Summit Camp
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Summit Camp, also Summit Station, is a year-round staffed
research station Research stations are facilities where scientific investigation, collection, analysis and experimentation occurs. A research station is a facility that is built for the purpose of conducting scientific research. There are also many types of resear ...
near the apex of the
Greenland ice sheet The Greenland ice sheet ( da, Grønlands indlandsis, kl, Sermersuaq) is a vast body of ice covering , roughly near 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is sometimes referred to as an ice cap, or under the term ''inland ice'', or its Danish equiva ...
. The station is located at above sea level. The population of the station is typically five in wintertime and reaches a maximum of 38 in the summer. The station is operated by the United States
National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
Summit Camp
/ref>Arctic Logistics Information And Support (ALIAS)
through the logistical-support contractor Battelle Arctic Research Operations (Battelle ARO). A permit from the Danish Polar Center ( da, Dansk Polarcenter) under the auspices of the Home Rule Government of Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaanni Inatsisartut) is required to visit the station.


Geography

The station is located at
Google Maps satellite view
, approximately from the east coast of
Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
, from the west coast (at
Saattut Saattut (old spelling: ''Sâtut'') is a settlement in Avannaata municipality, in northwestern Greenland. Located on small Saattut Island, southeast of Appat Island and northeast of Uummannaq in the Uummannaq Fjord system, the settlement had 226 ...
,
Uummannaq Uummannaq is a town in the Avannaata municipality, in central-western Greenland. With 1,407 inhabitants in 2020, it is the eighth-largest town in Greenland, and is home to the country's most northerly ferry terminal. Founded in 1763 as Omenak, ...
), and north-northeast of the historical
ice sheet In glaciology, an ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than . The only current ice sheets are in Antarctica and Greenland; during the Last Glacial Period at Las ...
station
Eismitte Eismitte, in English also called Mid-Ice, was the site of an Arctic expedition in the interior of Greenland that took place from July 1930 through August 1931, and claimed the life of noted German scientist Alfred Wegener. The name "Eismitte" m ...
. The closest town is
Ittoqqortoormiit Ittoqqortoormiit (East Greenlandic: ; West Greenlandic: ''Illoqqortoormiut'' ), formerly known as Scoresbysund, is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in eastern Greenland. Its population was 345 as of 2020 and has been described as one o ...
, east-southeast of the station. The station, however, is not part of the
Sermersooq Sermersooq (, da, sted med meget is, lit=place of much ice) is a municipality in Greenland, formed on 1 January 2009 from five earlier, smaller municipalities. Its administrative seat is the city of Nuuk (formerly called Godthåb), the capital ...
municipality but falls within the bounds of the
Northeast Greenland National Park Northeast Greenland National Park ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaanni nuna eqqissisimatitaq, da, Grønlands Nationalpark) is the world's largest national park and the 10th List of largest protected areas in the world, largest protected area (the only large ...
. Summit Station consists of the ''Big House'' (communications and galley), ''Mobile Science Facility'', ''Temporary Atmospheric Watch Observatory'', ''Berthing Module'', a combined garage and generator building, and storage buildings.Summit Camp
virtual tour


History

Summit Station was originally established in April 1989 in support of the Greenland Ice Sheet Project Two (GISP2) deep ice coring effort. A ski-equipped
C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desig ...
from the
New York Air National Guard The New York Air National Guard (NY ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of New York, United States of America. It is, along with the New York Army National Guard, an element of the New York National Guard. As state militia units, the units ...
performed an open snow landing near the site, bringing the put-in team consisting of Mark Twickler, Jay Klink, Michael Morrison, and two navigation specialists; Doug Roberts and Jim Normandeau who located the exact location chosen for the GISP2 drilling site, established a camp, and laid out the runway. Subsequent flights brought in additional materials and personnel needed to build the station. Two major structures were planned and built: The Big House, an insulated panel building (housing a galley, common space, and office), elevated to minimize snow drifts; and a geodesic drill dome to house the deep drill. Extensive under-snow trenches were also constructed to house the core handling, processing, and storage facilities. Many smaller Weatherport hut buildings and tents were also erected as storage and shop areas, as well as sleeping quarters. These were erected and taken down each season. On July 1, 1993, the
bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...
was reached. Originally only occupied in the summer, the station has been staffed year-round since 2003, with a winter population of 4 to 5.


Climate

The climate is classified as
ice cap In glaciology, an ice cap is a mass of ice that covers less than of land area (usually covering a highland area). Larger ice masses covering more than are termed ice sheets. Description Ice caps are not constrained by topographical features ...
, with no month having a mean temperature exceeding . Typical daily maximum temperatures at Summit Camp are around in winter (January) and in summer (July). Winter minimum temperatures are typically about and only rarely exceed . The highest temperature at Summit Station was , recorded on 13 July 2012 and on 28 July 2017; the lowest recorded temperature was on 21 February 2002. On 6 July 2017 the site recorded the lowest temperature in the northern hemisphere for the month of July at . On 14 August 2021, it rained throughout the entire day at Summit Camp, marking the first time since recordkeeping began (1989) that rain had fallen in liquid form at Greenland's glacial summit.


Transport

During the summer months, the station is accessed via
Kangerlussuaq Airport Kangerlussuaq Airport ( kl, Mittarfik Kangerlussuaq, da, Søndre Strømfjord Lufthavn) is an airport in Kangerlussuaq, a settlement in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Alongside Narsarsuaq Airport, it is one of only two c ...
with LC-130 Hercules aircraft which land on a snow runway, which is prepared and regularly groomed for ski-equipped aircraft. Winter access is infrequent, using smaller, ski-equipped aircraft such as
Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...
flown by
Kenn Borek Air Kenn Borek Air is an airline based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It operates regional passenger and cargo services, contract operations in the Arctic and Antarctic and aircraft leasing. Its main base is at Calgary International Airport. It chart ...
.


See also

*
List of research stations in the Arctic A number of governments maintain permanent research stations in the Arctic. Also known as Arctic bases, polar stations or ice stations, these bases are widely distributed across the northern polar region of Earth. Historically few research st ...
*
NEEM Camp NEEM Camp was a small research facility on the northern Greenland Ice Sheet, used as a base for ice core drilling. It was located about 313 km east of the closest coast, Peabody Bay in northern Greenland, 275 km northwest of the histor ...
*
Camp Century Camp Century was an Arctic United States military scientific research base in Greenland. situated 240 km (150 miles) east of Thule Air Base. When built, Camp Century was publicized as a demonstration for affordable ice-cap military outposts ...
*
Eismitte Eismitte, in English also called Mid-Ice, was the site of an Arctic expedition in the interior of Greenland that took place from July 1930 through August 1931, and claimed the life of noted German scientist Alfred Wegener. The name "Eismitte" m ...
*
North Ice North Ice was a research station of the British North Greenland Expedition (1952 to 1954) on the inland ice of Greenland. The coordinates of the station were , at an altitude of above sea level. The British North Greenland Expedition was led by ...
*
List of mountains in Greenland This is a list of mountains in Greenland. List For each mountain, the municipality in which it is located is given, along with coordinates indicating the approximate centre of the mountain (follow the link to see satellite images of the location ...


References


External links


Exploration history of northern East GreenlandWebcam of Summit CampSummit Camp HomepageCH2M HILL Polar Services Homepage for Summit StationWeather data of Summit CampDocumenting 2013 journey to Summit StationESRL Global Monitoring Division - Summit ObservatoryWeatherPort Shelter Systems
{{Greenland isolated Research stations in Greenland