Arctic Cooperation

Hectic Arctic



Cartographer: Hugo Ahlenius

Cooperative criss crossing in the Arctic! Yet another set of gorgeous maps from one of my favorite cartographer - at Nordpil.

Mapping Icy Topography

Icy Topography



Using Synthetic Aperture Radar to map the icy topography in the Arctic.

A good radar is worth it's weight in gold. I don't know, but it sure is very useful - and way cool to fly over those vast areas of Greenland and Iceland with nothing but ice. I know there are not much of a toilet onboard those planes so I hope they are careful with the eating and drinking....:-)

Blue Ice at Night

Baffin Island by Night



Credit: ESA

This is Baffin Island in the Arctic Northern Canada - at Night. The dark deep blue is the Baffin Island, while the sky blue is the ocean and sea ice. Pretty. :-)

In The Arctic

Arctic Temperature



Credit: UNEP/GRID-Arendal
Trends in Arctic temperature, 1880-2006.


Reading assistance: The thick white line running horizontally on this chart is the average temperature for the period 1961-1990. The red curve shows the mean deviation from that average temperature based on the measurements shown in gray.

The chart shows that there have been colder periods in the Arctic and that the latest trend is warmer than the century average.

I think this illustrates pretty well the facts of the matter. What causes these variations in temperature and what consequences a lasting warming will have are still not well enough understood and we do our best to gather more information and understanding of the complex Earth system.

Ice Melting

Arctic Ice



To melt, or not to melt. In Alaska the arctic ice diminished between 2007 and 2008, that is for sure.

The Arctic

Oil and People in The Arctic



Cartographer: Hugo Ahlenius/UNEP/GRID-Arendal
"The Arctic represents one of the least populated areas in the world, with only sparse settlements and very few large cities and towns - in comparison with e.g. continental Europe. The largest cities are in Northwest Russia, and Reykjavik is the only national capital in the Arctic. The extraction of natural resources has emerge as a main interest and priority in the Arctic region, and this may cause increases and shifts in population."


The Arctic is vulnerable to begin with. Oil and other natural recources are abundant in this area and we need to improve our Earth observation skills and infrastructure and security measures. At least....

Earth Observation Arctic

Tandem Satellites



Credit: ESA

Geocoded sea ice displacement map. The green areas correspond to an observed displacement of about 160 m in 28 minutes


Sea Ice Displacement

SAR technology is a real blast in Earth observation!

Arctic Earth Observation

Arctic View



Credit: ESA - Envisat


I adore these satellite images. Pretty colored Arctic AND useful is it too, monitoring our planet like this.

Sea Ice

Arctic Sea Ice



Credit: ESA/Envisat

Based on data from satellite radar altimetry collected in the period 2002 - 2008 one can see that rather dramatic changes took place in sea ice thickness. It is getting seriously thinner this year. Last year were exceptionally warm and it might be a late effect of that that causes the ice to diminish, but further studies are necessary to fully understand what is going on and what causes the changes.

Today the first snow covers the landscape in the Oslo region. It doesn't feel like it is getting warmer, I can tell you that! :-)

Jan Mayen

Jan Mayen








All images here are from the excellent website created by the people living on Jan Mayen. Click through the list of links on the extreme right and learn a lot about this exotic Norwegian island between Iceland and Svalbard, Greenland and Norwegian mainland. The Mapping Authority collect GPS and sea level data from this island in the middle of the North Atlantic. The placement is perfect for climate change studies. On the island there has been a meteorological station for ages and it is also a Loran C site. Learn more about that by browsing through this website.

It is most certainly a very special place to work, isolated from the rest of the world most of the time. Landing there with a plane is not obvious even though there is a landing field. The fog and clouds cover the island very often. According to the CIA (!!!), Beerenberg, the tall white mountain you see on the images, is the northernmost active volcano on this planet.

As on Svalbard, carrying a rifle is a necessity as you risk meeting polar bears. In fact some of my colleagues had to wait for the polar bear doing an inspection of the plane before they could take off...:-)

Wild life!



This is a map of the Loran C stations in the North Atlantic. Jan Mayen is the northwest point there.





This post is dedicated to Paul :-)



Photo: Vidar Teigen

Edit: This is how Jan Mayen looks like in the summer at 4 o'clock in the morning. Paul wanted this. If you want to go there, you might have to wait 4 month for a reply. The only way to reach the island as a tourist is by ship. They explicitly say on the website that they are NOT equipped to entertain tourists.

Arctic Ice

Monitoring Arctic Ice



The other day BumApples shared a cultural observation with me. He had noticed that Norwegians like snow and ice. I can confirm. His observation is exactly right. Norwegians like snow because it is fun to play with, good to eat (never mind the worms you get...), refreshing after a sauna, isolates the houses when it is biting cold, protects plants from deep freezing. And it is beautiful. :-)

As can be seen on these images the ice is about to return to the Arctic. So far so good. We want lots of ice. That would mean the climate is not totally fucked up - yet!

The Arctic

Arctic Conservation Area



Cartographer: Hugo Ahlenius, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Mapping Arctic

Mapping for Money



Credit: UNH/NOAA

International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean.


When Millimeters Equal Millions.



I'd say never mind the money, this map is marvelous! :-)

Arctic Map

Arctic Map of Disputes

Arctic Eclipse

Shadows in The Arctic



Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team


"Because the shadow was moving across Earth's surface as the satellite approached, it has a long oblong shape in this image. In an instantaneous snapshot from a platform that was not moving relative to Earth, the shadow would be more circular."

Arctic

Arctic Sea Ice 2070-2090



Cartographer: Hugo Ahlenius, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Shipping routes included!

Arctic transport

Arctic Transportation Routes



Cartographer: Hugo Ahlenius/UNEP/Grid-Arendal

The Arctic

Wild, Wild ... Arctic! not Texas this time :-)



Carthographer: Hugo Ahlenius, UNEP/GRID-Arendal


Major wilderness areas in the Arctic.

The Arctic holds the largest continuous expanses of unfragmented wilderness in the world, outside of Antarctica. A big difference between the Arctic and Antarctica is that the Arctic is inhabited. This map presents the 25 largest wilderness areas in the Arctic, where wilderness is based on the degree of fragmentation - these are areas with very little fragmentation.