Eismitte, also called Mid-Ice in English, was a

meteorological station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...

established, in the middle of the

Greenland Ice Sheet The Greenland ice sheet is an ice sheet which forms the second largest body of ice in the world. It is an average of thick and over thick at its maximum. It is almost long in a north–south direction, with a maximum width of at a latitude ...

, by the 1930-31 German Greenland Expedition. The venture took place from July 1930 until August 1931, and established three Arctic stations on the same parallel. The expedition leader,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

scientist

Alfred Wegener Alfred Lothar Wegener (; ; 1 November 1880 – November 1930) was a German climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and polar researcher. During his lifetime he was primarily known for his achievements in meteorology and ...

, died during a trip back from Eismitte, in early November 1930. The station was abandoned on 1 August 1931.The German Greenland Expedition 1930–1931
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Location

The name "Eismitte" means ''Ice-Middle'' in

, and the campsite was located from the coast at an estimated altitude of . The coldest temperature recorded at the site was on 20 March 1931, while the warmest temperature noted was on 9 July 1931. For the 12-month period beginning 1 August 1930 and ending 5 August 1931, the warmest month, July, had a mean monthly temperature of . while the coldest month, February, averaged . Over the same period a total of of water-equivalent

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

was recorded, with most of it being received in Winter. At the latitude of the camp, the sun does not set between 13 May and 30 July each year, and does not rise between 23 November and 20 January.

Wintering

Ernst Sorge was a member of Alfred Wegener's expedition. Together with Johannes Georgi he stayed in Eismitte from July 1930 to August 1931. Fritz Loewe stayed from October 1930 to May 1931. Sorge hand-dug a 15 m deep pit adjacent to his subterranean snow cave, which served as living quarters during the seven-month-long overwintering. Sorge systematically and quantitatively studied the near-surface snow/firn strata from inside his pit. After examination of the structural features and measurement of continuous density and other physical properties within the pit profile, he determined the characteristics of the individual limits of annual snow accumulation. This research validated the feasibility of measuring the preserved annual snow accumulation cycles, like measuring frozen precipitation in a rain gauge.

Climate

Eismitte is one of the coldest locations in the Northern Hemisphere, with an annual mean temperature of having been recorded during the period of the expedition that established it. Eismitte has a polar

ice cap climate An ice cap climate is a polar climate where no mean monthly temperature exceeds . The climate generally covers areas at high altitudes and Polar regions of Earth, polar regions (60–90° north and south latitude), such as Antarctica and some of ...

. The weather station was run for approximately one year; the weather record thus is very sparse. The

Summit Camp Summit Camp, also known as Summit Station, is a year-round staffed research station near the apex of the Greenland ice sheet. The station is located at above sea level. The population of the station is typically five in wintertime and reac ...

station slightly to the north has a similar climate with a much longer period of record.

References

External links

* Hourly meteorological observations at station Eismitte by Johannes Georgi (). {{Authority control History of Greenland 1930 in science 1931 in science Meteorological stations

Location

Wintering

Climate

See also

References

External links