About the North Pole Environment
April
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Sun is on the European side of the globe (shadows cast to the left) in this first image received
from the North Pole web cam on 4/28/02 10:28 UTC. Snow conditions
are typical for cold temperature of 6 F. In the foreground we
see 40-50 cm of snow on top of the ice floe which is approximately
2.5 meters thick. From the anemometer,
you can see the wind is blowing from Europe. |
Sun
light is from the Pacific Ocean side of the globe (shadows cast
to the right) in this image from 4/29/02, 17:25 UTC.
Jumbled ice on horizon is the pressure ridge at the edge of
the floe. From looking at the anemometer, you can see the wind
has shifted from the first image and is blowing towards Europe. |
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May
- June
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"Sea smoke" The
haze on the horizon is clouds, also called "sea smoke".
"Sea smoke" is moisture which has evaporated from small regions
of open water. Sun is a little lower in the sky and the rosy
colors are typical of twilight at the North Pole. The white
spot in the left is the sun. Image from 5/1/02, 00:24 UTC. |
Spring conditions can be
cloudy at the North Pole. Clouds are produced when
the North Pole experiences Spring warming and the beginning
of Summer melting. Water is evaporated from the melting snow
surface, forming the fog and low clouds that are seen in Spring/Summer
pictures from the North Pole, such as the one on the right
from June 2002. In the left image, from 5/1/02 19:06 UTC,
the surface is covered by fog and low clouds. Radiation energy
is trapped near the surface and thus the temperatures have
increased to a very warm 27 F.
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5/3/02, 20:34 UTC
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6/6/02, 16:01 UTC
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Bright sunshine
with warm temperatures of 15 F on 5/3/02 . Sun light
from the Pacific Ocean side of the globe. The variations of
snow depth can be seen in the image. Spring
melting can be seen by comparing the snow in the right
photograph from 6/6/02 with the left image from 5/03/02, just
a month earlier. |
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Web Cam #1
5/13/03 06:26 UTC |
Web Cam #1
7/8/03 17:48 UTC |
Web Cam #2
6/8/03 5:37 UTC |
What are the rose colors seen in
some photographs? The pink lighting is due to the scattering
out of other wavelengths of the sunlight by tiny ice particles in
the atmosphere. These ice particles, also known as "diamond dust",
are present in the Arctic even during clear skies, but are uncommon
in the less pristine air at lower latitudes except during arctic-air
outbreaks. The rose colors have been recorded by both Web Cams on
occasion in 2003
and 2004,
but were not seen in any of the web cam photographs from 2002.
Years ago, only the early explorers saw the conditions we all see
today with the North Pole web cam.
Similar rose colors were recorded
in artwork from the 1890's by Arctic scientist and explorer,
Fridtjof
Nansen. Here are links to some of Nansen's artworks: Kara
Sea, Sunset
off the North coast of Asia, Off
the Edge of the Ice-Gathering Storm, The
Waning Polar Day, 22nd september1893, Evening
among the Drift-ice, 22ns september 1893, At
Sunset, 22nd september1893. The Nansen pictures are "from
the expedition with arctic ship toward the North Pole in the period
June 24, 1893 to August 13, 1896, and are provided on the web by
Nasjonalbiblioteket (The National Library
of Norway).
July - August
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Web Cam #1
7/8/03 17:48 UTC |
Web Cam #2
7/4/03 22:07 UTC |
Web Cam #2
7/9/03 06:22 UTC |
Why are there pools of water at
the North Pole in summertime? The water is meltwater from
the snow melting in Summer temperatures that are above freezing.
The pools of water are called melt ponds, and are observed at both
web cam locations. On the Web Cam 2 photographs, notice that the
leg of the stand appears to have grown thicker between July 4 and
July 9, 2003. The new "thickness" is the battery canister,
which contains lithium batteries, which are light. The hole that
was drilled for the canister is probably flooded by the meltwater,
and the canister is floating up. This is good, since it means that
the water won't get into the canister or the electrical connector
on the lid. However, we hope that the canister won't float much
higher and fall over.
Late
August - September
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Web Cam #1
9/4/03 13:03 UTC |
Web Cam #2
9/4/03 03:30 UTC |
Autumn signals the approach
of winter
cold and darkness. In these pictures, the melt ponds
have frozen, and a recent snow blizzard has covered them with
wind-blown snow. |
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8/30/02 01:43 UTC |
9/9/02 09:32 UTC |
9/25/04 21:47 UTC |
The sun is low in the sky as Winter
cold and darkness falls over the North Pole. Snow falls,
and blowing snow or ice covers the camera lens. There may still
be a bit of possible sunlight left in the season, and the melting
from that sunlight, or sublimination by dry winds, may serve to
remove the snow from the camera lens, but with the onset of winter,
the camera will eventually remain snow covered. The North Pole is
in winter darkness from October
until March, and the North Pole web cam is re-deployed in April.
More about the North Pole Web Cams, images and environment
More Information :
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