Arndt, S., F. A. Haumann, A. Boetius, et al. incl. G. Spreen (2026). Antarctica InSync Science Plan. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). https://doi.org/10.67382/EACD5221 [Article (PDF-File)]
Arndt, S., R. Dadic, G. Spreen, L. Tedesco, M. Vancoppenolle, T. Aikaterini, G. Aulicino, J. Babula, I. Beck, R. R. Cordero, O. Crabeck, A. Cusick, B. Delille, D. Deregibus, I. Doroteaciro, L. Dove, S. Driscoll, P. Esquete, S. Fleury, D. Flocco, N. Fuchs, C. Gabarró, S. Gerland, M. V. Guarino, S. Halfter, P. Heil, S. Henley, W. Hobbs, L. Hoffman, C. Holmes, E. K. Jin, A., Klocker, T. Lavergne, I. Lawrence, X. Liu, O. J. Llanillo, T. Maksym, T. Martin, A. Marzocchi, R. Massom, F. Massonnet, I. S. O. Matero, K. Meiners, I. Merkouriadi, S. Moreau, W. Rack, P. Rampal, R. Ricker, A. S. Scardilli, I. Seguro, I. J. Smith, A. Spolaor, T. Tamura, H. Tang, J. Tebben, S. C. Tripathy, M. Vichi, A. Weiss, & L. Zhou (2026). Antarctica InSync Scientific Theme 2. Rapid sea ice decline and its causes and consequences. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). https://doi.org/10.67382/OXEJ8569 [Article (PDF-File)]
Wearing, M. G.,S. Aaboe, D. Antoine, M. Auger, G. Aulicino, K. Baldry, A. Braakmann-Folgmann, A. Bracher, E. Carli, W. de Jager, H. Dierssen, A. I. Ferola, A. Flemming, S. Fleury, P. Fretwell, J. Galvez-Serna, N. Gourmelen, P. Heil, A. Hogg, S. Jamieson, N. Langet, T. Lavergne, J. Lohse, N. Maherndl, M. McMillan, T. Nagler, I. Otosaka, G. Picard, A. Post, M. Radenz, R. Ricker, N. Samrat, S. B. Simonsen, G. Spreen, A. Swiggs, J. van Oostveen, M. Vountas, A. Vrettou, R. Willatt, B. Wouters, & J. Wuite (2026). Cross-Cutting Theme Earth Observation. Unleashing the potential of Earth Observation to improve monitoring and understanding of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). https://doi.org/10.67382/MXMJ7837 [Article (PDF-File)]
Biebow, N., E. Griffin, M. Grigoratou, P. Heil, A. Boetius, & G. Spreen (2026). Antarctica InSync Policy Paper. International Circum-Antarctic Research Cooperation to Build the Scientific Foundations for Global Climate, Environmental, and Security Governance. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). https://doi.org/10.67382/QUPW5068 [Article (PDF-File)]
Sandells, M., C. Mätzler, G. Arduini, I. de Gélis, S. English, S. Kern, S. Lee, A. R. Macfarlane, J. Meloche, G. Picard, C. Prigent, J. Rückert, G. Spreen, R. Tonboe, C. Vuyovich, & F. Weng (2025). Snow and Sea Ice Reference-Quality Emission and Backscatter Modeling. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 106, E1972–E1980. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-25-0148.1 [Article (PDF-File)]
Spreen, G., P. Itkin, & S. Kern (2025). Chapter 5: Methods of satellite remote sensing of sea ice. In D. N. Thomas (Ed.), Sea Ice: Its Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology and Societal Importance (4th Edition, pp. 177–214). John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Print ISBN:9781394213733, Online ISBN:9781394213764, doi:10.1002/9781394213764
Lemke, P., H. Miller, & G. Spreen (2025). Die Kryosphäre. p.113–114, in Physik: Erkenntnisse und Perspektiven (editors: J. Ullrich, U. Bleyer, S. Köster, C. Lämmerzahl, D. Meschede, L. Schröter), Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft e.V. (DPG), Bad Honnef, Germany. https://physik-erkenntnisse-perspektiven.de
Haas, C., M. Rex, G. Spreen, & M. Wendisch (2025). Die arktische Verstärkung. p.127–128, in Physik: Erkenntnisse und Perspektiven (editors: J. Ullrich, U. Bleyer, S. Köster, C. Lämmerzahl, D. Meschede, L. Schröter), Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft e.V. (DPG), Bad Honnef, Germany. https://physik-erkenntnisse-perspektiven.de
Haas, C., M. Rex, G. Spreen, & M. Wendisch (2025). Ein Jahr im arktischen Eis. p.129–130, in Physik: Erkenntnisse und Perspektiven (editors: J. Ullrich, U. Bleyer, S. Köster, C. Lämmerzahl, D. Meschede, L. Schröter), Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft e.V. (DPG), Bad Honnef, Germany. https://physik-erkenntnisse-perspektiven.de
