A comparison of bioclimatic conditions on Franz Josef Land (the Arctic) between the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth century and present day

The paper presents the variability of meteorological conditions: air temperature, wind speed and relative air humidity; and biometeorological indices: wind chill temperature, predicted clothing insulation and accepted level of physical activity on Franz Josef Land (in Teplitz Bay and Calm Bay) in the years 1899–1931. It employs meteorological measurements taken during four scientific expeditions to the study area. The analysis mainly covered the period October–April, for which the most complete data set is available. For that period of the year, which includes the part of the year with the Franz Josef Land’s coldest air temperatures, the range and nature of changes in meteorological and biometeorological conditions between historical periods and the modern period (1981–2010) were studied. The data analysis revealed that during the three oldest expeditions (which took place in the years 1899–1914), the biometeorological conditions in the study area were more harsh to humans than in the modern period (1981–2010) or similarly harsh. In contrast, during the 1930/1931 expedition, which represents the Early Twentieth CenturyWarming (ETCW), conditions were clearly more favourable (including predicted clothing insulation being 0.3 clo lower and 4.0 °C higher wind chill temperature than conditions observed nowadays)

Air temperature changes in Toruń (central Poland) from 1871 to 2010

The article presents a detailed analysis of changes in air temperature in Toruń in the period 1871–2010 on the basis of homogenised monthly, seasonal and annual air temperature series which have been newly constructed (i.e. extended by the 50 years of 1871–1920). Over the 140-year study period, a sizeable and statistically significant increase of 0.1 °C per decade was found in the air temperature in Toruń. The greatest increases occurred for spring and winter, at 0.12 and 0.11 °C, respectively. A lesser warming, meanwhile, was recorded for autumn (0.10 °C/10 years), and particularly for summer (0.07 °C/10 years). The air temperature trends are statistically significant for all seasons. Air temperature differences between the monthly averages of three analysed subperiods (1871–1900, 1901–1950 and 1951–2010) and averages for the entire period under review rarely exceeded ± 0.5 °C. In all of these periods, the highest average air temperatures occurred in July and the lowest in January. The period of 1981–2010 had the highest frequency of occurrence of very and extremely warm seasons and years. Meanwhile, the highest frequency of very and extremely cool seasons and years was recorded in the 1940s and in the nineteenth century. In the period of 1871–2010, winters shortened markedly (by 7%) and summers lengthened by 3.8%. All of the presented aspects of air temperature in Toruń, which is representative of the climate of central Poland, are in close agreement with the findings of analogous studies of the same for other areas of Poland and Central Europe

Variability of humidity conditions in the Arctic during the first International Polar Year, 1882-83

Of all the early instrumental data for the Arctic, the meteorological data gathered during the first International Polar Year, in 1882–83 (IPY-1), are the best in terms of coverage, quality and resolution. Research carried out during IPY-1 scientific expeditions brought a significant contribution to the development of hygrometry in polar regions at the end of the 19th century. The present paper gives a detailed analysis of a unique series of humidity measurements that were carried out during IPY-1 at hourly resolutions at nine meteorological stations, relatively evenly distributed in the High Arctic. It gives an overall view of the humidity conditions prevalent in the Arctic at that time. The results show that the spatial distribution of atmospheric water vapour pressure (e) and relative humidity (RH) in the Arctic during IPY-1 was similar to the present. In the annual course the highest values of e were noted in July and August, while the lowest occurred in the cold half of the year. In comparison to present-day conditions (1961–1990), the mean values of RH in the IPY-1 period (September 1882 to July 1883) were higher by 2.4–5.6%. Most of the changes observed between historical and modern RH values are not significant. The majority of historical daily RH values lie between a distance of less than two standard deviations from current long-term monthly means

Meteorological conditions at Kaffiöyra (Nw Spitsbergen) in the period 13.07 - 9.09.1999

