Ny-Ã…lesund
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Ny-Ã…lesund ("New
Ålesund Ålesund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Ålesund, Aspà ...
") is a small town in
Oscar II Land Oscar II Land is the land area between Isfjorden (Svalbard), Isfjorden and Kongsfjorden on Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The long glacier Sveabreen divides Oscar II Land from James I Land. The area is named after Oscar II of Sweden. Older name varian ...
in the west of the island of
Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...
in
Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...
. It is situated on the Brøgger peninsula ( Brøggerhalvøya) and on the shore of the bay of
Kongsfjorden Kongsfjorden as seen from Blomstrandhalvøya Kongsfjorden (Kongs Fjord or Kings Bay) is an inlet on the west coast of Spitsbergen, an island which is part of the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. The inlet is long and ranges in width f ...
. The
company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...
is owned and operated by Kings Bay, which provides facilities for permanent research activities by 19 institutions from 11 countries. The town is ultimately owned by the Ministry of Climate and Environment and is not incorporated (i.e. is not recognised as a town by the Norwegian government). Ny-Ã…lesund has an all-year permanent population of 30 to 35, with the summer population reaching 114. Its facilities include Ny-Ã…lesund Airport, Hamnerabben, Svalbard Rocket Range, a port and Ny-Ã…lesund Town and Mine Museum, as well as a number of buildings dedicated to research and
environmental monitoring Environmental monitoring is the processes and activities that are done to characterize and describe the state of the environment. It is used in the preparation of environmental impact assessments, and in many circumstances in which human activit ...
activities. It is the northernmost functional civilian settlement in the world. The town was founded in 1917 by Peter Brandal and his mining company, Kings Bay Kull Comp. Initially, mining was carried out until 1929, but it was unprofitable for most of the 1920s. A series of air expeditions were launched from Ny-Ã…lesund towards the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
. The company was
nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...
in 1933 and the town was used for tourism and as a fishing port. Mining resumed for some months in 1941 and then from 1945. After several fatal incidents occurred including a
mining accident A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals or metals. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground mining (hard rock), underground coal mining, although accidents al ...
on 5 November 1962 that killed 21 miners in what became known as the Kings Bay Affair, mining activity was terminated and Gerhardsen's Third Cabinet resigned. Kongsfjord Telemetry Station opened in 1967 and the town gradually transformed into a research settlement, with the
Norwegian Polar Institute The Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI; ) is Norway's central governmental institution for scientific research, mapping and environmental monitoring in the Arctic and the Antarctic. The NPI is a directorate under Norway's Ministry of Climate and Envir ...
having had a year-round presence since 1968. As of 2021, 18 institutions from 11 countries have a more or less permanent presence in Ny-Ålesund – five of them with year-round activity, the remaining are primarily present during the spring-summer-autumn field season.


Geography

Ny-Ålesund is located on the north shore of Brøggerhalvøya, a peninsula of Oscar II Land on the island of Spitsbergen. The town is located on the southern shore of Kongsfjorden (literally "the King's Bay"), a bay on the west coast of Spitsbergen that connects to Forlandssundet of the Greenland Sea. Across from Ny-Ålesund is the island of Blomstrandøya and the former settlement of Ny-London. As Ny-Ålesund has no legal existence as a town, it lacks any formal area. If the land owned by Kings Bay is used to define the town, it would have an area of , which would encapsulate both the north and south shores of Kongsfjorden. Kings Bay retains ownership of all land in the area, although the mining claims are held by Store Norske.


