NEWS

Why it's important to understand clouds over the Southern Ocean

First synthesis of global impacts from Antarctic summer sea-ice loss

Opinion piece by Prof Nathan Bindoff on the need for change to the system of funding Australian polar research

AAPP researcher wins prestigious award

On the trail of cadmium from Western Australia to Antarctica

Revealing the drivers of phytoplankton growth, their role in carbon cycling, and dynamics between ocean, seafloor and ice shelves

Each night trillions of zooplankton and small marine creatures move from the ocean deep to the surface and back, in the largest animal migration on Earth

Like weather stations for the sea, the Denman Marine Voyage has installed three moorings off the ice shelf to monitor ocean heat

Covering more than twice the area of Australia at its winter peak, Antarctic sea ice is one of the largest biomes on Earth, providing critical habitat for ice algae

A behind-the-scenes look at how sediment traps are prepared for a year in the deep ocean

How our scientists are tracking warm currents in ocean waters thousands of metres deep

Hidden water flowing beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet plays a much bigger role in ice loss than current models assume

While oceanographers plumb the depths, atmospheric scientists on the Denman Marine Voyage look skywards

Low sea-ice cover means the Denman Marine Voyage can access places no humans have been before

On the Denman Marine Voyage, the plankton team is busy collecting tiny creatures with the ‘wet well’ on icebreaker RSV Nuyina

As an oceanographer, I’m excited about the prospect of getting ocean, ice and climate data from a region where few observations have been collected

The first monthly reconstruction of Antarctic sea-ice extent by sector and in total for the entire 20th century

First opportunity for Australian marine research into one of East Antarctica's most rapidly retreating glaciers

Two AAPP PhD students travel from Western Australia to New Zealand on a German research vessel

A two-month mission exploring the Denman Glacier region about 5,000 kilometres south of Australia

Join our scientists in East Antarctica as they explore underneath a floating ice shelf with a power tool, a long drill, lots of line — and plenty of stamina.

AAPP PhD candidate wins SCAR Fellowship to research sea-ice algae in Norway

New observations reveal details of the contribution of Antarctic krill to carbon transport in the Southern Ocean

Sea ice is a natural barrier to measuring water temperature and salinity of the ocean around Antarctica.

Knut Heinatz researches the impact zooplankton can have on the ocean’s ability to store atmospheric carbon.

Was the collapse of the Conger-Glenzer ice shelf in 2022 an early warning sign for East Antarctica?

Climate-related Antarctic research wins Discovery Project grants

A statement from early-career researchers at the inaugural Australian Antarctic Research Conference

Nearly 500 polar experts meet for inaugural Australian Antarctic Research Conference

How much carbon is produced annually by algae in Antarctic fast ice?

Sea-ice expert the next leader of the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership

AAPP/ACEAS briefing paper sent to Australian politicians and policymakers

First research comparing how well Antarctic sea-ice surface temperature is represented in six commonly used weather models

Antarctic research recognised by Australian Institute for Policy and Science

For the second winter in a row, the extent of Antarctic sea ice has been exceptionally below average — and it has just set a new record low for this time of year.

Antarctic and Southern Ocean science features in Tasmanian DECRA awards from Australian Research Council

Fellowship to assist naval oceanograper and meteorologist to complete PhD

Special collection of scientific articles launched in National Science Week

Combining observations from robotic floats and sediment traps to track carbon flows

Join the adventure as a small science team investigates a massive ice shelf in Antarctica — and what it means for the rest of the world

The remarkable link between ice cores and severe fire weather

Monitoring the response of oceans and water cycle to reducing carbon emissions

One-third of Southern Ocean biological activity fertilised by iron-rich dust blown from land

Next-generation satellite plan for monitoring sea ice and glaciers in unprecedented detail

Ice sheet modeller wins award from Australian Academy of Science

AAPP-led studies on the future of Southern Ocean ecosystems in a changing world

A global conference of zooplankton experts from 38 countries sets out urgent research priorities

More than 340 scientists from 38 countries meet in Hobart about marine zooplankton

What the voyage of the Belgica tells us about how Antarctic sea ice has changed in 120 years

Epic voyage comes home with one of the most comprehensive datasets ever collected in the Southern Ocean

Hard-working voyagers reach a milestone in the Southern Ocean

New AAPP-led research points to fundamental changes taking place in the Antarctic sea-ice system with immense global implications

AAPP researcher Dr Pat Wongpan receives 2023 Early Career Scientist Award from International Glaciology Society

Creating a miniature Southern Ocean for shipboard experiments on the links between biology and cloud formation

What does a changing Southern Ocean mean for climate?

Celebrating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science aboard a research vessel in the Southern Ocean

Experiences of an iceberg enthusiast on the MISO voyage

How the biology of the Southern Ocean is linked to the clouds in the atmosphere

Using the CTD to track change in the Southern Ocean and what it means for biological productivity and the future of the Antarctic Ice Sheet

Venturing to the Adélie Depression, chasing the world's densest water that drives currents around the planet.