Reil, M., G. Spreen, M. Huntemann, L. Buth, & D. Wilson (2024). Machine Learning for the Detection of Arctic Melt Ponds from Infrared Imagery. Workshop paper at ”Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning”, International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR) 2024, Vienna, Austria and virtual. https://www.climatechange.ai/papers/iclr2024/56 [Article (PDF-File)]
Istomina, L., H. Niehaus, G. Heygster, & G. Spreen (2023). Analysis of the Antarctic Sea Ice Optical Properties Using High Resolution Satellite Imagery. Proceedings of "IGARSS 2023 - 2023 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium", Pasadena, CA, USA, 2023, pp. 79-82. doi:10.1109/IGARSS52108.2023.10283195
Istomina, L., G. Heygster, H. Enomoto, S. Ushio, T. Tamura, G. Spreen, & C. Haas (2023). Surface Melt Induced Inaccuracies in the Antarctic Sea Ice Concentration Inferred from Optical and Passive Microwave Remote Sensing Data. Proceedings of "IGARSS 2023 - 2023 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium", Pasadena, CA, USA, 2023, pp. 67-70. doi:10.1109/IGARSS52108.2023.10282889
Zhang, Y., T. Zhu, G. Spreen, C. Melsheimer, M. Huntemann, N. Hughes, S. Zhang, & F. Li (2021). Sea ice and water classification on dual-polarized Sentinel-1 imagery during melting season, The Cryosphere Discuss.. doi:10.5194/tc-2021-85
Melsheimer C., & G. Spreen (2020). Auf dünnem Eis: Arktisches Meereisminimum 2020 auf zweitniedrigstem Wert. Physikkonkret, Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, Bad Honnef, Germany, Issue 53, December 2020. [Article (PDF-File)]
Ye, Y., M. Shokr, S. Aaboe, W. Aldenhoff, L. E. B. Eriksson, G. Heygster, C. Melsheimer, & F. Girard-Ardhuin (2019). Inter-comparison and evaluation of sea ice type concentration algorithms. The Cryosphere Discuss.. doi:10.5194/tc-2019-200
Murashkin, D., & G. Spreen (2019). Sea Ice Leads Detected From Sentinel-1 SAR Images. Proceedings of "IGARSS 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium", IEEE, Yokohama, Japan, 2019. doi:10.1109/igarss.2019.8898043
Triana Gómez, A., G. Heygster, C. Melsheimer, & G. Spreen (2018). Towards a Merged Total Water Vapour Retrieval from AMSU-B and AMSR-E Data in the Arctic Region. Proceedings of "IGARSS 2018 - 2018 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium," IEEE, Valencia, Spain, 2018, 1818–1821. doi:10.1109/igarss.2018.8517863
Zege, E., A. Malinka, I. Katsev, A. Prikhach, L. Istomina, G. Heygster, & G. Spreen (2018). Reflective properties of summer Arctic sea ice in visible and near infrared. Fundamentalnaya i Prikladnaya Gidrofizika (Fundamental and Applied Hydrophysics), 2018, 11(3). doi:10.7868/S2073667318030024
Barber D.G., W.N. Meier, S. Gerland, C.J. Mundy, M. Holland, S. Kern, Z. Li, C. Michel, D.K. Perovich, T. Tamura, J. Berge, J. Bowman, J.S. Christiansen, J.K. Ehn, S. Ferguson, M.A. Granskog, T. Kikuchi, H. Kuosa, B. Light, N. Lundholm, I.A. Melnikov, C. Polashenski, L.H. Smedsrud, G. Spreen, M. Tschudi, T. Vihma, M. Webster, L. Zhang (2017). Arctic sea ice. In: Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA) 2017. pp 103–136, ISBN 978-82-7971-101-8. Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), Oslo, Norway. [Report (PDF file)
Johansson, A.M., C. Brekke, G. Spreen, J.A. King, and S. Gerland (2016). "Newly Formed Sea Ice in Arctic Leads Monitored by C- and L-Band SAR, Proceedings of the "ESA Living Planet Symposium 2016", Prague, Czech Republic, 9-13 May 2016, ESA Special Publication SP-740, August 2016. [Article (PDF-File)]
de Steur, L., P.A. Dodd, S. Gerland, G. Spreen, M. Granskog, A. Fransson, and M. Chierici (2016). "Highlights from the Fram Strait Arctic Outflow Observatory", FRAM Forum 2016, Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway, p. 60-63, www.framsenteret.no. [Article (Website, external link)]
Heygster, G., M. Huntemann, N. Ivanova, R. Saldo, & L.T. Pedersen (2014). Response of passive microwave sea ice concentration algorithms to thin ice, "2014 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium", Quebec City, QC, Canada, pp. 3618–3621. https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS.2014.6947266 [Article (PDF-File)]
Ph.D. Theses
Alexander Mchedlishvili (2024): Understanding polar atmosphere-ocean-sea ice momentum transfer using remote sensing and modeling techniques. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bremen, Germany. https://doi.org/10.26092/elib/3088 [Thesis (PDF file)]
