The History of Svalbard course (and its unexpected Royal visitor)

This week and the previous one, an excellent twenty-hour course on the history of Svalbard is being given at UNIS by Dr Thor B. Arlov, who is also the Pro-Rector for Research at NTNU (Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet) in Trondheim, Norway. The lectures take place every evening and are open to the Longyearbyen public as well.

During these two weeks, the Svalbard Museum allows the students who take this course to visit the expositions for free. It provides very interesting illustration of the different activities which brought people to Svalbard after its discovery by Willem Barentsz in 1596: whaling, hunting, coal mining, and ultimately research and tourism. One session focused on the development of scientific research on Svalbard, from Chichagov's expedition in 1764–1766 until the establishment of UNIS in 1993 and the installation of the first antenna of the EISCAT Svalbard Radar in 1996.

The (cosy) interior of a Russian trapper's house

The course also describes the expeditions to(wards) the North Pole which departed from Svalbard during the 19th and early 20th centuries, and it discusses the specific administration and status of the archipelago within the kingdom of Norway.

By the way, this week, Queen Sonja of Norway is in Longyearbyen and has been visiting many of the local facilities, including UNIS, the Kjell Henriksen Observatory and the Svalbard Museum. She even attended about half an hour of yesterday's course! And – mere coincidence – that part of the lecture dealt with... the process by which Svalbard was integrated into the kingdom of Norway, and how its local administration has been evolving, until the creation of the local council (lokalstyret) in 2002.

SGO's Advent Calendar

Today is the first day of Advent. It is also our first day in SGO without Iina Sirviö, who completed her bachelor thesis last Friday and therefore moved back to Jyväskylä for her studies.

But before leaving, as she knows that chocolate is generally a good remedy against yearning, she offered a nice Advent calendar to all of us.

SHARE THE CHOCOLATES

Now, all we need to do is find a fair way to share the chocolates equally, taking into account each one's trips and holidays.

Kiitos, Iina, ja nähdään pian!

Virkistyspäivä – "Refreshment Day"

On Wednesday, the staff of Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory spent a recreational day in Ahvenlampi, in Luosto. In Finnish, this is called virkistyspäivä. Weather permitting, outdoor activities are particularly popular in all seasons for such occasions.

Luckily, this was a dry day with slightly positive temperatures, which was particularly well suited for a treasure hunt designed in the same spirit as geocaching during the morning. The staff members were divided into three teams and had to find hints hidden around the pond.

The Virkistelijät team listening to the instructions before departure
Photo: M. Grandin

On their way, they collected sausage sticks, blue wool thread and some metal wire, which they needed to use to "fish" one of the last hints.

The Geotupeltajat team fishing
Photo: M. Grandin

Team work was strongly required to collect the final box containing the indications to find the treasure, which consisted in tikkupulla dough and The Password for lunch.

The Ryhmärymy team reaching the final box
Photo: M. Grandin

During the afternoon, the teams took part in a competition including several activities such as rubber boot throwing and a potato-in-a-spoon-in-the-mouth relay race.

The spoon-and-potato relay race
Photo: M. Grandin

After the competition, the participants all went to the laavu where they had coffee and made the tikkupullat ("stick buns", cooked above the fire). The final task consisted in a quiz about the observatory staff members, after which the points earned by each team were counted.

In the laavu
Photo: T. Ulich

This was a really pleasant and refreshing day, for which we warmly thank the best organiser ever, Iina Sirviö, who did a great job to make this event so memorable!

Ruska (including colours)

Here are a few color pictures of ruska in Tähtelä as well as other places in Sodankylä.

Ruska in Tähtelä

In Finnish Lapland, mid-September is well-known as the ruska time of the year, when leaves turn orange or red and the ground itself shows golden shades. It is the best time for mushroom and bilberry picking.

Scarlet trees are particularly gorgeous

Ruska only lasts for typically a few weeks. Mosquitos are (almost) gone, temperatures are still warm and days are still long, allowing very pleasant walks in forest. It is also the season when the hunting activities are increasing.

NO FREEZING TEMPERATURES

Every year, ruska occurs at the same period, as it is triggered by the drop in the daily amount of natural light reaching the trees. In Sodankylä (and therefore in Tähtelä), ruska reaches its climax during the second and third weeks of September (the official starting date and time are still actively debated). 

However, some years show a better ruska than others. To have a good ruska with outstandingly colourful displays, the air must be rather dry in late August and early September, and slightly freezing temperatures are required at night. This was not the case this year in Sodankylä, and leaves therefore tend to fall from the trees as soon as their colour changes. Yet, the landscapes still prove breathtaking.

Misty sunrise on the Kitinen river

In a week or so, most of the remaining leaves will start to fall. Then, after the equinoxe, days will become shorter and shorter; evenings will soon get darker and darker, nighttime temperatures will drop below zero. And within less than one month, there will be the first snow falls.

Winter is coming.

Pictures from Hailuoto

We are going to shamelessly ape the KAIRA blog and post not-so-scientific stuff once in a while especially on weekends. So for this Sunday we present some pictures from Hailuoto (map), an island near to Oulu, where I spent few days couple a weeks ago with Professor Markku Lehtinen in order to finalise our EISCAT3D reports.

It is an excellent place to retreat and to work without distractions.

Marjaniemi lighthouse and the former pilot station which is now a hotel and a restaurant.

Fisher boat on dry land

Sunset in Marjaniemi

Fishermen's huts. We rented two of those. No running water or bathrooms, but enough electricity for our computers.

All pictures by M.O.