Repository logo

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
  1. Home
  2. Academic and Research Output
  3. Journal articles
  4. Tara Polaris: Shedding light on microbial and climate feedback processes in the Arctic atmosphere
 
research article

Tara Polaris: Shedding light on microbial and climate feedback processes in the Arctic atmosphere

Schmale, Julia  
•
Flores, J. Michel
•
Law, Kathy S.
Show more
2025
Elem Sci Anth

The central Arctic is experiencing warming up to four times faster than the global average. This Arctic amplification is accompanied by large deviations in climate projections, making anticipation of high-impact, near-term regional biodiversity and climate change difficult. Several atmospheric processes contribute simultaneously to Arctic amplification and biodiversity change yet remain largely unstudied, not least because of the difficulty to access the central Arctic Ocean and conduct year-round studies. This article introduces the near- to mid-term objectives of the Tara Polar Station scoping group on “atmosphere-biosphere interactions,” with a focus on identifying and quantifying the origin and genetic composition of local and long-range transported biogenic particles that can impact biodiversity and cloud formation, the role of the stratified boundary layer on vertical fluxes of cloud seeds, bioaerosols and nutrients, and the impact of clouds on atmospheric light transmission. The Tara Polar Station is a fortified research vessel built to drift in the Arctic sea ice throughout the next 20 years in ten Tara Polaris expeditions, each lasting one and a half years. The platform allows for year-round interdisciplinary studies targeted at understanding the central Arctic Ocean ecosystem functioning, biodiversity, and climate change at the ocean-ice-atmosphere nexus. This scoping group will deploy novel and automated instruments for in situ, real-time vertical and remote sensing observations of aerosols, clouds, and radiation. The link between the biosphere and atmosphere will be investigated specifically through bio- and chemo-molecular sampling of air, clouds, ice, and water. We expect the early Tara Polaris expeditions to deliver insights that can be implemented into models for improved scenarios of Arctic change, in particular for the next few decades when we expect a regime shift in summer sea-ice presence.

  • Details
  • Metrics
Type
research article
DOI
10.1525/elementa.2025.00030
Author(s)
Schmale, Julia  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Flores, J. Michel
Law, Kathy S.
Raut, Jean-Christophe
O’Brien, James
Vardi, Assaf
Koren, Ilan
Ravetta, François
Bekki, Slimane
Pazmino, Andrea
Show more
Date Issued

2025

Publisher

University of California Press

Published in
Elem Sci Anth
Volume

13

Issue

1

Article Number

00030

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
EERL  
Available on Infoscience
November 6, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/255568
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Contact
  • infoscience@epfl.ch

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on X
  • Follow us on Youtube
AccessibilityLegal noticePrivacy policyCookie settingsEnd User AgreementGet helpFeedback

Infoscience is a service managed and provided by the Library and IT Services of EPFL. © EPFL, tous droits réservés