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The North, observed through the polar night.

Northern communities, roads, airstrips and pipelines stand on thawing permafrost, travel on seasonal ice and live with weather few stations record. Civil authorities need stations that survive deep cold and polar night, report by satellite and measure what the North changes: ground temperature, heave, ice and weather.

Industry

Civil resilience

Measurements

4

Sources cited

4

1. Civil resilience · Northern and Arctic observing

   A changing ground

   Northern roads, runways, pipelines and homes stand on permafrost that is thawing, people travel on seasonal ice, and the weather is recorded by few stations. Civil authorities need measurements that survive deep cold and the polar night and arrive without a terrestrial network.

2. What is measured

   Weather, ground and ice

   Cold-rated sensors measure air temperature, wind, snow and visibility. Thermistor strings in boreholes measure permafrost temperature and the depth of the thawed layer, GNSS receivers on structures measure heave and settlement, and sensors at crossings measure river and lake ice thickness through the season.

   Instruments

   Cold-rated weather sensors · Borehole thermistors · GNSS · Ice thickness

3. The base node

   Minimal power, full record

   The node runs the station on minimal power through the polar night, checks values against cold-region limits, computes the thawed layer depth from the thermistor strings and sends compact reports when power is short, keeping the full record for the summer visit.

4. Radio and links

   Satellite, twice

   Most northern stations have no terrestrial network. Broadband satellite carries their reports and remote diagnostics, and a narrowband direct-to-device terminal is a low-power second path through the polar night when every watt counts. Reports reach the authority and the WMO exchange.

   Links

   Broadband satellite · Narrowband satellite

5. How it works

   From ice thickness to a road decision

   In early winter the ice sensor at a river crossing reports thickness growing day by day. When it passes the operator’s threshold for light vehicles, the winter road opens to them; heavier loads wait for thicker ice. Communities see the same data on their own screens.

6. From order to operation · Order

   Scope the northern risks

   The scope reads the communities, roads, airstrips and pipelines the authority must protect, the permafrost and ice hazards, existing stations and the summer access windows. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns a station plan, power design for the polar night, satellite backhaul and a price per station and per year.

   Plan a deployment

7. From order to operation · Survey

   Survey in the short summer

   Crews visit candidate sites in the summer window with community members: ground and permafrost, exposure, snow drifting, ice crossings, access by air, boat or road and sky view for satellite. Findings are recorded with photographs and coordinates. Findings shape the kit for each site before anything is built.

8. From order to operation · Permits

   Land, communities and wildlife

   Land use is agreed with communities and land holders, drilling of boreholes is approved under northern land and water rules, and work is timed around wildlife and harvesting seasons. Community agreements set who holds the data, and every approval is kept with the station record.

9. From order to operation · Build

   Build for deep cold

   Kits are built from cold-rated parts, tested in a cold chamber through the temperatures of the site, and run on their polar night power for days. Thermistor strings are calibrated, nodes are enrolled with their identities, and kits are packed for air freight.

   Open the Station Builder

10. From order to operation · Install

    Drill, raise and wire

    Crews drill boreholes and install thermistor strings, raise guyed masts, mount weather, snow and GNSS sensors, set ice sensors at crossings, install the power system and satellite terminal, and photograph every part before the window closes. Crews follow the site safety plan throughout the work.

11. From order to operation · Commission

    Commission before freeze-up

    Each node proves its identity, readings are checked with a travelling reference, reports reach the authority by satellite, and the power system is tested through a simulated dark period. The station enters service before freeze-up. Acceptance is recorded with the owner before handover.

12. From order to operation · Operate

    Watch through the winter

    The authority sees every station through the winter: weather, permafrost, ground movement and ice. Winter roads open and close on ice thickness, airstrips receive local weather, and engineers see ground heave under structures as it develops. Every alert and action is kept on the record.

13. From order to operation · Maintain

    One summer visit a year

    Most maintenance happens in a single summer visit: sensors checked and swapped, fuel replenished, masts inspected and software updated. Remote updates and diagnostics carry the station through the rest of the year, and every change is kept with its record.

    Book field services

14. Data products

    For engineers, roads and pilots

    Engineers and planners receive permafrost and active layer records; winter road operators and communities receive ice thickness at crossings; pilots receive local weather at airstrips; asset owners receive ground heave under structures; weather services and researchers receive northern observations, each with station and time.

    See the data products

15. Evidence

    Cold-region practice

    Measurements follow the WMO guide for cold regions and the global observing manual, permafrost temperature and active layer are reported as essential climate variables under the global climate observing plan, and ice is observed under hydrological practice. Every value keeps its calibration and station record.

    Drawn against

    WMO-No. 8 · WMO-No. 1160 · GCOS-244 · WMO-No. 168

16. What you get

    National observing network programmes

    Build-operate-transfer of national observing infrastructure as digital public infrastructure, with transfer of skills and records. Delivered as build-operate-transfer and professional services, for governments, development lenders financing them. Scale: National. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard.

    Talk to sales

17. Next step

    Plan northern and Arctic observing with us

    Tell us the site, the measurements and the rules it answers to. We reply with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for northern and Arctic observing. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.

    Plan a deploymentOpen the Station BuilderOpen the Studio

01The place and its hazards

Where it runs, and what can go wrong.

Operating contextNorthern observing networks are sparse, and the cryosphere is changing fast. WMO guidance covers measurements in cold regions and the global cryosphere watch, permafrost temperature and active layer are essential climate variables in the global climate observing plan, and river and lake ice is observed under hydrological practice.

Hazards

• Thawing permafrost under roads, runways and buildings
• Unsafe ice on winter roads and crossings
• Blizzards and extreme cold with few observations
• Stations that die in the polar night when solar fails
• No terrestrial backhaul for hundreds of kilometres

02What must be measured

What, where, how often, and under which rules.

