Metadata for a long-term climate series from the Russian meteorological station “Pyramiden” (1948-1957) at Svalbard ( Short Communication)

Soviet weather station "Pyramiden" was located in the same mining settlement on the northern shore of the Mimer bukta (Billefjorden, West Spitsbergen Island). Research station operated from 1948 to 1957, as a branch of Barentsburg research observatory (Grnfjorden, West Spitsbergen Island). It was the only station that held regular meteorological observations in the inland areas of the archipelago. Observational data (in the form of handwritten books and tables) are preserved in state fond of Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI, St. Petersburg, Russia). So far, these data have not been digitized and with their help not conducted any climate researches. Fruitful scientific collaboration between MET-Norway (Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo) and AARI helped preserve these unique data to the polar scientific community. Now specialists-climatologists of both institutions complete joint climate researches that in the near future will be available to scientists, studying modern climate changes in the polar regions of the Earth

Past and future climate variations in the Norwegian Arctic: overview and novel analyses

Sparse stations and serious measuring problems hamper analyses of climatic conditions in the Arctic. This paper presents a discussion of measuring problems in the Arctic and gives an overview of observed past and projected future climate variations in Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Novel analyses of temperature conditions during precipitation and trends in fractions of solid/liquid precipitation at the Arctic weather stations are also outlined. Analyses based on combined and homogenized series from the regular weather stations in the region indicate that the measured annual precipitation has increased by more than 2.5% per decade since the measurements started in the beginning of the 20th century. The annual temperature has increased in Svalbard and Jan Mayen during the latest decades, but the present level is still lower than in the 1930s. Downscaled scenarios for Svalbard Airport indicate a further increase in temperature and precipitation. Analyses based on observations of precipitation types at the regular weather stations demonstrate that the annual fraction of solid precipitation has decreased at all stations during the latest decades. The reduced fraction of solid precipitation implies that the undercatch of the precipitation gauges is reduced. Consequently, part of the observed increase in the annual precipitation is fictitious and is due to a larger part of the “true” precipitation being caught by the gauges. With continued warming in the region, this virtual increase will be measured in addition to an eventual real increase