Greenland Inland Ice Weather Stations: Encyclopedia Arctica 7: Meteorology and Oceanography

GREENLAND INLAND ICE WEATHER STATIONS

It has been recognized for many years that a knowledge of the atmospheric movements over the Greenland Icecap is necessary before an understandable picture of north Atlantic and western European weather can be obtained. Also, with Greenland lying athwart, or very near, many possible great circle air routes, the importance of accurate weather forecasts for that area has increased greatly.

In spite of the recognized need for data from inland ice stations to supple– ment that trim coastal stations, only twice have attempts been made to establish observing-reporting stations on the Greenland Icecap. Two observing, nonreporting stations were established in the central zone in 1930, but at only one of these were observations continued over a period of a complete year. An observing– reporting station was established between the eastern margin and the central sons in 1944. This station was in operation for less than a month.

Several contributing factors have been responsible for the lack of effort to accomplish such a worth-while project.

( 1 ) Access to the icecap through the marginal zone is extremely difficult for the necessary prime movers. ( 2 ) Satisfactory transportational facilities for large-scale operations to the interior have only recently reached an adequate state of perfection. (3) Many persons in authoritative positions have [: ] vetoed proposals to establish such stations because they believe that the station

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personnel would be subjected to a too hazardous form of life.

That such objections are now invalid was proved by the most recent attempt to establish inland ice stations in 1944 by members of the Ice Cap Detachment of the U.S. Army Air Forces. This undertaking will be described following a summary of earlier attempts.

Wegener’s Expedition, 1930-31

An exceptionally well planned and well organized German expedition under the leadership of Alfred Wegener established an icecap station, Eismitte, close to the geographic center of Greenland, in latitude 70°53′8″ N., longitude 40°42′1″ W., at an altitude of nearly 10,000 feet. The purpose of the station was to study and record the inland weather over a period of a year for correlation with records obtained simultaneously at stations which were established on the east and west coasts in approximately the same latitude. No means of communication between the central and coastal stations was provided.

The station was to have been equipped with a specially constructed, triple– walled tent about 9′ × 15′ weighing 1,000 pounds. Two or three men were to have occupied the station during the winter. However, the task of moving the supplies for Eismitte and the west coast stations from the shore up an outlet glacier to the edge of the inland ice was much greater than had been anticipated. Much valuable time that should have been available for the establishing of the inland stations was used up. Further the mechanized transport which had been counted upon to move the greater bulk of the equipment and supplies failed during the fall operations. As a consequence, all the supplies and equipment were transported on dog sledges. The first party with six loaded sledges arrived at the chosen location, 250 miles from the West Coast Station, on July 30, 1930.

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A second party with 10 sledges, 3,370 pounds of cargo, arrived on September 13. A third party with 3 teams arrived October 31, but had had to abandon all cargo along the trail and had to be provided with supplies for their return journey to the west coast. Wegener [: ] and the Greenlander, Rasmus Willumsen, perished on this return trip. The third member of the party, Dr. Fritz Loewe, was left at the inland station because he was suffering from severely frostbitten feet.

Eismitte was manned by Dr. Johannes Georgi alone from August 1 to September 13; by Georgi and Dr. Ernst Sorge from September 13 to October 31. From that date until May 9, 1931, Loewe, Sorge, and Georgi occupied the station, and from May 9, until July 24, Georgi again was alone.

The winter tent was not among the supplies delivered at Eismitte. The summer tent proved to be inadequate in subzero temperatures and quarters were moved into rooms excavated in the snow below the surface. (See illustrations) Short rations and insufficient fuel contributed to the great hardships [: ] endured by these men. Loewe spent most of the winter on a bed of pain. It was necessary to amputate the toes on both feet. This was done with improvised instruments and without benefit of an anesthetic.

Conditions under which the three men lived were the worst. The temperatures in the living quarters were subfreezing; on the floor −4° F., on the level of the table 14°, near the ceiling about 21°. The daily consumption of petroleum for lighting, cooking, and heating was restricted to 2-1/4 pints. On many winter days the stove was not lighted at all. The men were forced to remain in their sleeping bags most of the time in order to keep warm.

In spite of the great difficulties, these men kept a very complete record of

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the weather. Thrice-daily observations of temperature, pressure, wind velocity and direction, cloud type and coverage, and precipitation were made. In addi– tion, upper-air conditions were observed whenever possible. These included pilot balloon observations to determine direction and velocity of upper-air currents to heights as great as 41,000 feet above the surface, and upper-air temperatures with apparatus sent aloft on captive balloons to heights up to 2,500 feet.