Each measurement names where it is taken, how often, and the public standard or regulation behind it. Numbers in the sources column open the cited source below.

03The observation stack

From one base unit to a network.

The same blocks at every scale: instruments and a base node, a site with its radio, a fleet run as one, and a network federated on the open protocol.

1. 01

   Base unit

   A station: cold-rated weather sensors, borehole thermistors, an ice or level sensor and a GNSS receiver on a sensor hub and node.

   Build a station →
2. 02

   Site

   A site: the station, a mast that holds in blizzards, power for the polar night and a satellite terminal.

   Plan a site →
3. 03

   Fleet

   Every northern station of an authority run as one fleet, with one console and one plan for the short summer visits.

   Managed offers →
4. 04

   Network

   Authorities, communities and research programmes share northern observations through WMO and open standards.

   The open protocol →

• 01Automatic weather station (WMO class)
• 02Water level gauge
• 03GNSS geodetic station
• 04Sensor and instrument gateway
• 05Micro node (Nano)
• 06LEO flat-panel terminal
• 073GPP NTN terminal
• 08Solar array
• 09Fuel cell
• 10Pole

Radio and links

Satellite

Most northern stations have no terrestrial network; broadband satellite carries their reports.

Radio and links

Satellite

Narrowband satellite through a direct-to-device terminal is a low-power second path through the polar night.

Edge computeThe node runs the station on minimal power through the polar night, checks values against cold-region limits, computes active layer depth from the thermistor strings and sends compact reports when power is short.

PowerSolar with batteries carries the light season; a fuel cell or a methanol supply carries the polar night, sized for the longest dark period at the site.

04How it works

From the instrument to the product.

One observation’s path, tier by tier, with the interface on every link and a bill of materials below; then how the one node grows to a site, a fleet and federated networks.

05From order to operation

Every step, from the first call to a running site.

The same crew and the same record carry the work from scope to maintenance.

1. 01 Order

   Scope the northern risks

   The scope reads the communities, roads, airstrips and pipelines the authority must protect, the permafrost and ice hazards, existing stations and the summer access windows. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns a station plan, power design for the polar night, satellite backhaul and a price per station and per year. 3

2. 02 Survey

   Survey in the short summer

   Crews visit candidate sites in the summer window with community members: ground and permafrost, exposure, snow drifting, ice crossings, access by air, boat or road and sky view for satellite. Findings are recorded with photographs and coordinates. Findings shape the kit for each site before anything is built. 1

3. 03 Permits

   Land, communities and wildlife

   Land use is agreed with communities and land holders, drilling of boreholes is approved under northern land and water rules, and work is timed around wildlife and harvesting seasons. Community agreements set who holds the data, and every approval is kept with the station record.

4. 04 Build

   Build for deep cold

   Kits are built from cold-rated parts, tested in a cold chamber through the temperatures of the site, and run on their polar night power for days. Thermistor strings are calibrated, nodes are enrolled with their identities, and kits are packed for air freight.

5. 05 Install

   Drill, raise and wire

   Crews drill boreholes and install thermistor strings, raise guyed masts, mount weather, snow and GNSS sensors, set ice sensors at crossings, install the power system and satellite terminal, and photograph every part before the window closes. Crews follow the site safety plan throughout the work.

6. 06 Commission

   Commission before freeze-up

   Each node proves its identity, readings are checked with a travelling reference, reports reach the authority by satellite, and the power system is tested through a simulated dark period. The station enters service before freeze-up. Acceptance is recorded with the owner before handover. 2

7. 07 Operate

   Watch through the winter

   The authority sees every station through the winter: weather, permafrost, ground movement and ice. Winter roads open and close on ice thickness, airstrips receive local weather, and engineers see ground heave under structures as it develops. Every alert and action is kept on the record. 4

8. 08 Maintain

   One summer visit a year

   Most maintenance happens in a single summer visit: sensors checked and swapped, fuel replenished, masts inspected and software updated. Remote updates and diagnostics carry the station through the rest of the year, and every change is kept with its record.

06Data products and integration

What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems.

Data products

• Permafrost and active layer recordsEngineers and planners
• Ice thickness at crossingsWinter road operators and communities
• Local weather at airstripsPilots and air operators
• Ground heave under structuresAsset owners
• Northern observations exchangedWeather services and researchers

Integration

• Authority systemsObservations reach the authority’s own systems in the formats it uses.
• Weather servicesWeather reports are shared through the WMO exchange.
• CommunitiesCommunities receive their own data under the agreed governance.

Exchanged through WMO WIS 2.0, OGC SensorThings API, SDI-12.

07Questions buyers ask

Before you scope it.

Will it survive the polar night?

Power is sized for the longest dark period and tested before freeze-up.

How do you reach it?

By satellite all year; crews visit once in summer.

Who owns the data?

Ownership and sharing are set with the communities in the agreement.

Can it measure ice roads?

Yes, at crossings with ice thickness sensors.

08Resources

The sources behind this page.

Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does.

1. 1WMO-No. 8: Guide to Instruments and Methods of ObservationWorld Meteorological Organization
2. 2WMO-No. 1160: Manual on the WMO Integrated Global Observing SystemWorld Meteorological Organization
3. 3GCOS-244: The 2022 GCOS Implementation PlanGlobal Climate Observing System · 2022
4. 4WMO-No. 168: Guide to Hydrological PracticesWorld Meteorological Organization

09Related

Use cases and solutions.

10Civil resilience: specialized fields

Other fields of this industry.

Bring us the site.

Plan a deployment, configure a station, model it in the Studio or talk to sales. The form names who receives your details.