Hopen Meteorological Station
Hopen Meteorological Station operated by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute
Location
The station is located on the eastern shore of the island of Hopen, which is part of the Svalbard archipelago and is around 200km east of Spitsbergen.
History
Hopen has a history as a base for walrus hunting. The first meteorological station was established during the 2nd world war. It was established as a permanent meteorological station in 1947 and has been operated continuously by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute since then. It has a crew of 4 people which changes every 6 months. The crew is responsible for the day to day operations and weather observations. In addition to the main station building which houses the crew there is a guest cabin, workshops, a boat house, a helipad and modern communications equipment.
Research
The main focus is on weather observations which are collected every three hours. During the winter daily sea ice observations are made as well as weekly sea ice thickness measurements. Wildlife observations are recorded and reported to the Governor of Svalbard. Various additional instrumentation is hosted on behalf of other institutions, including: northern lights observatory, seismic monitoring, GPS receivers and AIS. Hopen also serves as a support facility for search and rescue operations and fuel depot. All weather data is freely available via the Norwegian Meteorological Institute's eKlima service.
Biodiversity
High Arctic rocky island with tundra vegetation, bird colonies, arctic fox and marine mammals.
Human Presence
The station is isolated and there is no human population on the island other than the station crew. The nearest human settlement, Longyearbyen, is 300km away.
Climate
Access
Hopen is accessible by boat and helicopter. Travel around the island is possible on foot and by boat.
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