History

The coal deposits at Kongsfjorden were first discovered by Jonas Poole during a whaling expedition in the area in 1610. They did not receive more careful analysis until 1861, when
Christian Wilhelm Blomstrand Christian Wilhelm Blomstrand (20 October 1826 – 5 November 1897) was a Swedish mineralogist and chemist. He was a professor at the University of Lund from 1862-1895, where he isolated the element niobium in 1864. He developed an early version o ...
carried out surveys. A Swedish expedition looked into the coal in 1870 and in 1901 Bergen–Spitsbergen Kulgrubekompani laid claims to the deposits. Failing to follow up, Ernest Mansfield occupied claims in 1905 and 1906, which were sold to The Northern Exploration Co. Ltd. in 1910. The first test shaft was built in 1909, followed by a hut in 1912. The claims were sold to Peter Brandal of Ålesund in 1916, who dispatched two ships and sixty men to Kings Bay for the summer of 1916. Arriving on 21 July, they immediately started breaking surface coal. Kings Bay Kull Comp. was founded on 14 December 1916. Thirty people were sent to Kings Bay for the 1917 season, and started construction of a town. By winter buildings, mines, a port and a railway were completed. Sixty-four people stayed the first winter. They were supplemented from May 1918, bringing the summer population to 300. In the following years the town was gradually expanded with additional housing and work buildings. During the first years several names were in use for the settlement, including Kings Bay, Kingsbay and Brandal City. Ny-Ålesund came into use in the early 1920s and was soon the official name of the settlement. The mining was hit by two strikes in 1919, the first lasting from the summer to October, and the second from November to January 1920. Because of the ice, each year the shipping was limited from May through October. By 1919 the company had fallen into severe financial difficulties. A British take-over was waved off and instead state coal purchasing agreement, effectively subsidies, were enforced. By 1921 the men had started bringing their families, raising the female population to twenty-two and the child population to twenty-three. An improvised school was therefore taken into use. The Geophysical Institute of
Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...
established a geophysical station at Kvadehuken in 1920, although it only remained in operation until 1924. Production rose through the 1920, reaching a peak 99,000 tonnes per year.
Coal liquefaction Coal liquefaction is a process of converting coal into liquid hydrocarbons: liquid fuels and petrochemicals. This process is often known as "coal to X" or "carbon to X", where X can be many different hydrocarbon-based products. However, the most c ...
was attempted from 1924 to 1927, but proved unprofitable. The labor union, Kings Bay Arbeiderforening, was founded in 1925, although many of the workers had previously ad hoc organized themselves. In 1919 Northern Exploration Company laid pressed that they had claims on Blomstrandhalvøya. The case ended with the Government of Norway buying their claims in 1925, parts of which were sold to Kings Bay. Between 1925 and 1928, four attempts were made to reach the North Pole by air from Ny-Ålesund. One involved
flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...
s led by
Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 â€“ ) was a Norwegians, Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Am ...
.
Floyd Bennett Floyd Bennett (October 25, 1890 – April 25, 1928) was a United States Naval Aviator who, along with then USN Commander Richard E. Byrd, made the first flight to the North Pole in May 1926. However, their claim to have reached the pole is dispu ...
and
Richard E. Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer, and pioneering aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. Aircraft flights in which he served as a navigator and expedition leader cr ...
made an attempt. Amundsen and
Umberto Nobile Umberto Nobile (; 21 January 1885 – 30 July 1978) was an Italian aviator, aeronautical engineer and Arctic explorer. Nobile was a developer and promoter of semi-rigid airships in the Aviation between the World Wars, years between the two Worl ...
's airship ''
Norge Norge is the Norwegian (Bokmål and Riksmål), Danish and Swedish name for Norway. It may also refer to: People * Kaare Norge (born 1963), Danish guitarist * Norge Luis Vera (born 1971), Cuban baseball player Places * 11871 Norge, asteroid ...
'' left Ny-Ã…lesund and traveled via the North Pole to
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
. Because of controversies over previous efforts, this is regarded by some as the first successful expedition to the North Pole. After two short skirmishes, Nobile's airship ''
Italia Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
'' left Ny-Ã…lesund on 23 May 1928 to reach the North Pole, but crashed on the return. The first fatal mining accident took place in the Ester Mine on 16 December 1926, killing two miners. Gradually a series of smaller accidents took place. The company's lack of profitability caused the government to cease subsidies from 1929. A small guard and maintenance crew was kept in Ny-Ã…lesund in the following years. As of 1929 Kings Bay owed NOK 18.6 million to the state and Aalesunds Kreditbank. Thus the state
nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...
the company, taking effect on 23 December 1933. A fisheries station opened in 1935, which sold supplies to fishing vessels and carried out steaming of
cod liver oil Cod liver oil is a dietary supplement derived from liver of Atlantic cod (''Gadus morhua''). As with most fish oils, it contains the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and also vitamin A and vita ...
and salting of the cod. As the station was in need of subsidies, it was closed after two years. From 1936 a hotel service targeting tourists opened. Its most elaborate building, Nordpolhotellet, opened on 3 September 1939, although the town was abandoned just days later because of the outbreak of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. This spurred a Norwegian demand for coal, however, and the town was resettled on 7 May 1941. The entire island was evacuated on 29 August, with critical infrastructure blown up. Kings Bay dispatched a crew after the war ended, with the first 90 workers arriving at Ny-Ã…lesund on 13 August 1945. They started reconstruction and mining commenced in November. Production reached 61,000 tonnes in 1947. A 4 December 1948 explosion killed fifteen miners. A trial postal air drop took place in 1946, and regular services were provided from 1949. Weather observations were carried out in 1950 to 1953, and again after 1961. The mine flooded on 26 April 1949 and it took half a year to empty it. On 7 January 1951 there was an explosion in the Ester V Mine, killing nine men. On 19 March 1952, yet another explosion took place in the Ester Mine, this time killing nineteen men. These caused several investigations and inquiries, leading to improvements to mining safety. In 1956
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
approved a major upgrade to the mining facilities, which would cost NOK 20 million, in the hope that production could reach 200,000 tonnes. In 1956 two brothers, Einar Sverre and Gunnar Sverre Pedersen, through their company Norsk Polar Navigasjon, proposed that an airport be built at Kvadehussletta, on the outer-most point of Brøggerhalvøya. It was met by opposition from both Norwegian and Soviet authorities and no permits were granted, even though they pursued the case for a decade. By 1959 Ester I was depleted and the railway was closed—transport having been taken over by trucks, and production remained low during the late 1950s. An explosion on 5 November 1962 killed 21 miners. Two investigations were carried out and the issue became a heated political debate. In what became the Kings Bay Affair, Gerhardsen's Third Cabinet was ultimately forced to resign in August 1963, and all mining in Ny-Ã…lesund was terminated from 5 November 1963. For the meanwhile, Kings Bay was to retain the equipment and facilities in case later technological development would allow for safer mining operations. The first research establishment came in 1967, when Kongsfjord Telemetry Station was opened to communicate with the European Space Research Organization's satellites. The Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research took over daily management of Ny-Ã…lesund until the telemetry station was closed in 1974. The station resulted in the construction of Ny-Ã…lesund Airport, Hamnerabben, and resulted in about thirty employees. The
Norwegian Polar Institute The Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI; ) is Norway's central governmental institution for scientific research, mapping and environmental monitoring in the Arctic and the Antarctic. The NPI is a directorate under Norway's Ministry of Climate and Envir ...
established a scientific station in Ny-Ã…lesund in 1966, moving their
ionosphere The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...
measurement station from Isfjord Radio. An early scientific agent was the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, which has conducted air research in Ny-Ã…lesund since the mid-1970s. Gradually there was increased interest in research in Ny-Ã…lesund. In the first years a series of universities sent summer expeditions. Kings Bay also generated revenue from selling fuel, supplies and air transport to shrimp fishers. By 1977 Kings Bay stuck a deal by the then state-owned Store Norske to sell all its claims, although it kept the property rights around Ny-Ã…lesund. During the early 1980s a plan for cultural heritage management was developed, which included the renovation of several older houses. In 1992 nearly the entire town was listed. Construction of the Zeppelin Station commenced in 1988; in 1990 Kings Bay moved its administration from Oslo to Ny-Ã…lesund. From 1992 the government allowed international research institutions to establish stations in Ny-Ã…lesund, and thus several institutes built stations the early 1990s. This was matched by Kings Bay, who invested in increased capacity, including dorms, a new dock and better communications. By 1996 there were over one hundred research projects in Ny-Ã…lesund.


