Researchers from the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) will take part in the MOSAiC international project that includes the year-round operation of Polarstern, a research vessel that is drifting with the sea ice across the central Arctic, TASS reports, citing Alexander Makarov, deputy director of AARI for research and development.

"Our institute will definitely take part in the project. In 2018, RV Polarstern will prepare for the drift, which will continue in 2019 and 2020," Makarov said.

Under the program called the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC), RV Polarstern and the surrounding network will drift with the natural ice drift across the polar cap towards the Atlantic. Research facilities addressing key aspects of the coupled Arctic climate system will be set up on board of RV Polarstern and on the sea ice next to it.

RV Polarstern is Germany's largest research vessel and the flagship of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, in Bremerhaven, Germany.