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This paper reports on the Hackathon Sessions organised at the Polar Data Forum IV (PDF IV) (20–24 September 2021), during which 351 participants from 50 different countries discussed collaboratively about the latest developments in polar data management. The 4th edition of the PDF hosted lively discussions on (i) best practices for polar data management, (ii) data policy, (ii) documenting data flows into aggregators, (iv) data interoperability, (v) polar federated search, (vi) semantics and vocabularies, (vii) Virtual Research Environments (VREs), and (viii) new polar technologies. This paper provides an overview of the organisational aspects of PDF IV and summarises the polar data objectives and outcomes by describing the conclusions drawn from the Hackathon Sessions.

One of the objectives of EU-PolarNet 2 is to prioritise and specify the key societally relevant Polar research themes, which have been defined in the European Polar Research Programme (EPRP), the EU-PolarNet White Papers and in European Polar strategies. With launching calls for services, EU-PolarNet 2 seeks support from the European Polar Community to further develop the research themes identified in the EPRP into achievable research projects that could be funded on a national, European or international level. For this purpose, EU-PolarNet 2 opened three Calls for Services for all six research needs of the European Polar Research Programme: Better understanding of climate change in the Polar Regions and its links to lower latitudes Informed weather and climate action Resilient socio-ecological systems Prospering communities in the Arctic Challenges and Opportunities for Polar Operations Inclusive creation, access and usage of know ledge This deliverable reports on the second call for services, which asked to formulate achievable research activities related to one of the key questions/sub-topics of following two Research Needs of the EPRP: Resilient socio-ecological systems Challenges and Opportunities for Polar Operations

After two years of project running time, we held the third EU-PolarNet 2 General Assembly and mid-term retreat from 13th to 15th of September 2022 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The meeting was hosted by our EU-PolarNet 2 partners from the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute. More than 50 participants from the project, EU Polar Cluster members, representatives from the Advisory Board and Policy Advisory Board of the project attended the meeting in person and online on the 13th of September. The General Assembly provided an overview on the project achievements of the last year and was open to anyone interested in the work of EU-PolarNet 2. On the 14th and 15th of September, EU-PolarNet 2 held its internal mid-term retreat. The focus of this event was to discuss the progress and next steps of the individual Work Packages.

Nicole Biebow presented Aligning science objectives with decision makers needs as part of the OCEAN:ICE/SO CHIC joint event&nbsp

The “Directory of Polar research funding programmes in Europe” is EU-PolarNet 2´s initial step to improve the coordination and cooperation of national polar funding organisations in Europe. The directory provides an overview about the governance, strategies, and procedures of polar research funding in Europe. With publishing this directory, EU-PolarNet 2 aims to contribute to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of European polar research. A better overview and understanding of each other’s activities and structures shall avoid overlap, minimise fragmentation, and ensures the synergetic use of national resources and investments., Please cite as: EU-PolarNet 2 consortium (2022) Directory of European Polar Research funding programmes (Eds. Vancauwenberghe M, Deleu P, Ørbæk JB, Strobel A, Biebow N). 58 pp. Bremerhaven: Alfred Wegener Institute.

The polar regions are key regions of the Earth system and climate change, but European polar research currently consists of a multitude of organisations and individual activities. The HORIZON 2020 project EU-PolarNet 2 aims to overcome this initial situation and to coordinate and consolidate European polar research. This 2nd annual report on European polar research highlights presents a selection of contributions to Europe's polar research in the second year of EU-PolarNet 2. The highlights reports are organised into 4 overarching themes: European Research Highlights in the Arctic, European Research Highlights in the Antarctic, Promoting Polar Research and Conference Highlights.

