Stations

Antarctic
Arctic

Station

Camp

Shelter

Laboratory

Station

Camp

Shelter

Laboratory

Background

Station code	SIOS1
Facility Name	Hopen Meteorological Station
Website	http://hopenmeteo.no/
Location	Arctic
Current status of facility	Open
Type	Station
Operating country	Norway
INTERACT Status	None
First opened/Opening year	1947
Operational period	Year-Round

Introduction

Facility name and Operator	Hopen Meteorological Station operated by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute
Location	The station is located on the eastern shore of the island of Hopen, which is part of the Svalbard archipelago and is around 200km east of Spitsbergen.
Biodiversity and natural environment	High Arctic rocky island with tundra vegetation, bird colonies, arctic fox and marine mammals.
History and Facilities	Hopen has a history as a base for walrus hunting. The first meteorological station was established during the 2nd world war. It was established as a permanent meteorological station in 1947 and has been operated continuously by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute since then. It has a crew of 4 people which changes every 6 months. The crew is responsible for the day to day operations and weather observations. In addition to the main station building which houses the crew there is a guest cabin, workshops, a boat house, a helipad and modern communications equipment.
General research and databases	The main focus is on weather observations which are collected every three hours. During the winter daily sea ice observations are made as well as weekly sea ice thickness measurements. Wildlife observations are recorded and reported to the Governor of Svalbard. Various additional instrumentation is hosted on behalf of other institutions, including: northern lights observatory, seismic monitoring, GPS receivers and AIS. Hopen also serves as a support facility for search and rescue operations and fuel depot. All weather data is freely available via the Norwegian Meteorological Institute's eKlima service.
Human dimension	The station is isolated and there is no human population on the island other than the station crew. The nearest human settlement, Longyearbyen, is 300km away.
Access	Hopen is accessible by boat and helicopter. Travel around the island is possible on foot and by boat.

Operator

Facility operator/manager	Norwegian Meteorological Institute
Type of entity	Government
Institution managing/operating the facility	Norwegian Meteorological Institute
Contact facility	hopen@met.no
Website (operator/manager)	https://www.met.no/en

Data Source

Name of contact person

seklima.met.no/observations/

Partner Institution

Partnership

No data

Location

Station code	SIOS1
Geographical coordinates - Latitude	76° 30' 33'' N
Geographical coordinates - Longitude	25° 0' 58'' E
Region	European Arctic
Altitude of facility (m)	4
Min. altitude within study area (m)	0
Max. altitude within study area (m)	370
Nearest town/settlement	Longyearbyen
Distance to nearest town/settlement (km)	300
Distance to nearest transport facility (airstrip/helipad/dock - km)	0
Distance to nearest station (km)	250
Type of surface facility built on	Other
Other type of surface	Permafrost

Climate

Permafrost	Continuous
Climate zone	High Arctic
Precipitation type	Snow and Rain
Total annual precipitation (mm)	438
Dominant wind direction	No data
Period of temperature measurements	1944
Mean annual temperature (°C)	-6.4
Mean temperature in January (°C)	-14.1
Mean temperature in February (°C)	-13.7
Mean temperature in March (°C)	-13.7
Mean temperature in April (°C)	-11.3
Mean temperature in May (°C)	-4.7
Mean temperature in June (°C)	-0.4
Mean temperature in July (°C)	1.9
Mean temperature in August (°C)	2.3
Mean temperature in September (°C)	0.7
Mean temperature in October (°C)	-3.3
Mean temperature in November (°C)	-8.6
Mean temperature in December (°C)	-12.2

Features

Features in the facility area

Bird colonies; Clear air zone; Coast; Fauna; Rivers; Rock; Sea; Sea ice; Tundra

Disciplines

Main science disciplines

Meteorology

Human Activities

Human activity	No
History of human presence in the area	History of science and hunting expeditions. Station manned since 1947.
Long term monitoring	Yes
Waste management	Yes
Hazard[ous] management	Yes
Fuel spill response capability	Yes

Infrastructure

Station code	SIOS1
Type of scientific laboratories	None
Number of beds	3
Showers	Yes
Laundry facilities	Yes
Power supply (type)	Fossil fuel

Staff Capacity

Number of staff on station (peak/summer season)	4
Number of staff on station (off peak/winter season)	4

Scientific Equipment

Long-term monitoring/observations

Weather

Medical Facilities

Medical facilities	No
Distance to hospital (km)	300
Compulsory safety equipment	Polar bear protection
Medical research capabilities	No

Vehicles

Workshop facilities

Wood workshop

Communications

Satellite phone; VHF

Access

Station code	SIOS1
Access	Air; Sea

Aircraft landing facilities

Helipad

Yes

Transport and freight

Transport to facility

Helicopter; Ship

Access To The Facility

Permits required for access to the facility	Permission to access is required from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
Permits required for studies	Various permits are required depending on the nature of the work
Contact person	Thomas Olsen
Email contact	thomas.olsen@met.no
Website (operator/manager)	met.no