Climate

Ny-Ã…lesund has a
polar climate The polar climate regions are characterized by a lack of warm summers but with varying winters. Every month a polar climate has an average temperature of less than . Regions with a polar climate cover more than 20% of the Earth's area. Most of ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''ET''). Nonetheless, winter temperatures are very mild compared to other locations with the same classification because of the North Atlantic Drift.


Research

Eighteen research institutions from eleven countries have a more or less permanent presence in Ny-Ã…lesund. Five of these have a year-round presence, while the others are active primarily during the spring-summer-autumn field season. In addition there are several institutions that carry out research without having a permanent presence. Most research is centered around environmental and earth sciences (atmosphere, glaciology, terrestrial ecology and marine research), taking advantage of the town's latitude, close access to pristine nature and relatively mild climate. Compared to other locations at such a latitude, Ny-Ã…lesund research station provides a well-developed infrastructure in terms of facilities, laboratories, access and communication. Ny-Ã…lesund is owned and operated by Kings Bay, which provides services to visiting scientists. Representatives for the participating institutions meet in the Ny-Ã…lesund Science Managers' Committee (NySMAC) twice per year. NySMAC's main goals are to distribute information on existing research and provide input to the coordination and prioritising of future research and research infrastructure. The Svalbard Science Forum (SSF) is an agency that acts as an information and coordination facilitator for research throughout Svalbard. Based in Longyearbyen, it is chaired by the
Research Council of Norway The Research Council (also the Research Council of Norway; ) is a Norwegian government agency that funds research and innovation projects. On behalf of the Government, the Research Council invests NOK 11,7 billion (2022) annually. The Research ...
. Among SSF's tasks is the management of the Research in Svalbard (RiS) database, which contains information on all previous and ongoing research on the archipelago. Kings Bay participates in SSF and requires all researchers to register their projects with RiS. The Americans have a presence in the National Science Foundation funded group known as Svalbard REU, which conducts research on the surrounding glaciers annually. The following is a list of all actors engaged in research and environmental monitoring on a permanent/semi-permanent basis in Ny-Ã…lesund. It states the name of the facility, the institute operating it, the nationality, the year the facility was established, and the nature of the research carried out. The French and German activities are all part of the joint AWIPEV Arctic Research Station since 2003.


Mining

The coal seams are located between the town-site and towards the mountain of Zeppelinfjellet. The coalfields are about wide in the east–west orientation, and about wide in the north–south direction. There are six seams, located at a ten to twenty degree angle towards the surface. The seam thickness varies from a few centimeters (about an inch) to . The varying thickness increased the complexity of mining. From the top the seams are named Ragnhil, Josefine, Otelie, Advokat, Sofie and Ester. Most of the latter three are located below sea level. Each shaft was named for the seam it connected to. The area has further been subdivided into areas: Eastern, Agnes, Eastern Center, Western Center, Western and Lagoon. Only three have seen production, the Agnes, Eastern Center and Western Center. The coal layers are part of a
Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...
formation created 65 million years ago. It is classified as
bituminous coal Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the coal seam, ...
and
cannel coal Cannel coal or candle coal is a type of bituminous coal, also classified as terrestrial type oil shale. Hutton(1987) Dyni (2006), pp. 3–4 Speight (2012), pp. 6–7 Due to its physical morphology and low mineral content cannel coal is considered ...
, with a high petroleum content (16–25 percent) and high sulphuric contents (2 percent). This is the same formation as the coal mines in
Longyearbyen Longyearbyen (, , "Longyear Town") is the world's northernmost settlements, northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000, and the capital and the largest inhabited area of Svalbard. It stretches along the foot of the left bank ( ...
and
Sveagruva Sveagruva (), or simply Svea, was a mining settlement in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, lying at the head of Van Mijenfjord. When occupied by the workers, it was the third largest settlement in the archipelago (after Longyearbyen and Ba ...
, but the Ny-Ã…lesund layer has been shifted in relation to these.


Transport and communications

Ny-Ã…lesund has a road network that connects the buildings at the settlement, but this network does not extend beyond the settlement.
Off-road Off-roading is the act of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, dirt, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, or other natural terrain. Off-roading ranges from casual drives with regular vehicles to competitive events w ...
motorized transport is prohibited on bare ground, but snowmobiles are used extensively during winter—both for commercial and recreational activities.Umbriet (1997): 63–67 Ny-Ålesund Harbour is operated by Kings Bay. In addition to serving the research community, it is open to commercial and recreational vessels. It has one large berth that is
International Ship and Port Facility Security Code The International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code is an amendment to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention (1974/1988) on Maritime security including minimum security arrangements for ships, ports and government agencies ...
compliant and is commonly used by cruise ships. To reach the Zeppelin Station, located at
above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
, there is an
aerial tramway An aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, cable car or aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, ropeway, téléphérique (French), or Seilbahn (German) is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary cables for support, with a third movin ...
that runs up Zeppelinfjellet. Ny-Ã…lesund Airport, Hamnerabben consists of a single long and wide gravel
runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...
, located northwest of the settlement. It features a
apron An apron is a garment worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body to protect from liquids. They have several purposes, most commonly as a functional accessory that protects clothes and skin from stains and marks. However, other typ ...
and aerodrome flight information service, but lacks a terminal and hangar facilities. Kings Bay charters Lufttransport to fly two to four weekly flights using a
Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. 245 were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics ...
aircraft to Svalbard Airport, Longyear. Tickets are only available after permission from Kings Bay. Svalbard Rocket Range is a launch site for
sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are often ...
s. Owned by Andøya Rocket Range, its high latitude makes it well-suited for launching rockets to investigate
Earth's magnetic field Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the magnetic field that extends from structure of Earth, Earth's interior out into space, where it interacts with the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from ...
. It is the world's northernmost launch site. From the implementation of the Svalbard Undersea Cable System in 2003 Ny-Ã…lesund had a twin 155
megabits per second In telecommunications, data transfer rate is the average number of bits (bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mul ...
microwave connection to Longyearbyen. Two redundant fiber pairs were laid in 2014, increasing capacity to 10 gigabits per second. The fiber line is owned by Uninett and cost NOK 90 million (roughly €9.2 million) to install. The
very-long-baseline interferometry Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) is a type of astronomical interferometry used in radio astronomy. In VLBI a signal from an astronomical radio source, such as a quasar, is collected at multiple radio telescopes on Earth or in space. T ...
station at Hamnerabben is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation in certain frequencies. Thus there is enforced a exclusion zone for devices transmitting at between 2.1 and 2.5 GHz. The ban includes mobile telephones,
Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...
,
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...
and other wireless devices. Telenor Maritim Radio operates a VHF maritime radio transmitted in Ny-Ålesund, which is remotely controlled from Bodø Radio.


