Diversity of climatic and bioclimatic conditions during the second International Polar Year (1932-1933) in northern Canada

International Polar Years (IPY) are a series of scientific and research expeditions organised and coordinated by the International Council for Science and the World Meteorological Organization, during which information is collected on the Earth's polar regions. The research has demonstrated the key importance of polar regions in shaping weather and climate at lower latitudes.

This paper presents the diversity of climatic and bioclimatic conditions during the second IPY (1932-33) in northern Canada. These conditions are presented for the Coppermine, Chesterfield, Cope Hope Advance, Nain and Makkovik stations. The material (air temperature and wind speed) used for the times of the second IPY comes from the Canadian Polar Year (1940) for the first three above-mentioned stations and from Climate Data (2022) for the remaining two. The meteorological measurements in Nain and Makkovik were taken by Moravian Missionaries who conducted religious missions in this area. The historical results during the second IPY were compared with the reference period (1991–2020) from contemporary meteorological stations (Kugluktuk, Chesterfield, Kangirsuk and Nain). Data for the modern period come from Historical Climate Data, Government of Canada  https://climate.weather.gc.ca/.

The study analysed two biometeorological indexes: wind chill temperature (WCT) and predicted clothing insulation (Iclp). Apparent cold and the extent of frostbite risk to the human body were assessed using the WCT. On the other hand, the thermal insulation of clothing required for a person to maintain thermal equilibrium in a given set of meteorological conditions was estimated using the Iclp index. Both biometeorological indices were calculated using BioKlima 2.6 software (https://www.igipz.pan.pl/bioklima-crd.html).

The work was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland, project No. 2020/39/B/ST10/00653.

 

Reference:

Climate Data from the Overseas Stations of the Deutsche Seewarte (German Marine Observatory) in Canada, 2022, DWD, Marine Climate Monitoring, Hamburg.

Canadian Polar Year Expeditions 1932-33, Meteorology, 1940, Division of Meteorological Services of Canada, Volume I, Ottawa.