At the "Akademik Vernadsky" station and the "Noosphere" icebreaker, 2 new international research projects are starting. According to the National Antarctic Scientific Center, this became possible thanks to Ukraine's participation in the POLARIN project of the "Horizon Europe" program, which sponsors scientists' access to polar infrastructure, reports UNN.
Details
As reported by the NASC, at "Vernadsky," research on the aerosol distribution of microbial communities in polar regions will continue. This is the first project, MICROAIRPOLAR.
It involves installing special MicroAirCollector equipment at three stations in the Arctic and three in Antarctica to collect microorganism samples from the air. Scientists will then conduct genetic analysis to determine exactly which organisms the wind carries into polar regions. Using computational models, they will also track the trajectories of air masses and the movement of bacteria in and between the Arctic and Antarctica.
This is important because microorganisms are among the first to colonize surfaces newly freed from ice. Therefore, in polar regions experiencing rapid melting processes, they will influence the formation of biodiversity.
The research is being conducted by scientists from the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain) and the University of Northumbria (UK).
The second project is TRICUSO-FLOATS, dedicated to monitoring carbon in the Southern Ocean.
Near South Georgia Island, 6 Argo floats with a series of sensors will be launched from the icebreaker "Noosphere." They will measure total alkalinity and the content of dissolved inorganic carbon. The floats will also be equipped with high-precision pH, O₂ sensors, and acoustic wind sensors. This will help quantify how much carbon the Southern Ocean absorbs.
According to preliminary data, this ocean absorbs about 40% of all CO₂ absorbed by all oceans combined, although it occupies only 1/5 of their total area. Currently, there are significant discrepancies between observational data and models of this absorption. Therefore, expanding the spatial and temporal coverage of autonomous measurements in the Southern Ocean will help reduce this uncertainty.
The project is being implemented by scientists from the National Oceanography Centre (UK), the Norwegian Research Centre, and Sorbonne University (France). Both studies will begin in the next Antarctic season, which starts at the end of 2026.
A rare king penguin was spotted near the Vernadsky station in Antarctica15.02.26, 17:15
Reminder: POLARIN unites 64 polar research infrastructures belonging to organizations worldwide. Consortium members have free access to facilities, which is granted based on competition results. MICROAIRPOLAR and TRICUSO-FLOATS are the first winning projects to gain access to "Vernadsky" and "Noosphere" under POLARIN. For Ukraine, such initiatives are an opportunity to join cutting-edge scientific research and be an active member of the global polar community.