The article presents results of meteorological observations carried out in the summer of 1997 on the Kaffiöyra Plain during 13rd Toruń Polar Expedition. The measurements were carried out four climatological time a day (01, 07, 13 and 19 LMT) from 21st July to 1st September 1997 i.e. 43 days. The values of meteorological elements are presented in tab. 2 and fig. 2. Apart from the 1997 summer data, there have also been presented for comparison mean values of basic meteorological elements from comparable period s (July 21 - August 31 ) of all the summer seasons when the Toruń Polar Expeditions operated on Spitsbergen (tab. 4). The summer season in 1997 was very wet, with domination of strong winds and average sunshine, thermic and humidity conditions. During the research period cyclonic situations dominated (52.4%), on 47.6%, of the days the weather conditions were formed by anticyclones

Differentiation of soil temperature on the Kaffiöyra Plain (NW Spitsbergen) in summer 1997 and 1998 in comparison to the period 1975-98

The paper presents the results of soil temperature measurements on the Kaffiöyra Plain from the polar summer period 1997 (Tab. 1) and 1998 (Tab. 2) compared to the period 1975-1998 (Tab. 3). The soil temperature measurements were carried out on three ecotops: on the sandy beach, on end moraine of the Aavatsmark Glacier, and on tundra (Fig. 1). The measurements were taken daily at 01, 07, 13 and 19 LMT at depths: 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cm by soil thermometers. The thermal characteristics of soils at different ecotops differ by physical characteristics, moisture, degree of vegetation cover and thickness of active layer. The paper presents the question of thermal changes in the soil with general weather conditions. The 1997 summer was very wet, strong winds domination and mean sunshine. The 1998 summer, on the contrary, was more cloudy and warmer, and the atmosphere dynamics lower with rare light rainfall (Fig. 2, Tab. 4). The comparison of summer seasons was made for the common period 21 July - 31 August. The thermal changes of the soil on the Kaffioyra Plain are best illustrated by the data from the beach because observations at this stand were made during all of the expeditions. The mean temperature at all depth was the lowest in 1982 and 1997, the highest in 1985 and 1998 (Fig. 5). In the analysed period the measurement point on the beach was the coldest stand, tundra was warmer, and the stand on the moraine the warmest (Tab. 3, Fig. 4)

Annual course of relative air humidity in the Norwegian Arctic from 1971 to 2000

The paper presents the analysis of the spatial variability of relative humidity in the Norwegian Arctic during the year (Fig.1, Table 2) for 6 meteorological stations (Table 1). We determined the frequency of relative humidity according intervals (Fig. 2) and examined its connection with atmospheric circulation indices (Table 3, Fig. 3). In the Norwegian Arctic 3 types of courses of the relative humidity have been distinguished on the basis of mean monthly values, amplitudes and occurrence frequency in distinguished intervals: 1) very wet - characterised by monthly and annual mean values of the relative humidity higher than 80%, small annual amplitudes up to 10%. This type includes the stations Bjornoya, Hopen i Jan Mayen. During the year at these stations very wet air dominates (236, 218 and 175 days, respectively). 2) wet - characterised by large annual amplitudes over 10%. Mean monthly values exceeding 80% occur only in summer and early autumn. This type occurs at the stations Hornsund and Ny-Alesund. At these stations wet air is the most frequent: 181 and 141 days during the year, respectively. 3) moderately wet - characterised by even level in every month below 80%, very small annual amplitude up to 5%. This type occurs at Svalbard Lufthavn where wet (171 days) and moderately dry (135 days) air is the most frequent

Variability of meteorological conditions at Hornsund (SW Spitsbergen) in the period from 1st July 1999 to 30th June 2000

Measurements and meteorological observations at Hornsund were carried out in the frame of the 22nd Polish Polar Expedition "Spitsbergen 1999/2000" research work. This was the consecutive year-long expedition organized by the Geophysical Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Circulation factors have a great influence on the meteorological conditions at Hornsund. The mean annual atmospheric pressure at the sea level (1005.0 hPa) was lower than its long-term average. The mean wind velocity was 5.8 m/s. There were 971.9 hours with sunshine. The analysed year was characterised by high air temperature as for the Arctic conditions. The mean annual air temperature was -3.7°C, and was 1.1OChigher then its long-term average. The analysis of the air temperature trend in the period 1978-2000 shows a systematic warming about 0.07°C/year on the southern Spitsbergen. The annual sum of precipitation was 500.9 mm, i.e. about 77 mm higher then the long-term average. In September the highest monthly precipitation sum (230.0 mm) was measured till now

