Abstract
Abstract. The article presents the climatological dataset from the Polish Polar Station Hornsund located in the southwest part of Spitsbergen – the biggest island of the Svalbard archipelago. Due to a general lack of long-term in situ measurements and observations, the High Arctic remains one of the largest climate-data-deficient regions on the Earth. Therefore, the described time series of observations in this paper are of unique value. To draw conclusions on the climatic changes in the Arctic, it is necessary to analyse and compare the long-term series of continuous, in situ observations from different locations, rather than relying on the climatic simulations only. In recent decades, rapid environmental changes occurring in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic are reflected in the data series collected by the operational monitoring conducted at the Hornsund station. We demonstrate the results of the 40-year-long series of observations. Climatological mean values or totals are given, and we also examined the variability of meteorological variables at monthly and annual scale using the modified Mann–Kendall test for trend and Sen's method. The relevant daily, monthly, and annual data are provided on the PANGAEA repository (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.909042, Wawrzyniak and Osuch, 2019).
Highlights
For the analysis of the Arctic climate change, the long-term operational monitoring of meteorological variables including reliable observations and measurements is obligatory
Climatological mean values or totals are given, and we examined the variability of meteorological variables at monthly and annual scale using the modified Mann–Kendall test for trend and Sen’s method
The analyses at daily timescale indicated that drops of Relative humidity (RH) below 50 % are recorded rather sporadically, these can occur throughout the year
Summary
For the analysis of the Arctic climate change, the long-term operational monitoring of meteorological variables including reliable observations and measurements is obligatory. Osuch: A 40-year High Arctic climatological dataset al., 2020), the presence of glaciers, orography of the terrain, and location near the seashore The climatic variables such as air temperature, humidity, and precipitation vary significantly across the archipelago (Nordli et al, 2014; Osuch and Wawrzyniak, 2017a) as well as around the Hornsund fjord (Arazny et al, 2018). There is evidence for anomalies and changes in recent years in Atlantic sector of the Arctic, along western Spitsbergen, including higher air temperature (Gjelten et al, 2016) and higher liquid precipitation (Osuch and Wawrzyniak, 2017a). These changes have many environmental implications, leading to prolongation of the ablation season (Osuch and Wawrzyniak, 2017b), the negative mass balance of glaciers (van Pelt et al, 2019), and permafrost degradation (Wawrzyniak et al, 2016)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