Never before or since have been recorded weather data at an inland ice station in Greenland over a period of a complete year. The men on this expedi– tion proved that it could be done under the most adverse conditions.

British Arctic Air Route Expedition, 1930-31

Led by H. G. Watkins, a British expedition investigated the possibilities of the least known sections of a proposed air route from England to Canada via the Faroes, Iceland, Greenland, Baffin Island, and Hudson Bay in 1930-31. These sections were the east coast of Greenland and the [: ] central inland ice. A part of the plan included establishing a weather station at the crest of the inland ice along the proposed route. A station was established on the east coast 40 miles from Angmagssalik and the westward trail led from there up an outlet glacier to the inland ice. The station was established in latitude 67°03′ N., longitude 41°49′ W., about 140 miles inland at an elevation of 8,200 feet. Thus it was located about 270 miles south of Eismitte which was occupied at the same time.

The difficulties which hampered the operations of the Germans also were a bugbear to the British. The climb to the inland ice was treacherous and steep. Only with the greatest efforts were the sledges hauled the first 15 miles. Once on the inland ice conditions were better, but the trail parties were plagued with foul weather.

The first dog sledge party, composed of five men and three teams arrived at the site on the inland ice on August 29. The tent was erected and observations were begun on that date. The “station house consisted of a cone-shaped tent of canvas stretched over a wooden frame. It was of double thickness with an air space between the two layers of canvas. In the roof there was a small ventilating shaft. There was no entrance through the sides of the tent, but a tunnel was dug so that the entrance was underground. Since the entrance was below floor-level, none of the warm air could escape except through the ventilating shaft, and venti– lation could be altered as desired.”

Between August 29 and October 2, the station was manned by two men, Quintin Riley and Martin Lindsay. The second sledge party arrived on October 2, at which time the observers were relieved by E. W. Bingham and N. H. D’Aeth who carried on until relieved on December 3.

According to the original plan, the personnel at the inland station were to be changed each month. Nearly continuous blizzards made this plan unworkable. It took the second relief party 15 days to do the first 15 miles and 39 days to reach the station. The radio equipment for the inland base had been abandoned along the way and some of the supplies intended for that station had been con– sumed by the relief party. As a consequence, three choices were open: to abandon the station; to leave two men there until March; or one man could stay until May. The chance of a relief party getting through to the station by the first of March was remote and too risky. Augustine Courtauld volunteered to remain alone, and after much argument had his way. His lonely vigil on the central portion of the icecap began on December 6.

The station had been enlarged by erecting two iglus for storehouses. Thus

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all supplies were accessible without having to go above the surface. As later events proved, this was fortunate. Courtauld made the daily weather observations at regular intervals except when blizzard conditions prevented him doing so. His greatest difficulty was in keeping his hatchway exit clear. On March 22 he found that the drift had accumulated so deeply over his hatchway that he no longer could get out. From then on he was confined to his [: ] subterranean home. Except for pressures and subsurface temperatures he was unable to observe and record the weather elements. The strength of the wind was estimated from the magnitude of the noise in the ventilator pipe. The first party that went to relieve him was unable to locate the station. He was rescued by a party led by Watkins on May 5, 1931. On that day the last drop of his fuel was consumed and his supplies had nearly been exhausted.

The weather data has been extremely useful, particularly so as it can be correlated with that recorded at Eismitte during the same period. Courtauld proved that life on the icecap during the winter and alone was not impossible, but inadvisable.

U.S. Army Air Forces Ice Cap Detachment, 1943-1944

No further attempts to establish inland-ice weather stations were made until 1942. During the first three years after the entry of the United States into World War II the ice-caped island called Greenland played an important role in the battle for supremacy in the North Atlantic. Its importance as a site for weather stations was recognized by both the Allied nations and the Axis countries, and it was occupied by both sides until the fall of 1944, when the last of the German installations in northeastern Greenland was wiped out. During the interval when the fortunes of the Axis were on the upswing, it was necessary that Greenland be

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well fortified to guard against its being used as a take-off point for squadrons of planes on bombing missions to the east coast of North America. The role of the great island was indeed multiple: it was also used as a fueling point on the northern ferrying route after three fine airports had been constructed, one at the head of Narsarssuak Fjord, near the south tip of the island, one on the west coast on Söndre Strömfjord, and the third on the east coast at Ikateq, which is about 40 miles northeast of Angmagssalik.