One of the objectives of EU-PolarNet 2 is to prioritise and specify the key societally relevant Polar research themes, which have been defined in the European Polar Research Programme (EPRP), the EU-PolarNet White Papers and in European Polar strategies. With launching calls for services, EU-PolarNet 2 seeks support from the European Polar Community to further develop the research themes identified in the EPRP into achievable research projects that could be funded on a national, European or international level. For this purpose, EU-PolarNet 2 will open three Calls for Services for all six research needs of the European Polar Research Programme: 1) Better understanding of climate change in the Polar Regions and its links to lower latitudes 2) Informed weather and climate action 3) Resilient socio-ecological systems 4) Prospering communities in the Arctic 5) Challenges and Opportunities for Polar Operations 6) Inclusive creation, access and usage of knowledge

The “Directory of Polar research funding programmes in Europe” at hand is EU-PolarNet 2´s initial step to improve the coordination and cooperation of national polar funding organisations in Europe. The directory provides an overview about the governance, strategies, and procedures of polar research funding in Europe., Please cite as: EU-PolarNet 2 consortium (2022) Directory of European Polar Research funding programmes (Eds. Vancauwenberghe M, Deleu P, Ørbæk JB, Strobel A, Biebow N). 58 pp. Bremerhaven: Alfred Wegener Institute.

This catalogue is closely related and complementary to another EU-PolarNet 2 deliverable, the “directory of polar research funding programmes in Europe”. Both deliverables are the result of a survey sent to the entire EU-PolarNet 2 consortium, based on a wide range of questions. The information received reflects the different approaches of each country to polar policy and research. The result is a structured, but diverse document giving every country the opportunity to gain insight in each other procedures. These two documents created by the EU-PolarNet 2 consortium are also complementary to other two documents – the EU–PolarNet Infrastructures Catalogue and the European Polar Board's Polardex platform., Citation: EU-PolarNet 2 (2022) Catalogue of national Polar programmes and other large-scale programmes (Eds. Blunt M, Mateev D, Pimpirev, C, Quesada A, Strobel A, Biebow N). 76 pp. Bremerhaven: Alfred Wegener Institute.

This “catalogue of national Polar programmes and other large-scale programmes” is the first and crucial step of EU-PolarNet 2 to improve the coordination and cooperation of national polar research programmes in Europe. The catalogue provides an overview about the responsibilities, research foci and governance structures in European countries performing polar research. The heterogeneity of European National Polar programmes makes this catalogue an essential tool to facilitate the communication and to support synergistic joint actions among the national programmes., Citation: EU-PolarNet 2 (2022) Catalogue of national Polar programmes and other large-scale programmes (Eds. Blunt M, Mateev D, Pimpirev, C, Quesada A, Strobel A, Biebow N). 76 pp. Bremerhaven: Alfred Wegener Institute. Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/eupolarnet?lang=de

From 2020-2024, EU-PolarNet 2 will provide a platform to further develop the coordination of Polar research actions in Europe and with overseas partners. At the beginning of the project, EU-PolarNet 2 will set up all its support panels, amongst them the Advisory Board (AB). This board is comprised of roughly eight persons, including respected international representatives of Polar-related research organisations, representatives from European Indigenous organisations and local/regional authorities, and stakeholders from industry, NGOs and politics. The role of the Advisory Board is to assist in reviewing the project´s developments and progress, to support strategic decisions and wherever possible contribute to EU-PolarNet 2´s success in developing a European Polar Research Area.

The document outlines the management plan, working procedures, processes and best practice guidelines in order to ensure quality standards of the project outcomes. It represents a general Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) and project handbook for the EU-PolarNet 2 project.

EU-PolarNet 2 has set up an internal project website to provide all project partners with important, project-relevant documents, such as administrative documents, finalized deliverables, reporting templates, communication resources, mailing lists and information on conferences, workshops etc. The EU-PolarNet 2 internal website can be accessed via the project website, http://www.eu-polarnet.eu. A user login/password is required to access to the internal website, using institutional login credentials.

The first EU-PolarNet 2 General Assembly (GA) took place as a VIDEOCONFERENCE (GoToMeeting) on Monday, 26th of October within the European Polar Science Week. The meeting was divided into a public part for all conference participants and a closed part for EU-PolarNet 2 partners and guests only. This report outlines the activities that took place during the closed session of the General Assembly, for project beneficiaries and invited guests only. Thus, the minutes are confidential and only for internal use by members of the consortium (including the Commission Services).

