North Pole Weather Data from 2002 Deployment

In April 2002, PMEL deployed instrumentation and one web cam on an ice floe at the North Pole. The 2002 web cam failed when winter cold and darkness fell over the North Pole in September 2002. The ice floe continued to drift and the 2002 instrumentation is still transmitting data, which is shown on this page. Note that new instrumentation and two new Web Cams were deployed at the North Pole, on a different ice floe, in April 2003. Data from the 2003 instrumentation is available on North Pole Weather Data from 2003 Deployment.

Weather data plot
Ice-temperature plot
Map of station drift

Weather plot: This plot presents incoming short-wave solar radiation measured by one of the radiometer buoys, along with air temperature, air pressure, and winds measured by the meteorological station.

Weather plot of incoming short-wave solar radiation

Latest data (updated approximately weekly)     


Ice-temperature plot: Plot of air, ice, and ocean temperature as measured by one of the PMEL/CRREL Mass Balance Buoys. One of these buoys is visible just to the right of the weather station. Initially, a little more than 50 cm of the thermistor string was above the ice, and about 160 cm of the thermistor string was in the water. (This buoy is no longer transmitting. The last data received are from March 1, 2003.)

CRREL plot of air, ice, and ocean temperature


Map of station drift: Drift of the North Pole station since its deployment near 88.5 N in late April 2002. Station location is derived from the Global Positioning System (GPS). (The weather station stopped transmitting on June 25, 2003 when its floe was crushed or melted off eastern Greenland.)

North Pole Station drift

Click here to calculate sunrise/sunset times for any location on the earth.

More Information :

• Web cam Home and Acknowledgments
• Daylight and Darkness at the North Pole
• All images 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
• Moods of the North Pole 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
• About the environment                 2003 2002
• About the instruments 2011 2010   2008       2004 2003 2002
• About the web cam(s) 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005   2003 2002
• Weather data 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

NSF The North Pole Web Cam is part of the North Pole Environmental Observatory, a joint National Science Foundation-sponsored effort by the Polar Science Center, / APL / UW, the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory / NOAA, the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center, Oregon State University, and Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory. Polar Science Center