The Swedish–Russian Arc-of-Meridian expedition was a scientific expedition to Svalbard that took place from 1899 to 1902. The main purpose of the mission was to measure a meridian arc, in order to determine the earth flattening at the

poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...

. The measurements were done by an establishing a chain of triangulation points from Keilhaufjellet in Sørkapp Land to

Vesle Tavleøya Vesle Tavleøya ( en, Little Slate Island) is the larger island of the two northernmost of Sjuøyane - the other being Rossøya, north of Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. Vesle Tavleøya is situated some 7 km northeast of Phippsøya Phippsøya (a ...

north of

Nordaustlandet Nordaustlandet (sometimes translated as North East Land) is the second-largest island in the archipelago of Svalbard, Norway, with an area of . It lies north east of Spitsbergen, separated by Hinlopen Strait. Much of Nordaustlandet lies under la ...

. The Russians were responsible for the southern measurements, while the Swedes performed the northern measurements from a base at Crozierpynten on the eastern side of Sorgfjorden. A total arc of 4°10' was measured. The expedition also took the first photographs of the

aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

References

Arctic expeditions Svalbard Geodetic surveys History of Earth science 1899 in science 19th century in the Arctic 20th century in the Arctic {{geodesy-stub