Hannah Niehaus (2024): Melt Ponds on Arctic Summer Sea Ice from Optical Satellite Data. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bremen, Germany. doi:10.26092/elib/3078 [Thesis (PDF file)]
Janna Elisabeth Rückert (2024): Unraveling atmosphere and sea ice in the Arctic : advancements in a multi-parameter retrieval using satellite microwave radiometer data. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bremen, Germany. doi:10.26092/elib/2966 [Thesis (PDF file)]
Karl Kortum (2024): Arctic Sea ice Property Retrieval from Synthetic Aperture Radar with Deep Learning Models. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bremen (affiliated) and DLR, Germany. doi:10.26092/elib/2885 [Thesis (PDF file)]
Linda Thielke (2023): Winter sea ice characteristics in the central Arctic from thermal infrared imaging. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bremen, Germany. doi:10.26092/elib/2305 [Thesis (PDF file)]
Christine Pohl (2021): A study of Arctic sea-ice surface albedo and its uncertainty: impact of varying insolation and instrument characteristics. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bremen, Germany. doi:10.26092/elib/1290 [Thesis (PDF file)]
Valentin Ludwig (2020): A 1 km sea-ice concentration dataset from merged thermal infrared and microwave radiometer satellite observations: more than the sum of its parts. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bremen, Germany. doi:10.26092/elib/423 [Thesis (PDF file)]
Junshen Lu (2020): Reducing Weather Influences on Sea Ice Concentration Retrieval using Spaceborne 89 GHz Passive Microwave Observations. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bremen, Germany. doi:10.26092/elib/389 [Thesis (PDF file)]
Philip Rostosky (2020): Snow Depth on Arctic Sea Ice from Microwave Radiometers. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bremen, Germany. doi:10.26092/elib/223 [Thesis (PDF file)]
Kamrujjaman Md (2021). Using Satellite Microwave Scatterometer Observations For Sea Ice Type and Snowmelt Detection. Master's thesis, University of Bremen.
Arndt, S., C. Haas, A. Birkedal, A. Batzke, G. Spreen, W. Rack, T. Kagel, R. Ricker (2026). Sea Ice Geophysics and Remote Sensing. In The Expedition PS153 of the Research Vessel POLARSTERN to the Weddell Sea in 2026, Haas, C. and Peeken, I., Reports on polar and marine research, Bremerhaven, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, 812, 334 p. https://doi.org/10.57738/BzPM_0812_2026
Krumpen, T., M. Nicolaus, T. Blei, S. Byron, E. Cimoli, D. Clemens-Sewall, R. Dadic, D. Divine, C. Elmaleh, N. Greenwood, M. Haugeneder, M. Jaggi, M. Ringel, E. Salganik, M. Schiller, G. Spreen, K.D. Takahashi, R. Tao, M. Webster, L. Zhang, F. Zimmer, G. Birnbaum, M. Lehning, J. Haapala, B. Light, D. Perovich, R. Pirazzini (2026). Sea Ice Physics. In The Expedition PS149 of the Research Vessel POLARSTERN to the Arctic Ocean in 2025, Nicolaus, M., Reports on polar and marine research, Bremerhaven, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, 808, 382 p. https://doi.org/10.57738/BzPM_0808_2026
Neckel, N., J. Rückert, T. Kordes, N. Risse, J. Bahlmann, L. Bühler, J. Kolar, M. Mech, S. Trace-Kleeberg, T. Krumpen, K. Ebell, S. Schnitt, C. Eis, G. Spreen, M. Nicolaus (2025). Sea-ice and Atmospheric Physics. In The Expedition PS144 of the Research Vessel POLARSTERN to the Arctic Ocean in 2024, Rabe, B. and Geibert, W., Reports on polar and marine research, Bremerhaven, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, 794 , 312 p. https//doi.org/10.57738/BzPM_0794_2025
Haas, C., G. Spreen, M. Neudert, L. Buth, H. Niehaus, V. Lion, M. Hoppmann, G. Birnbaum, N. Oppelt, J. Rohde (2023). Sea Ice Geophysics and Remote Sensing. In The Expedition PS131 of the Research Vessel Polarstern to the Fram Strait in 2022, Kanzow. T., Reports on polar and marine research, Bremerhaven, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, 770, 320 p. doi:10.57738/BzPM_0770_2023
Rückert, J., A. Walbröl, G. Spreen, K. Ebell, M. Mech (2023). Water Vapor, Cloud Liquid Water and Surface Emissivity. In The Expedition PS131 of the Research Vessel Polarstern to the Fram Strait in 2022, Kanzow. T., Reports on polar and marine research, Bremerhaven, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, 770, 320 p. doi:10.57738/BzPM_0770_2023
