Meteorological observations from German military weather stations on Svalbard, 1941–1945

<p>During World War II, the German Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe operated a series of weather stations on Svalbard between 1941 and 1945 to obtain information on synoptic weather situations in the Arctic. These activities also included some of the first automatic weather stations. With a few exce...

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Main Author: B.-M. Sinnhuber
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Copernicus Publications 2024-12-01
Series:Polarforschung
Online Access:https://polf.copernicus.org/articles/92/33/2024/polf-92-33-2024.pdf
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author B.-M. Sinnhuber
author_facet B.-M. Sinnhuber
author_sort B.-M. Sinnhuber
collection DOAJ
description <p>During World War II, the German Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe operated a series of weather stations on Svalbard between 1941 and 1945 to obtain information on synoptic weather situations in the Arctic. These activities also included some of the first automatic weather stations. With a few exceptions, the meteorological observations from these military stations are regarded as lost. Most of these observations could now be retrieved from weather maps of the German Zentrale Wetterdienstgruppe (ZWG) that are preserved in the archives of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD). Reports of surface pressure and temperature have been digitized for the military weather stations Bansö in 1941/42, Knospe in 1941/42, Nussbaum in 1942/43, Kreuzritter in 1943/44, and Svartisen in 1943/44 and for automatic weather stations operated on Svalbard. These data can help to close the existing gap in the Svalbard climate record for 1941–1945 and to provide additional observational constraints for future climate reanalysis. These data also provide a new perspective on the history of the German meteorological activities in the Arctic during World War II by showing the impact these observations had on the meteorological analyses. In this sense, this paper also tries to bridge the gap between climate research and history.</p>
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spelling doaj-art-13b95956e629436b8c8cc9aa5132b77a2024-12-06T07:00:07ZdeuCopernicus PublicationsPolarforschung0032-24902190-10902024-12-0192334510.5194/polf-92-33-2024Meteorological observations from German military weather stations on Svalbard, 1941–1945B.-M. Sinnhuber0Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research IMK-ASF, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany<p>During World War II, the German Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe operated a series of weather stations on Svalbard between 1941 and 1945 to obtain information on synoptic weather situations in the Arctic. These activities also included some of the first automatic weather stations. With a few exceptions, the meteorological observations from these military stations are regarded as lost. Most of these observations could now be retrieved from weather maps of the German Zentrale Wetterdienstgruppe (ZWG) that are preserved in the archives of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD). Reports of surface pressure and temperature have been digitized for the military weather stations Bansö in 1941/42, Knospe in 1941/42, Nussbaum in 1942/43, Kreuzritter in 1943/44, and Svartisen in 1943/44 and for automatic weather stations operated on Svalbard. These data can help to close the existing gap in the Svalbard climate record for 1941–1945 and to provide additional observational constraints for future climate reanalysis. These data also provide a new perspective on the history of the German meteorological activities in the Arctic during World War II by showing the impact these observations had on the meteorological analyses. In this sense, this paper also tries to bridge the gap between climate research and history.</p>https://polf.copernicus.org/articles/92/33/2024/polf-92-33-2024.pdf
spellingShingle B.-M. Sinnhuber
Meteorological observations from German military weather stations on Svalbard, 1941–1945
Polarforschung
title Meteorological observations from German military weather stations on Svalbard, 1941–1945
title_full Meteorological observations from German military weather stations on Svalbard, 1941–1945
title_fullStr Meteorological observations from German military weather stations on Svalbard, 1941–1945
title_full_unstemmed Meteorological observations from German military weather stations on Svalbard, 1941–1945
title_short Meteorological observations from German military weather stations on Svalbard, 1941–1945
title_sort meteorological observations from german military weather stations on svalbard 1941 1945
url https://polf.copernicus.org/articles/92/33/2024/polf-92-33-2024.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT bmsinnhuber meteorologicalobservationsfromgermanmilitaryweatherstationsonsvalbard19411945