Environment

Ny-Ã…lesund is located in a high-Arctic ecosystem within the
tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...
zone. It sits amid the richest fauna and flora areas of Svalbard, especially along the rim of Kongsfjord and particularly in its innermost parts. Some of the cliffs are heavily populated by birds; Ny-Ã…lesund is the archipelago's richest area for birds, especially
wader 245px, A flock of Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, ...
s. The Svalbard ptarmigan is the sole bird to winter. The vegetation is poor and vulnerable, mostly consisting of
lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...
. Mammals in the area include the
Svalbard reindeer The Svalbard reindeer (''Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus'') is a small subspecies or species of reindeer found on the Svalbard archipelago of Norway. Males average in weight, females , while for other reindeer generally body mass is for males a ...
, the
Arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small species of fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Tundra#Arctic tundra, Arctic tundra biome. I ...
and the
polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...
.Brekke: 6 All people in the settlement must carry rifles because of the bears, and all doors in town remain unlocked for the sake of people seeking cover in the event of an attack. There are three protected areas in the vicinity: Blomstrandhamna Bird Sanctuary, Kongsfjorden Bird Sanctuary and Ossian Sars Nature Reserve. The climate is mild for its northern latitude, due to the
North Atlantic Current The North Atlantic Current (NAC), also known as North Atlantic Drift and North Atlantic Sea Movement, is a powerful warm western boundary current within the Atlantic Ocean that extends the Gulf Stream northeastward. Characteristics The NAC ...
, which flows northwards from mainland Norway up the west coast of
Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...
. It also receives heat from the predominant high pressure fronts that bring warm air from the Atlantic to the
Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.World Wildlife Fund, 2008. It was known earlier among Russi ...
. The town has its lowest temperatures during March, at an average and a high average of during July. The sun does not set from 18 April to 24 August (
midnight sun Midnight sun, also known as polar day, is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When midnight sun is see ...
) and does not rise from 25 October to 17 February (
polar night Polar night is a phenomenon that occurs in the polar regions of Earth, northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth when the Sun remains below the horizon for more than 24 hours. This only occurs inside the polar circles. The opposite phen ...
). But there is no nautical twilight between December 11 to December 30, it only has 24 hour of darkness called astronomical twilight. The site is sufficiently isolated that it can be used to measure the background pollution levels in the high Arctic
troposphere The troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere of Earth. It contains 80% of the total mass of the Atmosphere, planetary atmosphere and 99% of the total mass of water vapor and aerosols, and is where most weather phenomena occur. From the ...
. The town has some of the cleanest air in the world.


Image gallery

File:Ny-Ã…lesund 2013 06 07 2305 (10178252673).jpg File:Ny-Ã…lesund 2013 06 07 2313 (10178365155).jpg File:Ny-Ã…lesund 2013 06 07 2304 (10178237266).jpg File:Ny-Ã…lesund 2013 06 07 3602 (10178426083).jpg File:Kongsfjorden 60.JPG File:Ny-Ã…lesund 2013 06 07 2328 (10178897465).jpg


See also

*
List of research stations in the Arctic A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
* The Ny-Ã…lesund Symposium


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ny Alesund Populated places in Svalbard Company towns in Norway Populated places established in 1916 1916 establishments in Norway