Physiological deficit in the Norwegian Arctic in the period 1971-2000

W artykule przedstawiono rozkład przestrzenny zmian niedosytu fizjologicznego w Arktyce Norweskiej w okresie 1971-2000. W badaniach zmienności niedosytu fizjologicznego wykorzystano dane ze stacji: Ny-Alesund, Svalbard Airport, Hornsund, Hopen, Bjornoya i Jan Mayen. Wpływ cyrkulacji atmosferycznej na przebieg niedosytu fizjologicznego przeanalizowano wykorzystując katalog typów oraz wskaźniki cyrkulacji Niedźwiedzia (2001, 2002) dla Spitsbergenu.The paper presents the results of the study of the physiological deficit (D) in the Norwegian Arctic in the period 1971-2000. The values of physiological deficit are indices of evaporation from the lungs and upper respiratory tract of man. The analysis of the physiological deficit in the Norwegian Arctic showed a high value of evaporation from the lungs an upper respiratory tract of man over the whole study area (Tab. 1, Fig. 1-3). During the year the occurrence of 'dry' feeling was noted from 89% of the days at Bjornoya to 98% of the days at Hopen. 'Comfortable' feeling occurred only in summer and sporadically in autumn (Tab. 2). The negative trends of the mean annual and seasonal physiological deficit values are mostly statistically significant (Tab. 3). This means that during the period studied the water evaporation from the upper respiratory track of man decreased significantly in this part of the Arctic (Fig. 4). The highest value of water evaporation from the upper respiratory track was found in the winter season with air advection from the north-eastern sector, independently from the baric system type. The most favourable sense of humidity according to the analysed coefficient physiological deficit was noted in summer with air advection from the southern sector, in case of cyclonic as well as anticyclonic situation (Fig. 5)

Comparison of climatic and bioklimatic conditions in the northern part of Oscar II Land with other areas of the west coast of Spitsbergen from 1975-2000

W artykule porównano warunki klimatyczne i bioklimatyczne N części Ziemi Oskara II z innymi obszarami zachodniego wybrzeża Spitsbergenu w okresie 1975-2000. Klimat Ziemi Oskara II przedstawiono na podstawie danych meteorologicznych ze stacji Ny Alesund. Klimat centralnej i południowej części zachodniego wybrzeża Spitsbergenu reprezentują odpowiednio stacje: Svalbard-Lufthavn i Hornsund. Dla wymienionych obszarów obliczono i przeanalizowano różnice pomiędzy średnimi miesięcznymi i rocznymi wartościami wybranych elementów meteorologicznych (wiatr, zachmurzenie, temperatura i wilgotność powietrza oraz opady atmosferyczne) i wskaźników biometeorologicznych (niedosyt fizjologiczny, wielkość ochładzająca powietrza, wskaźnik ochładzania wiatrem, temperatura ochładzania wiatrem, przewidywana izolacyjność odzieży).The paper describes the climate and bioclimate of the tundra zone in the northern part of Oscar II Land (the area from Jonsfiorden to Kongsfiorden) from 1975 to 2000. A comparison with the climate and bioclimate of other parts of the west coast of Spitsbergen is also presented. For the analysis, meteorological data from three stations (Ny Alesund, Svalbard Lufthavn and Hornsund) were used (Fig. 1). Significant differentiation of climatic conditions on the west coast of Spitsbergen was found (Table 1 and Fig. 2). Wind direction and speed was strongly modified by the local topographic conditions. For this reason, the lowest mean annual wind speed (by 1.2 to 1.7 m/s) of the three analysed stations, was in Ny Alesund. The degree of cloudiness was similar at Ny Alesund and Svalbard Lufthavn, while at Hornsund it was greater by about 6%. Mean annual air temperature at Ny Alesund is slightly higher (by 0.1°C) than at Svalbard Lufthavn and significantly lower (by 1.1°C) than at Hornsund. In the annual course, in comparison with the central part of the west coast, the northern part of Oscar II Land is markedly warmer in winter (on average by 1.0°C) and significantly colder in summer (by 1.0°C). An opposite relationship may be noted when comparison is made with the southern part of Spitsbergen. The greatest values of relative humidity occur in the southern and northern parts of Spitsbergen, while in the central part of the western coast their values are smaller (in particular in summer). Atmospheric precipitation was twice as low in the central part of the western coast of Spitsbergen as it was in its northern and southern parts. Differences in bioclimatic conditions were found on the west coast of Spitsbergen (Table 2, Fig. 3). To establish their characteristics, a number of biometeorological and thermophysiological indices were used. These enabled the estimation of the sensations of heat in humans standing outdoors in this part of Spitsbergen. Analysis of the physiological deficit (D) values on the west coast of Spitsbergen indicate that water evaporation from the human upper respiratory tract during the whole year is high. The cooling power (H) shows significant differences between different parts of western Spitsbergen. The mean number of days per year with thermal comfort for humans oscillated between 11 at Svalbard Lufthavn and 18 at Hornsund to 42 at Ny Alesund. On the other hand, days with cold discomfort were most frequent in central (277) and southern (271) parts of Spitsbergen, while in the northern part they rarely occurred (only 217). The best thermal sensations (described as 'cool') according to the wind chill index (WCI) occur from June to September at all stations, and also in May at Ny Alesund. In the other months conditions described as 'cold' were noted over the entire area. Days with a possibility of frostbite were noted with an annual average frequency of about 10 at Ny Alesund and 25 at Svalbard Lufthavn and Hornsund. The wind chill temperature (WCT) throughout the west coast of Spitsbergen shows the dominance of moderate sensations of cold from November to April. During the summer months (July and August) sensations of 'cold' did not occur. The insulation predicted index (Iclp) was used to estimate the bioclimate of Spitsbergen from the point of view of an individual's need for clothes to obtain thermal comfort. The index was calculated for a standing man and a man who is walking at a speed of 4km/h. Its values for the standing individual oscillated from 4.35 clo at Hornsund to about 4.49 clo at Svalbard Lufthavn. On the other hand, for the walker, clothes would need half the thermal insulation level to obtain thermal comfort