Sampling vanishingly low concentrations of trace metals, to understand what controls Southern Ocean biology and its connection to the carbon cycle and climate.

AAPP PhD study extends carbon exchange records for Southern Ocean Time Series station to cover two decades.

Why the MISO voyage is travelling across the Southern Ocean from Hobart to Fremantle via the Antarctic ice edge.

Voyage to investigate why deep ocean currents near Antarctica are slowing, whether the Southern Ocean will continue to absorb heat and carbon dioxide, and the formation of clouds.

From space to the seafloor, an Australian and international research voyage has mapped a highly energetic ‘hotspot’ in the world’s strongest current simultaneously by ship and satellite, and uncovered an underwater mountain range.

A gallery of images and words by Bill Martin, Electro-Technical Officer on RV Investigator.

The largest reservoir of carbon on our planet is the ocean. Craig Neill is testing an old carbon analyser against his new design.

The Triaxus 'flies' through the upper ocean as it is towed behind the ship while the SWOT satellite records the height of the sea surface.

With EM-APEX floats measuring current velocity, what can they tell us about changes in the Southern Ocean?

Death glares from giant petrels, squadrons of great cormorants, fly-bys from fulmars, A-list of albatross: never a dull moment in the Southern Ocean

Understanding how communities of phytoplankton and marine microbes are changing and what this could mean for the storage of carbon

Three underwater gliders are released into the world's strongest water flow, the high-energy Antarctic Circumpolar Current

What to do when a mad-keen trail-runner is on a research ship for 38 days? Run a marathon on a treadmill, of course!

One item in our oceanographic toolkit gets more of a workout than others. Which is it and what does it tell us about the deep ocean?

At the heart of this science ship is an advanced analytical lab for measuring the vital signs of the ocean

PhD student Andie Hay offers her thoughts about life on the high seas – and a poem

PhD student Polina Sholeninova about her experience living and working at sea on the FOCUS voyage

Why are we studying a patch of the Southern Ocean just 100km wide and 200km long so intensively?

Crew and scientists on CSIRO research vessel RV Investigator install an oceanographic 'weather tower' in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current

The FOCUS voyage has now reached our survey area about 850 nautical miles south of Hobart (or 200nm west of Macquarie Island, halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica).

A state-of-the-art robotic float has been recovered from the Southern Ocean, in a first for CSIRO research vessel Investigator.

Scientists head for the heart of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to investigate how it leaks warm water into polar seas.

Four key projects involving AAPP researchers have been approved in the latest round of funding by the Australian Research Council.

For the first time, scientists measure an increase in the magnitude of the Southern Ocean’s seasonal cycle of carbon dioxide over the last decade.

More than 200 scientists from 19 countries create the first comprehensive assessment of trends in Southern Ocean ecosystems, in a report written specifically for policy makers.

A new study of the habitat needs of emperor penguins show that the iconic seabirds are more flexible in their abilities to choose a place to live than previously assumed.

The first evidence is emerging of a regime shift underway in the Southern Ocean where Antarctic sea ice is entering a different state of lower coverage.

Probes dropped from helicopters through ice cracks help reveal that warm ocean water is melting the largest glacier ice shelf in East Antarctica from below.

Researchers with the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership awarded two of four DECRAs to Tasmania

Hundreds of international scientists are sounding a clarion call for urgent expansion of Southern Ocean science in the emerging climate crisis.

Landfast ice is crucial for the Earth's climate

More than 250 people from 25 nations will meet in Hobart during August for the first-ever global conference of the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS).

The first-ever broad review of Antarctic ‘landfast’ ice highlights its far-reaching importance in the Earth system while documenting a recent dramatic crash in its extent.

Polar scientists are calling for an urgent intensification of national and international research and observational capabilities in view of rapid Arctic and Antarctic change.

Researchers have found that the deep ocean circulation around parts of Antarctica has slowed by 30 per cent since the 1990s, reducing oxygen levels across the world’s deep seas.

Is this sudden shift in the Southern Ocean a response to climate change? We need to know how the Antarctic system is changing – and why.

Using Artificial Intelligence to better simulate the amount of energy from the sun that strikes the Southern Ocean.

Sea-ice researchers join forces to release a science briefing for policy makers.

Not only do tiny phytoplankton have a big impact on clouds, they also play a crucial role in the climate system

Through the Million Year Ice Core project, Tasmania is gaining an entirely new climate research capability at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Hobart.

What does Antarctic ice, Southern Ocean algal blooms, Australia’s active volcanoes and a particle accelerator have in common?

With three very extreme events of Antarctic sea ice loss in the last six years, it appears a regime shift is under way in the Southern Ocean.