The occupying forces of the United States established a network of weather stations around the southern half of the coast, with supplementary Danish– operated stations farther to the north on both coasts. The importance of multiple– purpose interior stations was recognized at an early date, and a unit was organized in 1942 to investigate possibilities on the icecap and to begin the occupation of the great white interior.

in order to cary carry out inland operations efficiently, it was first necessary to locate a highway through the rugged marginal zone over which supplies could be handily transported by dog team or over-snow mechanized vehicles. An air survey between Cape Farewell and Angmagssalik in the summer of 1942 revealed only one route of real promise. This led inland from a small peninsula in approxi– mate latitude 65° N. Accordingly, a small task force, under the command of C.A.K. Innes-Taylor, was transported to that locality by ships. A beachhead station was established on the peninsula on the east shore of a narrow bay, now named Comanche Bay.

It was found that the only serious obstacle on the trail to the inland ice was a hill immediately behind the beachhead; its 18° to 20° slopes were too steep to be climbed by either motor toboggans or the dog teams when pulling loaded sleds. The rest of the trail through the marginal zone to the edge of the inland ice, 16

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miles in all, was uphill and crossed by several sets of narrow crevasses, but presented no great obstacles to travel by dog teams or machines designed for travel over snow surfaces.

A marginal station was established at the 16-mile point, but was not used as a weather-reporting station. Too few men, woefully inadequate equipment, failure of the transportation, and unforeseen circumstances combined to defeat the unit in its attempt to establish one or more inland stations. In an attempt to rescue members of a crew of a plane which crashed on the icecap 50 miles from the marginal station, Max Demorest, who succeeded Innes-Taylor [: ] as commander of the unit, lost his life. The project was temporarily abandoned in April 1943.

The Ice Cap Detachment was activated in Jane 1943 to continue the work. The plan called for establishing three icecap stations which were to be located on the crest in latitudes 63°55′ N., 66°25′ N., and 67°55′ N. Permanent buildings were to be erected at each site and these weather observing-reporting stations each were to be manned by four men. For the transportation of equipment and supplies, the unit was provided with fifteen [: ] T-15-type over-snow vehicles. Two dog teams and six Elliason motor toboggans were furnished for reconnaissance purposes. John T. Crowell commanded the Detachment and F. Alton Wade was in charge of icecap operations.

A new base was established at Comanche Bay in August of 1943 on rook ex– posures above the crest of the steep first slope. All supplies were winched to that level, thereby eliminating the most difficult stage in the trail to the inland ice. An attempt was made to establish the central station in latitude 66°25′ N. during September. It was found that the T-15's were capable of hauling behind them on sledges loads of up to 3,000 pounds on the inland ice and the

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project was viewed with optimism, However, mechanical failures in the track sus– pension on the machines delayed operations and orders were issued by the Green– land Base Command to suspend operations until spring. It was believed that all members of the Detachment were required to secure and operate the coastal station at Comanche Bay. The unit was woefully undermanned for the work that was planned for it to do. The entire complement was only two officers, eighteen enlisted men, and a civilian dog driver.

Frequent blizzards with unusually high wind velocities curtailed all winter and spring operations. Soft, deep snowdrifts prevented the T-15's from travers– ing the marginal zone until June 1944. During that month, the first convoy of seven machines with a total pay load of over 10,000 pounds proceeded to a point 53 miles inland, where the loads were cached.

The unit received orders on June 30 to suspend all icecap operations. These were rescinded in part and the unit was permitted to carry on until August 1. Wade was determined to prove that it was possible to establihs a permanent-type weather station with comfortable living quarters on the inland ice, and the work proceeded with that thought in mind. A second convoy proceeded with loads to the cache at 53 miles. There a tent weather station, with H. G. Dorsey in charge, was established and weather reports were radioed to the Comanche base every six hours. Thus for the first time was established on the cap a weather– reporting station.

When the third convoy had deposited its cargo at 53, the specially constructed house was erected [: ] and the members of the weather unit took immediate possession. The exact location was latitude 65° 36′ N., longitude [: ] 41°15′ W. This was on July 19. A fourth convoy delivered additional supplies and equipment and a

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second building was erected and connected to the first by a covered passageway. (See illustration.)