Influence of meteorological conditions to the surface run-off on the Waldemar Glacier (NW Spitsbergen) in the summer of 1997

In the summer season 1997 during the 13rd Toruń Polar Expedition research works were carried out to investigate the dynamics of water run-off in a selected supraglacial stream on the Waldemar Glacier in comparison to the course of meteorological conditions and ablation (figs l and 3). We have tried to present also the temporal and spatial changes in the structure of surface run-off on the glacier. Over the Kaffiöyra region in the whole summer season, especially in August, cyclonic weather dominated. Its characteristic features were: small sunshine duration (16.6 percent of the possible value), high cloudiness (8.5 on the scale l-10), high frequency of strong winds (mean velocity 5.4 m/s), and very abundant and intensive atmospheric precipitation (sum 122.5 mm) (fig. 2). The ablation is considerably differentiated spatially and temporary. In the studied period its highest value was observed below 250 m above sea level, and the lowest one on 430 m above sea level (19 cm e.w.). On 150 m above sea level, at the hydrometric stand, the ablation was 119 cm e.w. The gradient of ablation varied from 0.3 cm to 3.6 cm e.w. per 100 m height in the selected periods (Sobota 1998). The three big streams marked on fig. 3 (A. B and e) have the greatest role in the formation of the surface drainage system of the Waldemar Glacier. Daily measurements of the discharge intensity were made on the 508.6 m long supraglacial stream. The stationary measurement point was on 147m above sea level, about 160 m above the place where the stream leaves the snout of the glacier. The spatial differentiation induced the authors to distinguish five glacio-hydrological zones on the Waldemar Glacier: intensive ablation. Organized run-off, snow patches, slush, and dry snow (fig, 4, tab. l). The main criteria to distinguish the individual zones were the followings: morphology of the glacial surface, pollution degree of the snow by moraine material, and types of the surface run-off. Table 2 presents the correlation coefficients between the meteorological parameters and ablation and the discharge in the analysed stream. In most of the cases the correlation between the individual parameters is high (r > 0.77). The highest values of the correlation coefficient occur between the discharge and the course of temperature and ablation