Remote Locations Around the World

2014-03-03 19:28:27.000 – Mike Dorfman,  Weather Observer

The Sphinx Observatory

We love to pride ourselves in our isolation and extreme weather, but there are a handful of other locations around the world that are similar to the Observatory in terms of extreme weather and remoteness. Here are just a few of them:

Summit Camp: This isolated camp on the Greenland Ice Sheet is constantly moving around with the glacier it sits on. In addition to observing the weather, they perform year-round research projects.

Sphinx Observatory: This location serves as an astronomical observatory, meteorological observatory and research station for scientists looking to do just about anything at high altitude in extreme environments. Perched atop a peak near the Jungfrau in Switzerland, it is only accessible by a train which travels up the mountain through a series of tunnels.

South Pole Station: There are various stations in Antarctica, including the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Although it may not seem like it’s located on a mountain, the station has an altitude of over 9000 feet above sea level! This is not due to mountains but instead extremely thick glacial ice covering the continent.

Although Wikipedia isn’t the most trustworthy sources, it is helpful to get a general idea of a topic. If you want an interesting article on earth’s extreme locations, visit here.

What makes the Mount Washington Observatory special, and very different from all of these other organizations, is that we’re a non-profit that relies on receiving the majority of our funding from our members and other generous donors, not grants or the government. That gives us more flexibility to pursue our mission – to advance the understanding of the natural systems that create the Earth’s weather and climate by maintaining its mountaintop weather station, conducting research and educational programs and interpreting the heritage of the Mount Washington region.

Mike Dorfman,  Weather Observer