The main building was one of ten special prefabricated shelters designed and constructed for use on the inland ice. It was expected that the building would become completely covered with snow during the first year and that additional snow would accumulate above it at the rate of about 3 feet per year.

The over-all dimensions of the building were 27′×10′1-1/4″ × 9′3/4″. It was constructed of 47 panels: 24 exterior wall panels, 3 interior wall [: ] panels, 10 floor panels, and 10 roof panels. It resembled a huge refrigerator. Each wall panel consisted of a well-braced frame constructed of 2″ × 6″ stock, covered on both outer and inner sides with 1/4″ plywood. Roof panels were similar but with framework of 2″ × 8″ stock. Floor panels were similar in construction to the wall panels, but with 1/2″ plywood on the inner floor surface. Panels were secured together with 5/8″ bolts. Pockets with removable covers were provided in each panel for inserting and tightening the bolts. The spaces within the panels were filled with glass-wool bats for insulation. Joint gaskets were placed between the panels. They consisted of 3 stitched plies of 15 oz. duck, formed to length and width required, impregnated and coated with water-proofing compound. One skylight was provided. It was constructed of multiple sheets of glass hermetically sealed to form air spaces.

A partition divided the interior into two rooms: one 5-1/2′ × 9′, and the second 20′ × 9′. Both doors were of the refrigerator type and were equipped with refrigator-type hardware. Battens and caulking compound were provided to cover and seal each joint. The surfaces to be exposed to the weather were painted with white cottonseed-oil gum paint. Interior walls and finishings were

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painted with one coat of aluminum paint. Each shelter was provided with an observation house, 8′ × 5′ × 7-1/4′, which was to be erected over the hatch in the roof of the small entry room. This house was provided with two windows and a door. It was reached from the interior by a ladder. The observation house was a unit in itself and could be raised above the roof as the snow level rose from year to year. Materials were provided for building and extending a shaft from the main house to the observatory. There was enough for a shaft 30′ long. Extra sections of smoke pipe and ventilation pipe were provided for use when a house became deeply buried. Materials were provided with each shelter for constructing two double bunks, one single bunk, a radio table and a work table. Complete sets of construction and maintenance tools were furnished with each house. A Findley Drive Range, Model 19, was furnished with each arctic shelter, and adequately insulated heater pads were provided for use under the stove and on the walls of the corner in which it stood. The complete arctic shelter minus the stove weighed 20,524 lbs. The heaviest single piece, a door, weighed 503 lbs. Total cubage — 1,230 cu. ft. Largest single piece, a door, 26 cu. ft.

Ten men were able to excavate a foundation hole, lay the sills and erect the shell of the building in about six hours. On the second day after the work was started it was ready for occupancy. Although the building was occupied for only two weeks, it was found that it could be heated evenly and economically and that the ventilating system provided adequate air circulation. One building of this type was erected at the Comanche Bay station and was used as a radio station and quarters for four men for a year. It proved to be most satisfactory.

The second building at the base was constructed of crating boards and covered with heavy tarpaulins. It was 7′ × 9′, had a gabled roof, and was 7′ high at the ridge. It was used to house the eletrict generator and some of the supplies. The two buildings were connected by a passageway about 6′ long which consisted of a strong wooden framswork tightly covered with tarpaulins. This passageway served as a storeroom also.

This station was abandoned August 1, 1944. No apparatus, equipment, or supplies were removed from it as it was hoped that it would be possible to man it at some future date.

Recapitulation

Analyses of the weather data recorded at Eismitte and the supplementary data at the British station have indicated that weather reports from inland ice stations in Greenland would be of inestimable value for forecasting purposes. Further, it was shown that the theory of the pulsating anticyclonic circulation of the air which had been proposed from data accumulated at coastal stations rarely held true and that more observations over longer periods of time at central stations were necessary before good working hypotheses and rules could be formulated. The work of the Ice Cape Detachment has shown that the great obstacles to the establishment of permanent, satisfactory stations on the inland ice have been over– come. A not too difficult trail through the marginal zone was found and used successfully. New types of over-snow mechanized vehicles can transport the great quantities of equipment and supplies satisfactorily from coast to station sites on the inland ice. With such transportation, heavy but adequate and comfortable buildings can be erected anywhere on the icecap. The pioneer stage is completed. Practical inland ice stations can now be installed.

F. Alton Wade