Nexus Observatory Sign in

StoriesPlace: Arctic

Instruments at the edge of the cryosphere

The Arctic has warmed about three to four times faster than the global average, depending on the period and the dataset12. The instruments that showed it are few, far apart and hard to keep running.

Systems
Baseline observatories, Polar-orbit satellites, Off-grid stations
Toward 2030
Polar coverage from low Earth orbit
Figures
4, data story, map story, simulator, field scene

Go to the references

01Data story

Faster than the globe.

The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme found Arctic surface air temperature rose three times as fast as the global mean between 1971 and 20191. A later study using several datasets found close to four times as fast since 19792. The ratio depends on the period; the direction does not.

Figure as text: Arctic warming relative to the global mean

A bar chart: the global rate as one, the 1971 to 2019 Arctic rate as three times, and the 1979 to 2021 Arctic rate as nearly four times.

Arctic warming relative to the global mean (×)
AssessmentMultiple of the global rate
Global mean11
Arctic, 1971–201931
Arctic, 1979–20213.82

02Map story

Where the long records come from.

A handful of baseline observatories carry the longest Arctic records of greenhouse gases and aerosols, among them Alert in Nunavut and Utqiaġvik in Alaska, listed in the Global Atmosphere Watch station register3. Cambridge Bay hosts Canada’s High Arctic research campus4. Polar-orbiting radar satellites see the sea ice through the polar night5.

Figure as text: Selected Arctic observing sites and a polar orbit

A wireframe globe viewed over the Arctic with four labelled observing sites and a polar orbit with its ground track.

  • Alert (82.5° N, 62.5° W): Global Atmosphere Watch station
  • Utqiaġvik (71.3° N, 156.6° W): Global Atmosphere Watch station
  • Cambridge Bay (69.1° N, 105.1° W): High Arctic research campus
  • Ny-Ålesund (78.9° N, 11.9° E): Global Atmosphere Watch station

03Simulator

Seeing the pole from orbit.

A satellite in a near-polar orbit passes over high latitudes on every revolution, so Arctic sites are revisited more often than equatorial ones. Its footprint above a given elevation mask follows from geometry alone6. Lower the orbit and the delay shrinks, but so does the circle it can serve.

Figure as text: Footprint and delay of a low polar orbit

A section through the Earth with a satellite above it and its footprint arc in red.

Footprint and delay of a low polar orbit, at the starting values
Altitude600 km
Elevation mask10 °
Footprint radius1,760.9 km
Slant range at the mask1,931.6 km
One-way delay, nadir2.00 ms
Bent-pipe delay, user to gateway12.9 ms
Orbital period97 min

04Field scene

What it takes to keep one running.

A station on the tundra is a microgrid, a satellite terminal, a weather mast and a geodetic receiver, each specified for −40 °C and months of darkness. The design is mundane and decisive: the record is only as long as the station’s worst winter.

Figure as text: An Arctic station and its links

A wireframe Arctic station with a microgrid, satellite terminal, weather station, GNSS monument and edge node.

  • Satellite terminal
  • Weather
  • Microgrid

Arctic warming as a multiple of global warming

×

0

1.25

2.5

3.75

5

Global mean

1

Arctic, 1971–2019

3

Arctic, 1979–2021

3.8

Figure 1

Data story

Figure 1. Arctic warming relative to the global mean. A bar chart: the global rate as one, the 1971 to 2019 Arctic rate as three times, and the 1979 to 2021 Arctic rate as nearly four times.

References

  1. Arctic Climate Change Update 2021: Key Trends and Impacts. Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, 2021.
  2. The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the globe since 1979. Rantanen, M. et al., Communications Earth & Environment 3:168, 2022.
  3. GAW Station Information System (GAWSIS). World Meteorological Organization, Global Atmosphere Watch, 2024.
  4. Canadian High Arctic Research Station campus, Cambridge Bay. Polar Knowledge Canada, 2024.
  5. RADARSAT Constellation Mission. Canadian Space Agency, 2019.
  6. Fundamentals of Astrodynamics and Applications, 4th edition. Vallado, D. A., Microcosm Press, 2013.

Related stories

Place: Remote northern community Observation the community governsIn a remote northern community, an observing station is also a question of who owns the data, who decides how it is used and who benefits. Principles for…Place: Orbit Orbits as infrastructureLow orbits are fast and crowded, high orbits slow and spacious. Every choice of altitude is a trade between delay, footprint and how long the satellite…Place: Ocean The ocean below the surfaceMost of the ocean’s heat lies below what satellites can see. Profiling floats drifting at depth and surfacing to report have measured it routinely since the…

Where this applies

Sensors & instrumentsSpace and satellite systemsEarth observation & GeoAIField servicesClimateResearchCommunitiesField tour: arctic station