2 Site Characteristics and Instrumentation
2.1 Station Characteristics
The climate of Svalbard is dominated mostly by its northerly location, while the
Norwegian Current and West Spitsbergen Current (which are a continuation of the
North Atlantic Current) moderate its temperatures. The Arctic climate is the place
where cold polar air from the north and west (high pressure over Greenland and the
Polar basin) meets mild, wet sea air from the south (low pressure between
Greenland and Spitsbergen) (Treffeisen et al. 2011; Rozwadowska et al. 2010). As a
result very active cyclonic circulation and fronts with cloudy conditions, rain and
strong winds are often reported in this region. These are major factors which
determine the changeable weather over Svalbard, which in various parts of the
archipelago is significantly different. The western part is warmer, while the interior
has relatively more continental climate than the coasts.
Three sites in Spitsbergen are taken into consideration and they include all
available AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) data over Svalbard (http://
aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/). These include stations in Hornsund (77°00′03″N, 15°33′
36″E, at 10 m a.s.l), Longyearbyen (78°13′12″N, 15°38′56″E, at 30 m a.s.l.) and
Ny-Alesund (78°55′44″N, 11°51′39″E, at 46 m a.s.l.) (Fig. 1).
Ny-Alesund is the highest above sea level and most northerly situated station
located on Brøggerhalvøya and Kongsfjorden. The village is surrounded by
Fig. 1 Location of the research stations in Spitsbergen
Annual Changes of Aerosol Optical Depth and Ångström Exponent …
25
2.1 Station Characteristics
The climate of Svalbard is dominated mostly by its northerly location, while the
Norwegian Current and West Spitsbergen Current (which are a continuation of the
North Atlantic Current) moderate its temperatures. The Arctic climate is the place
where cold polar air from the north and west (high pressure over Greenland and the
Polar basin) meets mild, wet sea air from the south (low pressure between
Greenland and Spitsbergen) (Treffeisen et al. 2011; Rozwadowska et al. 2010). As a
result very active cyclonic circulation and fronts with cloudy conditions, rain and
strong winds are often reported in this region. These are major factors which
determine the changeable weather over Svalbard, which in various parts of the
archipelago is significantly different. The western part is warmer, while the interior
has relatively more continental climate than the coasts.
Three sites in Spitsbergen are taken into consideration and they include all
available AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) data over Svalbard (http://
aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/). These include stations in Hornsund (77°00′03″N, 15°33′
36″E, at 10 m a.s.l), Longyearbyen (78°13′12″N, 15°38′56″E, at 30 m a.s.l.) and
Ny-Alesund (78°55′44″N, 11°51′39″E, at 46 m a.s.l.) (Fig. 1).
Ny-Alesund is the highest above sea level and most northerly situated station
located on Brøggerhalvøya and Kongsfjorden. The village is surrounded by
Fig. 1 Location of the research stations in Spitsbergen
Annual Changes of Aerosol Optical Depth and Ångström Exponent …
25