Eismitte, also called Mid-Ice in English, was a meteorological station established, in the middle of the Greenland Ice Sheet, by the 1930-31 German Greenland Expedition. The venture took place from July 1930 until August 1931, and established three Arctic stations on the same parallel. The expedition leader, German scientist Alfred Wegener, died during a trip back from Eismitte, in early November 1930. The station was abandoned on 1 August 1931. [1]
The name "Eismitte" means Ice-Middle in German, and the campsite was located 402 kilometers (250 mi) from the coast at an estimated altitude of 3,010 metres (9,880 ft). The coldest temperature recorded at the site was −64.8 °C (−84.6 °F) on 20 March 1931, while the warmest temperature noted was −1.8 °C (28.8 °F) on 9 July 1931. [2] For the 12-month period beginning 1 August 1930 and ending 5 August 1931, the warmest month, July, had a mean monthly temperature of −12.3 °C (9.9 °F). while the coldest month, February, averaged −47.2 °C (−53.0 °F). Over the same period a total of 110 millimetres (4.3 in) of water-equivalent precipitation was recorded, with most of it being received in Winter. At the latitude of the camp, the sun does not set between 13 May and 30 July each year, and does not rise between 23 November and 20 January.
Ernst Sorge was a member of Alfred Wegener's expedition. Together with Johannes Georgi he stayed in Eismitte from July 1930 to August 1931. Fritz Loewe stayed from October 1930 to May 1931. Sorge hand-dug a 15 m deep pit adjacent to his subterranean snow cave, which served as living quarters during the seven-month-long overwintering. Sorge systematically and quantitatively studied the near-surface snow/firn strata from inside his pit. After examination of the structural features and measurement of continuous density and other physical properties within the pit profile, he determined the characteristics of the individual limits of annual snow accumulation. This research validated the feasibility of measuring the preserved annual snow accumulation cycles, like measuring frozen precipitation in a rain gauge. [3]
Eismitte is one of the coldest locations in the Northern Hemisphere, with an annual mean temperature of −30.0 °C (−22 °F) having been recorded during the period of the expedition that established it. Eismitte has a polar ice cap climate. The weather station was run for approximately one year; the weather record thus is very sparse. The Summit Camp station slightly to the north has a similar climate with a much longer period of record.
| Climate data for Eismitte Station (1 August 1930 to 6 August 1931) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | −15 (5) | −22 (−8) | −15 (5) | −12 (10) | −8 (18) | −5 (23) | −2 (28) | −5 (23) | −8 (18) | −13 (9) | −18 (0) | −19 (−2) | −2 (28) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −36 (−33) | −41 (−42) | −33 (−27) | −25 (−13) | −14 (7) | −10 (14) | −7 (19) | −11 (12) | −15 (5) | −30 (−22) | −36 (−33) | −33 (−27) | −24 (−12) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −41 (−42) | −47 (−53) | −39 (−38) | −31 (−24) | −20 (−4) | −16 (3) | −12 (10) | −18 (0) | −21 (−6) | −35 (−31) | −42 (−44) | −38 (−36) | −30 (−22) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −47 (−53) | −53 (−63) | −46 (−51) | −38 (−36) | −27 (−17) | −22 (−8) | −17 (1) | −25 (−13) | −28 (−18) | −41 (−42) | −49 (−56) | −43 (−45) | −36 (−33) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −64 (−83) | −64 (−83) | −65 (−85) | −58 (−72) | −45 (−49) | −30 (−22) | −28 (−18) | −35 (−31) | −38 (−36) | −56 (−69) | −58 (−72) | −56 (−69) | −65 (−85) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 10 (0.4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 10 (0.4) | 0 (0) | 10 (0.4) | 10 (0.4) | 20 (0.8) | 60 (2.4) |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 80 | 77 | 79 | 82 | 84 | 81 | 86 | 84 | 84 | 81 | 79 | 78 | 81 |
| Source: [4] | |||||||||||||
The polar climate regions are characterized by a lack of warm summers but with varying winters. Every month a polar climate has an average temperature of less than 10 °C (50 °F). Regions with a polar climate cover more than 20% of the Earth's area. Most of these regions are far from the equator and near the poles, and in this case, winter days are extremely short and summer days are extremely long. A polar climate consists of cool summers and very cold winters, which results in treeless tundra, glaciers, or a permanent or semi-permanent layer of ice. It is identified with the letter E in the Köppen climate classification.
An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet or a high mountain glacier. Since the ice forms from the incremental buildup of annual layers of snow, lower layers are older than upper ones, and an ice core contains ice formed over a range of years. Cores are drilled with hand augers or powered drills; they can reach depths of over two miles (3.2 km), and contain ice up to 800,000 years old.
Oymyakon is a rural locality in Oymyakonsky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located in the Yana-Oymyakon Highlands, along the Indigirka River, 30 km (19 mi) northwest of Tomtor on the Kolyma Highway. Oymyakon is the coldest permanently inhabited human settlement on Earth, with an average winter temperature of around −50 °C (−58 °F).
Alfred Lothar Wegener was a German climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and polar researcher.