Demir, O., J. Haapala, M. Hoppmann, S. Hendricks, N. Kolabutin, N. Kurz, R. Lei, I. Matero, M. Nicolaus, M. Oggier, I. Raphael, J. Regnery, M. Schiller, E. Shimanschuk, G. Spreen, D. Wagner, D. Perovich (2023). Sea Ice and Snow Measurements. In The Expedition PS122/1 of the Research Vessel POLARSTERN to the Arctic Ocean in 2019, Rex, M. and Nicolaus, M., Reports on polar and marine research, Bremerhaven, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung. https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.8346761b-a10c-47c2-84cf-da26c6c3c5e2
Itkin, P., D. Divine, M. Huntemann, M. Jaggi, A. Jutila, C. Katlein, D. Krampe, V. Nandan, I. Raphael, M. Schnebeeli, I. Sheikin, E. Shimanschuk, J. Stroeve, R.T. Tonboe, M. Nicolaus, D. Perovich, G. Spreen (2023). Sea Ice and Snow Measurements. In The Expedition PS122/2 of the Research Vessel POLARSTERN to the Arctic Ocean in 2019/2020, Haas, C. and Rabe, B., Reports on polar and marine research, Bremerhaven, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung. https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.a9b9fb18-60bc-4550-ba71-10399aa90524
Arndt, S., P. Anhaus, D. Clemens-Sewall, S. Fons, J. Hutchings, L. Kaleschke, A. Macfarlane, R. Naderpour, A. Niubom, F. Pätzold, R. Ricker, I. Sheikin, M. Nicolaus, D. Perovich, G. Spreen (2023). Sea Ice and Snow Measurements. In The Expedition PS122/3 of the Research Vessel POLARSTERN to the Arctic Ocean in 2020, Kanzow, T. and Damm, E., Reports on polar and marine research, Bremerhaven, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung. https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.58b0f57c-f075-4b24-8b76-07d3f0eec87d
Webster, M., B. Lange, G. Birnbaum, F. Linhardt, A. Macfarlane, M. Mahmud, I. Matero, I. Raphael, J. Regnery, A. Tavri, L. von Albedyll, E. Salganik, I. Sheikin, M. Smith, M. Nicolaus, D. Perovich, G. Spreen (2023). Sea Ice and Snow Measurements. In The Expedition PS122/4 of the Research Vessel POLARSTERN to the Arctic Ocean in 2020, Rex, M. and Shupe, M., Reports on polar and marine research, Bremerhaven, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung. https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.7a2946a4-3ba9-4b91-b6f2-d6407f4e09cb
Birnbaum, G., R. Dadic, H.-R. Hannula, N. Kolabutin, F. Linhardt, M. Nicolaus, R. Pirazzini, J. Regnery, J. Rohde, E. Shimanchuk, G. Spreen, L. Thielke, M. Webster, D. Perovich (2023). Sea Ice and Snow Measurements. In The Expedition PS122/5 of the Research Vessel POLARSTERN to the Arctic Ocean in 2020, Rex, M. and Metfies, K., Reports on polar and marine research, Bremerhaven, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung. https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.b8dc460b-5ccb-4880-ac7f-75bb98b937ce
Institute of Environmental Physics (2021). IUP Bremen Research Highlights 2019/2020. With contributions by G. Heygster, M. Huntemann, C. Melsheimer, C. Patilea, R. Scarlat, G. Spreen, L. Thielke, & A. M. Triana-Gómez, Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, January 2021, 87 pages. [Report (PDF file, 9.9 MB)]
Institute of Environmental Physics (2019). IUP Bremen Research Highlights 2017/2018. With contributions by G. Heygster, M. Huntemann, J. Lu, C. Melsheimer, D. Murashkin, C. Patilea, P. Rostosky, & G. Spreen, Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, January 2019, 69 pages. [Report (PDF file, 7.5 MB)]
Institute of Environmental Physics (2017). IUP Bremen Research Highlights 2015/2016. With contributions by G. Heygster, L. Istomina, G. Spreen, & Y. Ye, Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, January 2017, 64 pages. [Report (PDF file, 6.8 MB)]
Spreen, G. (2016), "Meereisforschung am Institut für Umweltphysik" in Umwelterklärung 2016 der Universität Bremen, Dr. Martin Mehrtens (Hrsg.), p. 32–33, August 2016. [German (PDF-File), English (PDF-File)]
Milke, A., & G. Heygster (2009). Trend der Meereisausdehnung von 1972-2009. Technical Report, Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, August 2009, 41 pages. [Report (PDF file, 2.5 MB)]