A new interactive Antarctic map called 'Nilas' promises to assist voyage planning and enhance climate research in the sea-ice zone.

A global review about the impacts of warming oceans on marine zooplankton is published in Nature Communications.

Prof Tony Press honoured for distinguished service to the environment

MEDIA RELEASE: The first traverse for the Million Year Ice Core project is well advanced in proving a route for ambitious climate research in the coming years.

Greater conservation efforts are needed to protect Antarctic ecosystems, and the populations of up to 97% of land-based Antarctic species could decline by 2100 if we don’t change tack, new research has found.

MEDIA RELEASE: An advanced new satellite to observe water on Earth in unprecedented resolution promises to revolutionise Australian research in the Southern Ocean.

MEDIA RELEASE: Innovative research on Southern Ocean productivity and sea ice by the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) will be advanced with three Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery projects.

The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) convened in Hobart, Tasmania, during October 2022 to examine the state of marine life in the Southern Ocean. Professor Bettina Meyer (AWI) and Dr So Kawaguchi (AAD) published a Science editorial stressing the need for a new krill management strategy at the Antarctic Peninsula to ensure the balance of the Southern Ocean ecosystem.

The Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) and the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS) have released a report on IPCC WGII key findings for Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.

Media Release: A new method for detecting and monitoring change in the exposure of the Antarctic coastline to the dynamic Southern Ocean, due to changing sea-ice distribution, could improve environmental monitoring and modelling of Antarctic ice loss and sea level rise. For the first time, Dr Phil Reid of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and Dr Rob Massom of the Australian Antarctic Division investigated ‘coastal exposure length’ – a daily measure of when and where the Antarctic coastline lacks any protective sea-ice buffer offshore. The scientists used the long-term satellite sea-ice concentration record to determine Antarctic coastal exposure, and how it has changed over the past four decades.

Media Release: Antarctic ice core records have shown that eastern Australia’s drought risk is greater than thought. The research, led by Dr Tessa Vance from the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership and Dr Anthony Kiem from the University of Newcastle, and involving Australian Antarctic Division scientists, has significant implications for water security and management across Australia and internationally.

Media Release: Scientists in Australia and the United States are reporting the sudden loss of a large ice-covered Antarctic lake which held more water than Sydney Harbour.

The Australian Antarctic Program Partnership is now offering exciting PhD research projects, based at the University of Tasmania in Hobart.

Media Release: The Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) has welcomed the successful completion of a major krill research voyage into the Southern Ocean.

Why do oceanographers send scientific instruments thousands of metres below the ocean surface?

Our researchers on board TEMPO sprang into action, when an unusually long and thick krill swarm appeared on the echogram.

The Predator Observer team has recorded 445 sightings of marine mammals.

The TEMPO team has successfully deployed all three KOMBIs.

'The entire vessel is on a port list, because we're being hit by a 40 knot wind that's screaming down off Antarctica… it's pretty spectacular!'

The Southern Ocean Large Areal Carbon Export voyage is now underway, aboard Australia's RV Investigator.

For decades scientists have wondered how the Antarctic krill population is distributed under the shield of Antarctic winter sea ice and the development of the KOMBI provides an opportunity to gain valuable clues at a time when humans cannot readily access this area.

For decades scientists have wondered how the Antarctic krill population is distributed under the shield of Antarctic winter sea ice and the development of the KOMBI provides an opportunity to gain valuable clues at a time when humans cannot readily access this area.

All the years of preparation to make this voyage a reality are now bearing fruit - or in this case krill.

High-powered physics and supercomputers are helping a team of Australian-based scientists explore the mysterious boundary between Antarctic ice and the Southern Ocean.

Media Release: Australian Antarctic Program scientists will use a range of novel technologies to measure krill, during a ground-breaking voyage to the Southern Ocean that departs tomorrow.

The Southern Ocean Large Areal Carbon Export voyage is now underway, aboard Australia's RV Investigator.

A fleet of new-generation, deep-diving ocean robots will be deployed in the Southern Ocean, in a major study of how marine life acts as a handbrake on global warming.

New measurements reveal a surprising increase in the amount of dense water sinking near Antarctica, following 50 years of decline.

Researchers from the AAPP have completed another important piece of the Antarctic climate jigsaw puzzle, with the creation of the first detailed database of changes in land-fast sea ice.

Dr Edward Doddridge is an oceanographer and Theme Leader with AAPP's Nature and Impacts of Southern Ocean Change research theme. Dr Doddridge was recently invited to present at the Royal Society of Tasmania

AAPP Theme Leader Prof. Stephen Rintoul was recently invited to present at the SCAR 2020 Mini Symposium entitled Antarctica in a Warming World; Regional Changes, Global Consequences and Future Commitments.

From Antarctic ice, a new understanding of drought & flood risk in Australia

Atmospheric research by the AAPP is helping to address urgent questions about the role of Southern Ocean clouds in the Earth’s changing climate.