North Ice was a research station of the British North Greenland Expedition on the inland ice of Greenland. The coordinates of the station were 78°04′N38°29′W, at an altitude of 2,341 metres (7,680 ft) above sea level. The British North Greenland Expedition had its main base camp in Britannia Lake, Queen Louise Land. It was led by Commander James Simpson RN. The station recorded a temperature of −66.1 °C (−87.0 °F) on 9 January 1954, which made it the lowest temperature ever recorded in North America up until that time. It was superseded by an observation of −69.6 °C (−93.3 °F) at the Greenland Ice Sheet on 22 December 1991. The name of the station contrasts to the former British South Ice station in Antarctica.
Belgrano II Base is a permanent, all year-round Argentine Antarctic base and scientific research station named after General Manuel Belgrano, one of the Libertadores and the creator of the Argentine Flag. It is located on Bertrab Nunatak on the Confín Coast, Coats Land.
The 1936 North American cold wave ranks among the most intense cold waves in the recorded history of North America. The Midwestern United States and the Canadian Prairies were hit the hardest. Only the Southwestern United States and California largely escaped its effects. The cold wave was related to a highly negative North Atlantic Oscillation event during that winter driving cold Arctic air into most of North America.
The climate of the Arctic is characterized by long, cold winters and short, cool summers. There is a large amount of variability in climate across the Arctic, but all regions experience extremes of solar radiation in both summer and winter. Some parts of the Arctic are covered by ice year-round, and nearly all parts of the Arctic experience long periods with some form of ice on the surface.
The Schirmacher Oasis is a 25 km (16 mi) long and up to 3 km (1.9 mi) wide ice-free plateau with more than 100 freshwater lakes. It is situated in the Schirmacher Hills on the Princess Astrid Coast in Queen Maud Land in East Antarctica and is, on average, 100 m (330 ft) above sea level. With an area of 34 km2 (13 sq mi), the Schirmacher Oasis ranks among the smallest Antarctic oases and is a typical polar desert.
Greenland's climate is a tundra climate on and near the coasts and an ice cap climate in inland areas. It typically has short, cool summers and long, moderately cold winters.
Summit Camp, also known as Summit Station, is a year-round staffed research station near the apex of the Greenland ice sheet. The station is located at 3,216 metres (10,551 ft) above sea level.
Egypt essentially has a hot desert climate. The climate is generally extremely dry all over the country except on the northern Mediterranean coast which receives rainfall in winter. In addition to rarity of rain, extreme heat during summer months is also a general climate feature of Egypt although daytime temperatures are more moderated along the northern coast.
The British Arctic Air Route Expedition (BAARE) was a privately funded expedition to the east coast and interior of the island of Greenland from 1930 to 1931. Led by Gino Watkins, it aimed to improve maps and charts of poorly surveyed sections of Greenland's coastline, and to gather climate data from the coast and interior during the north polar winter. This venture was followed by the smaller 1932–1933 East Greenland expedition, led by Watkins until his death.
An ice cap climate is a polar climate where no mean monthly temperature exceeds 0 °C (32 °F). The climate generally covers areas at high altitudes and polar regions, such as Antarctica and some of the northernmost islands of Canada and Russia. Most of Greenland is under the influence of an ice cap climate, although the coasts are prone to more influence from the sea, providing more tundra climates. Some regions on the islands of Norway's Svalbard Archipelago facilitate an ice cap climate. Areas with ice cap climates are normally covered by a permanent layer of ice and have no vegetation. There is limited animal life in most ice cap climates, which are usually found near the oceanic margins. Although ice cap climates are inhospitable to human life and no civilian communities lie in such climates, there are some research stations scattered in Antarctica and interior Greenland.
The Trewartha climate classification (TCC) or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC) is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köppen–Geiger system, created to answer some of its deficiencies. The Trewartha system attempts to redefine the middle latitudes to be closer to vegetation zoning and genetic climate systems.
Hovgaard Island is a large uninhabited island of the Greenland Sea, Greenland. The island was named after Andreas Hovgaard, a polar explorer and officer of the Danish Navy who led an expedition to the Kara Sea on steamship Dijmphna in 1882–83.
Fritz Loewe was a German polar explorer, glaciologist, geophysicist and meteorologist.
The Danish Expedition to Queen Louise Land, also known as the Danish expedition to Queen Louise Land and straight through Greenland’s ice sheet, as well as Danish North Greenland Expedition, was an expedition to northeastern Greenland and across the Greenland ice sheet in 1912–1913. It was the first such venture that went across the broad central part of Greenland. The expedition was led by Johan Peter Koch (1870–1928). Its purpose was to study the vast ice sheet, making glaciological and meteorological observations. Instead of sled dogs, sixteen Icelandic ponies were chosen for transporting 20 tons of materials, including 6 t of compressed hay to feed the ponies.
The German Greenland Expedition, also known as the Wegener Expedition, was an expedition to Greenland in 1930–1931. It was led by German scientist Alfred Wegener (1880–1930), who had previously taken part in two other ventures to Greenland. His purpose was to make a systematic study of the Greenland ice sheet.
Abandoned sites in Greenland | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|  | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Polar exploration | ||||||||||||||
| Paleo-Eskimo | ||||||||||||||