This presentation was given on 26th of October 2020, at the EU-PolarNet 2 Kick-Off meeting during the virtual EU Polar Science Week 2020.

With their global capability and diverse array of sensors, research vessels are essential mobile observing platforms for ocean science. Data collected on every expedition are of high value, given the high cost and increasingly limited resources for ocean exploration. Virtual access is the free of charge provision of access to widely used resources needed for research that are openly and freely available through communication networks. For non-commercial use, interested parties can have access to datasets and metadata collected by the ARICE icebreakers, when available, without visiting the research infrastructures. In this virtual data access, there is no need for a comparative selection of users and there is thus no selection procedure. This deliverable provides detailed information on where cruise information and cruise data can be accessed publicly; and if this data is not publicly available, whether there is an agreement to access this data.

European nations operate world-class research infrastructures in the Arctic and Antarctic, which result from a long history of polar research and significant investments made by national polar programmes. The European Polar Infrastructure Catalogue, which EU-PolarNet has compiled, identified 32 European stations in the Antarctic and on the Sub-Antarctic Islands (Fig. 1) and 32 stations in the Arctic (Fig. 2), with 2 icebreakers, 14 ice-strengthened research vessels and an aircraft fleet operating at both poles. These infrastructures are of extreme scientific value, some of them are either strategically located or their mobile capabilities provide them with unique capacities. European infrastructures are based over a large geographical breadth, providing a critical network and a valuable asset for the European Research Area. The European Polar Research Programme (EPRP), created by EU-PolarNet, delineates the future strategy lines for European polar research. It has been developed by an encompassing consultation process involving scientists and polar stakeholders. The EPRP clearly identifies the urgent need to improve coordination among national polar programmes, align operations, implement, or further develop access schemes and foster interoperability of infrastructure and data. This complex endeavour needs to account for the key characteristics of the individual infrastructures and priorities of national research programmes to secure stronger research collaboration and foster scientific impacts. As a result, it will optimise the operational costs and environmental footprint by reducing any possible overlap or duplication of efforts. This more efficient use of resources will also lead to harmonised actions developing more balanced cross-disciplinary observations and science. Improved coordination will also enable better interaction with industry and the private sector, as well as their engagement, boosting research and society interactions. Improved coordination and integration will facilitate connectivity with global networks and systems in and beyond Europe, strengthening sustainable infrastructure development and innovation. This white paper builds upon EU-PolarNet’s experience in bridging scientific and societal needs. It is the infrastructure and logistics response to the research needs addressed in the European Polar Research Programme and shall pave the way for stronger and interconnected European actions at the poles and for a common European voice in Polar organisations and fora. European Union Horizon 2020 Published Refereed Current 14.a

In the frame of WP3 “Educating a new generation of polar researchers and professionals”, APECS held a webinar with the topic “Proposal Writing” on 25 April 2019. The webinar on „Proposal Writing“ was coordinated along the second „Call for ship-time“ of ARICE. The aim was to give potential applicants the opportunity to get hints and advices on how to write a successful proposal in general and learn about the application process in ARICE, as well as to facilitate questions and an active discussion.

D8.4 defines a set of working procedures, processes and best practice guidelines to ensure quality standards of the project outcomes.

Our understanding of the Arctic rests to a great extent on the capacity to build long-term observations series. The overall aim of these scientifically based observations is to reach a sustainable development that counter-acts the troublesome future scenario we foresee today. While major drivers of climate change are found outside the Arctic, there is nevertheless a strong need also for the four million people that live in the Arctic to act responsible in order to create capacity for sustainable development. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer an important framework for both guiding a sustainable development of the region, as well as for improving existing and developing new observation and monitoring systems for the Arctic. This allows an approach where the challenges, changes and the adaptation potential of societies and the ecological systems can be well monitored.

