mikhail Sergeevich Makhotin
  • Coordination assistant
  • Coordinator Task A/WP 1
Hydrography and watermass formation in the Laptev Sea (Task 1A) m-makhotin (at) mail.ru
Irina Alexandrovna Makhotina   Processes in the atmospheric boundary layer of the high Arctic (Task 2A) i-makhotina (at) mail.ru
Prof. Dr. Alexandr Petrovich Makshtas
  • Russian scientist in charge of WP 2
  • Coordinator Task A/WP 2

Processes in the atmospheric boundary layer of the high Arctic (Task 2A)
maksh (at) aari.ru
Fedor Mikhailovich Martynov   Dynamics of pelagic particle processes and benthic functional diversity patterns (Task 4A) fedor.martynov (at) gmail.com
Andrey Evgenevich Novikhin
  • Russian scientist in charge of WP 3
  • Coordinator Task B/WP 3

Changes of the hydrochemical structure of the Laptev Sea (Task 3B)
andrey.novikhin (at) gmail.com
Vasily Vladimirovich Povazhnyy
  • Russian scientist in charge of WP 4
  • Coordinator Task B/WP 4
Biological community changes in the Laptev Sea (Task 4B) povazhny (at )aari.ru
Dr. Alexandr Viktorovich Smirnov   The shelf-edge system: influence of shelf processes on the Arctic Boundary Current (Task 1B) alexander.vic.smirnov (at) gmail.com
Prof. Dr. Leonid Alexandrovich Timokhov
  • Russian scientist in charge of WP 5
  • Coordinator Task A/WP 5
Long-term variability of the thermohaline state of the Arctic transpolar system (Task 5A) ltim (at) aari.ru
Natalya Andreevna Vyazigina   Long-term variability of the thermohaline state of the Arctic transpolar system (Task 5) naty_vyazik (at) mail.ru
Christian Albrechts University Kiel (CAU) Stefan Buettner   Dynamics of pelagic particle processes and benthic functional diversity patterns (Task 4A)
PhD student
sbuettner (at) geomar.de
Miriam Hansen   Biological community changes in the Laptev Sea (Task 4B)
PhD student
mhansen (at) geomar.de
Prof. Dr. Dieter Piepenburg
  • Principal investigator CAU
  • German scientist in charge of WP 4
  • Coordinator Task A/WP 4
Dynamics of pelagic particle processes and benthic functional diversity patterns (Task 4A) dpiepenburg (at) ecology.uni-kiel.de
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel Dr. Dorothea Bauch   Mechanisms controlling the distribution of nutrients in the Laptev Sea (Task 3A) dbauch (at) geomar.de
Prof. Dr. Martin Frank
  • German scientist in charge of WP 3
Mechanisms controlling the distribution of nutrients in the Laptev Sea (Task 3A) mfrank (at) geomar.de
Dr. Heidemarie Kassens
  • Principal investigator of CATS (BMBF)
  • Principal investigator GEOMAR
  • German coordinator WP 6
Holocene sea-ice variability, water mass distribution and sea-level history in the western Laptev Sea (Task 5B) hkassens (at) geomar.de
Dr. Georgi Laukert
  • Coordinator Task A/WP 3
Mechanisms controlling the distribution of nutrients in the Laptev Sea (Task 3A) glaukert (at) geomar.de
Dr. Carsten Schirnick   Data management cschirnick (at) geomar.de
Pina Springer   Data management pspringer (at) geomar.de
Dr. Karen Volkmann-Lark
  • Coordination assistance
  • Head of Secretariat "Laptev Sea System"

 
kvolkmann-lark (at) geomar.de
Hamburg University Prof. Dr. Lars Kaleschke / Prof. Dr. Thomas Pohlmann
  • Principal investigator Hamburg University
Monitoring of sea-ice properties and production (Task 2B) lars.kaleschke (at) uni-hamburg.de
Dr. Xiangshan Tian-Kunze   Monitoring of sea-ice properties and production (Task 2B) xiangshan.tian-kunze (at) uni-hamburg.de
Mainz Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Literature (AdW) Dr. Robert Spielhagen
  • Principal investigator AdW
  • German scientist in charge for WP 5
Holocene sea-ice variability, water mass distribution and sea-level history in the western Laptev Sea (Task 5B) rspielhagen (at) geomar.de
Moscow Lomonosov State University (MSU) Natalya Olegovna Chistyakova   Holocene sea-ice variability, water mass distribution and sea-level history in the western Laptev Sea (Task 5B)
PhD student
natal-y (at) mail.ru
Dr. Yaroslav Sergeevich Ovsepyan   Holocene sea-ice variability, water mass distribution and sea-level history in the western Laptev Sea (Task 5B) yaovsepyan (at) yandex.ru
Dr. Ekaterina Evgen'eva Taldenkova
  • Principal investigator MSU
  • Coordinator Task B/WP 5
Holocene sea-ice variability, water mass distribution and sea-level history in the western Laptev Sea (Task 5B) etaldenkova (at) mail.ru
Trier University Univ.-Prof. Dr. Guenther Heinemann
  • Principal investigator Trier University
  • German scientist in charge of WP 2
  • Coordinator Task C/WP 2
Modeling of atmosphere/sea-ice/ocean interaction (Task 2C) heinemann (at) uni-trier.de
Svenja Kohnemann   Modeling of atmosphere/sea-ice/ocean interaction (Task 2C) svenja.kohnemann (at) uni-trier.de
Dr. Andreas Preusser   Monitoring of sea-ice properties and production (Task 2B) preusser (at) uni-trier.de
Frank Schnaase   Modeling of atmosphere/sea-ice/ocean interaction (Task 2C)
PhD student
schnaase (at) uni-trier.de
Dr. Sascha Willmes
  • Coordinator Task B/WP 2
Monitoring of sea-ice properties and production (Task 2B) willmes (at) uni-trier.de