Aeronautics -- Flights; Arctic regions; North Pole
I cannot judge by personal examination because when twelve hours later
we ourselves arrived up at Danskeöen on board the “Fram” there was not
a sign of fog to be seen. But I am inclined to believe that the fog
has been composed of a layer of certain low-lying clouds, which had
often been seen by us at the beginning of May while we were lying in
Syd Gat waiting for suitable weather for the expedition’s start. These
clouds will often just form suddenly when a cold wind blows from the
polar ice towards the open sea. The moment the air arrives over the
first water-lanes or open sea it gets heated from below. The heated
layer rises above and whilst ascending forms clouds. Other colder
parts of the air then come into contact with the water, get heated and
rise also forming clouds, etc. According to the observations which we
had occasion to make at Danskeöen in the beginning of May, the lower
surface of these clouds is about 200 meters from the ground. Below this
there is generally a thick mist of fine snow which reduces atmospheric
visibility and will certainly be very disturbing for flying. Luckily
these clouds do not reach to any great height, seldom over 1,000
meters, so that one can easily fly above them. Besides, one can count
on their not forming further north than where one finds open water
channels of fairly large dimensions. It is therefore not _too_ risky to
undertake a flight above the cloud-belt towards clearer weather farther
north.
The polar flyers took this risk, and quite rightly too. After two
hours’ flight from Danskeöen going northwards there were no clouds, and
on the remainder of the flight there was nothing that obscured the view
over the polar ice.
The expedition has here made a meteorological reconnaissance of great
importance to all later flying explorations in the Arctic.
If a cold wind blows from the Pole one must reckon with the formation
of a low cloud belt over the wider water channels, even if it is
cloudless nearer the Pole. These clouds will form at all seasons of the
year, but perhaps mostly in the colder periods, when the difference in
temperature between ice and sea is greatest.
The landing took place in a light wind, therefore probably near to the
center of the high pressure region, which covers the Arctic Sea. On the
way into the high pressure region the wind, however, must have been
considerably stronger as is shown by the very considerable deviation
of 250 kilometers on an eight hours’ flight. In the middle period of
the flight it must therefore have been thirty kilometers per hour,
which is considerably more than the pilot observations over King’s Bay
had shown, namely, twenty kilometers per hour. The aeroplanes must
have flown, therefore, through a zone with strong northeasterly winds
blowing north of Spitzbergen, and then later come into calmer wind
conditions nearer the Pole.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account