The white papers were developed by a specially se-lected team of EU and overseas experts from diverse areas of polar research. These experts were challenged to identify polar research topics with a clear societal relevance and a specific im-portance for Europe that could make them suitable for future EU support. These topics will, if adopted, further enhance EU research excellence, increase efficient use of European resourc-es and expertise, and lead to a step change in data availability, access and interoperability. They will further increase the scale of polar research cooperation in Europe and, by including non-EU partners, will improve global cooperation. Each of the topics em-ploys a strongly interdisciplinary approach to deliver benefits in the complex and multi-faceted real-world of policy issues. Some of the white papers describe approaches that step outside tra-ditional disciplinary boundaries, offering a transformational or even ‘post-disciplinary’ approach. Each is designed to deliver tangible benefits to problems that arise in the Polar Regions from the complex interactions of a changing physical environ-ment, stressed ecosystems, complex issues of sovereignty and governance, and layered cultural and social structures

18th European Research Vessel Operators (ERVO) Meeting, 10-12 May 2016, Rhodes, Greece

Polar Regions are the most vulnerable world areas to any climate change, and therefore can be considered drivers of global climate change, so small and systematic changes in the Polar Regions affect critically the global environment. This is particularly worrying for Europe and the Arctic due to ocean circulation interaction between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans whose outcome is already producing significant climate anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere. Many European countries support polar research, not only in the Arctic but also in Antarctica, and in fact many European polar research programs have a two-pole perspective. However Europe lacks sufficient marine technological platforms to meet the challenges posed today in marine polar research.

The Polar Regions may seem remote, but the observed rapid changes now affecting both the Arctic and Antarctic regions have resulted in significant consequences for the weather and climate in lower latitudes, including Europe. Environmental changes being observed, particularly in the Arctic, are a clear indication of the impending shifts that will increasingly affect European environment, society and industry. Changes in the Polar Regions present societal challenges, but also economic opportunities for Europe and the world. Science is a vital tool in understanding what is driving the rapid changes being observed at high latitudes. Research is also necessary to make our climate models and forecasting more realistic by identifying and reducing important sources of uncertainty that may impair reliable prediction. However the scale of many of the questions being posed is now recognised as being beyond the capabilities of individual nations and strong international cooperation is needed to overcome these challenges. There is often a need to obtain data from geographically widely separated areas of the Polar Regions and these need complementary observational schemes to be implemented for valid inter-comparisons. Similarly the costs of operating infrastructure in Polar Regions are becoming increasingly challenging and there is a need therefore to cooperate on infrastructure access and shared costs to optimise the support of larger research programmes. The presentation will introduce three European projects: EU-PolarNet, EUROFLEETS2 and ARICE which actively work on improving infrastructure development and access in the Polar Regions in cooperation with international partners. The examples given are from the Arctic Ocean but similar models of transnational access and infrastructure sharing will apply for the Antarctic.

The contamination of sea ice by Listeria monocytogenes was investigated in the western part of the Sea of Okhotsk for the first time. The influence of the Amur River outflow on Listeria's distribution on the northeastern Sakhalin shelf and slope is discussed. Laboratory investigations of the survival of L. monocytogenes in frozen seawater are provided as well. It is possible to characterize the temporal evolution of the reproductive function of L. monocytogenes in sea ice. The duration of Listeria's reproductive period in sea ice depends on the strain's biological peculiarities and on the temperature regime. Colder temperatures result in a long-term reproductive ability of L. monocytogenes in sea ice.

An original classification of anomalous methane fields according to the vertical structure of the water column in the Sea of Okhotsk is proposed. Basic types of anomalous methane fields are described: penetrating, near-bottom, deep, intermediate, subsurface, surface, and combined. Anomalous methane concentrations are greater than background values, sometimes by 1-3 orders(up to 30000nl/l above methane hydrates). Spatial and quantitative varieties of anomalous methane fields have genetic relations with different hydrocarbon sources. These varieties suggest a high permeability of active fault zones and geochemical activity in marginal areas, especially along the western Sea of Okhotsk., application/pdf

Berichte zur Polar- und Meeresforschung = Reports on Polar and Marine Research

GEOMAR-Report No 110

GEOMAR-Report No 88