Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL)
Address
Department of Physics & Atmospheric ScienceDalhousie University
PO BOX 15000
Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
Station manager
James DrummondE-mail: james.drummond@dal.ca
Station Features
Opening year: 2005 Status: OpenFacilities
Station name and owner
Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) operated by the Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change (CANDAC) - an informal university and government consortium. The PEARL Ridge Laboratory building is owned and maintained by Environment Canada and the 0PAL and SAFIRE buildings are owned and maintained by the University of Toronto. Research equipment in the buildings is owned by various university and government organisations.
Location
PEARL is located adjacent to the Environment Canada Weather Station at Eureka, Nunavut, Canada. PEARL operates three facilities: (i) The PEARL Ridge Laboratory (80°03’ N, 86°24’ W, 610 m a.s.l.), (ii) the Zero-Altitude PEARL Auxiliary Laboratory (0PAL) (79°59’ N, 85°56’ W, 10 m a.s.l.), and (iii) the Surface and Atmospheric Flux, Irradiance, Radiation Extension Site (SAFIRE) (79°59’ N, 85°48’ W, 73 m a.s.l.). The area is a land reserve of the Federal government under Environment Canada. The station is situated on the shores of Slidre Fjord. There is no local permanent settlement in the area.
Climate data
Grey colours are WMO Climate Normals including maximum and minimum values. Blue colours are individual years.
Climate data for the stations where extracted via Copernicus Climate Data Store, from the global gridded reanalysis product: ERA5 monthly averaged data on single levels from 1940 to present. Description and source code: Roemer J.K. 2023. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10214922 Data Source: Hersbach et al. 2023. Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS), https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.f17050d7
Biodiversity and natural environment
The area around PEARL is an arctic desert. The whole area is underlain by permafrost which is exposed in places. The micro-climate is exceptionally mild for this latitude (maximum temperature: 20 °C, minimum temperature: -55 °C). Wildlife includes wolves, muskox, arctic fox, and some caribou as well as migratory birds.
History and facilities
The Weather Station at the site has operated for over 60 years. The first research building was constructed in the early 1990s, and PEARL itself was inaugurated in 2006. The laboratories provide housing, facilities for atmospheric (and other) research, instruments, and workshops for maintenance and repair the instruments. Currently there are about 25 instruments operating at the site. Telephone and internet (via geostationary satellite) are available, but with limited bandwidth due to cost. The facility can accommodate 20-40 people at any time of the year.
General research and databases
The major emphasis at PEARL is on atmospheric research. The original purpose of the installation was to monitor stratospheric ozone, and although that work is still ongoing, the research has now broadened in scope to encompass the entire atmosphere and beyond. Current measurements include ozone and associated chemicals in the stratosphere as well as the troposphere, aerosols and particulates, radiation and fluxes and upper atmosphere temperatures, winds, and waves. Other research groups including biologists, astronomers, and geologists regularly make use of the nearby Eureka Weather Station as a base. Measurements are regularly submitted to the NDACC, TCCON, and AeroNet databases.
Station Monitoring
Human dimension
There is no local community. The nearest permanent facilities are the military base at Alert on the north side of Ellesmere Island and the community of Grise Fjord in southern Ellesmere Island. Both of these are about 450 km from PEARL.
Access
Access to the station is by chartered aircraft only, but the site can be accessed at any time of the year. Charter flights can be organised from Iqaluit, Resolute Bay, and Yellowknife. There is an annual sea-lift for bringing in larger equipment and goods. Transport around the site is by 4×4 truck. Many of the instruments on the site are adapted for automatic or semi-automatic operation to reduce the need for on-site support.
