Overview

The relation of these data to data in previously published data sets, if any, is given in this overview section. See the documentation section for each platform type for technical documentation. The Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), St. Petersburg, provided all data except the western drifting station data.

Russian Drifting Station Data:  Data from the "North Pole," or NP, series of 31 drifting stations, plus three subsidiary stations, include three or six hourly observations of two-meter air temperature, sea level pressure, total and low cloud, surface temperature, and wind velocity. Each station drifted for about two years, and generally at least two stations were operational at any one time. NSIDC, University of Washington, and AARI published these data (with the exception of the subsidiary station data) jointly in 1996. The new version of the data on this Atlas corrects errors in positions and observation times, and adds to the length of the data record in many cases. Older versions of these data are in COADS: NP01 and some other early station data are in Deck 186 (USSR Ice Station Sfc. Synoptic) and in Global Telecommunications System (GTS) -based data sets, and all 31 stations are in Deck 733 (Russian AARI NP Stations). (A description of COADS can be found in the documentation section for gridded cloud fields). In addition to synoptic data, files of monthly mean data are included. Figure 7 shows "North Pole" drifting station tracks.

The article, "North Pole Drifting Stations," by Romanov, Konstantinov, and Kornilov, is a comprehensive history of the NP program. It can be found under "Expeditions in the Russian Arctic," in "A Look Back" (the history section of the Atlas). "Historical Photos," also in "A Look Back," illustrate life on a NP station.

Western Drifting Station Data:  Historical drifting station synoptic observations from ice islands, sea ice floes or from ships drifting in the ice were digitized at NCDC. Data from the Fram were obtained from the German Weather Service. Figure 7 shows drifting station tracks. With the exception of some data from T-3 and Fram that are in COADS, these data have not been readily available in the past.

DARMS Data:  AARI has prepared wind, pressure and temperature data from the Russian DARMS (Drifting Automatic Radiometeorological Stations) program for 1958 through 1975. In this period a total of 164 stations reported, with an average of nine deployed in any one year. Once-daily values are provided. The position data (Figure 7) are part of the International Arctic Buoy Program (http://iabp.apl.washington.edu/) data set, but the meteorological data have not been published in digital form prior to this Atlas.

Ice Patrol Ship Data:  As part of Northern Sea Route (sometimes referred to as the Northeast Passage) patrols, 14 Russian ships made observations on 58 cruises between 1952 and 1970 (cruise tracks are shown in Figure 7). These cruises were from three to five months in duration. Measurements were taken four times a day of air temperature, pressure, relative humidity, sea surface temperature, wind velocity, and total cloud amount. These measurements have been prepared at AARI for the Atlas.

Figure 7.

Fig. 7. Russian "North Pole" drifting station tracks, (upper left), Western drifting station tracks (upper right), DARMS drift tracks, 1958 through 1975 (lower left), Ice Patrol ship cruise tracks, 1952 through 1970 (lower right).