This report is based on data taken at two stations on Barentsøya in south-east Svalbard.“Wurzburger Hütte” is at a height of 16 m. and “Hohenstaufen” at 402 m. above sea-level on the north side of Freemansundet. The data are condensed in the appendix into two tables. The first is in the form of a weather log which gives pressure, temperature, dew point, wind direction and speed, and amount and type of cloud at about 08.00, 13.00 and 21.00 hr. for the period 24 June to 28 August 1960. The second gives the actual temperatures recorded at the two stations at the same hours during July and August. Two graphs in the appendix compare these data with similar data from the two permanent stations in Vestspitsbergen at Isfjord Radio and Longyearbyen.
The report is in two sections. The first covers 28 p. and describes in detail the weather experienced in the Svalbard area. The two months when the expedition was at Barentsr ya are divided into fifteen weather periods during which there was a general alternation between high and low pressure systems. The resultant changes in the various meteorological elements, particularly cloud, circulation, sunshine and temperature, are explained in terms of the surface pressure and the 500 mb. contour charts. The eleven photographs at the end of the paper show some of the cloud types experienced.
The second section of the report is only 15 p. long and compares the polar summer in south-east Svalbard with the weather in Vestspitsbergen. This comparison shows the effect of the synoptic situation and topography.
On the synoptic scale, differences in wind direction between east and west Svalbard are stated, rather obviously, to be due to the relief in Freemansundet. At the Barentsoya stations rising temperatures were generally associated with south-west winds due to the passage of lows and their fronts across the area. Similarly low temperatures occurred with the east-northeast winds of highs and ridges.
Next the author describes local differences in temperature and cloudiness, and he compares his results with those of previous expeditions since 1912. Throughout most of the twentieth century, July has been warmer than August in Svalbard, and this was also true for 1960. Temperature differences between the two Barentsøya stations are due entirely to height. “Wurzburger Hütte” was warmer on average and experienced a smaller range of temperature. However, the range of extreme temperatures recorded at the two stations showed that it was greater at “Hohenstaufen” in July and at the lower station in August. This was due to low cloud and fog at the latter.
The main criticism of the paper is the disproportionate length between the two main sections. The reviewer feels that more emphasis could have been placed on the actual results of the expedition. Also, these could have been presented in a more conventional tabular form. Minor criticisms are the fact that two units of pressure are used. Surely the pressure data of the expedition which are reported in mm. could have been converted to millibars, particularly as all the surface maps and the Vestspitsbergen data are given in the latter units. Finally, the reviewer would have preferred the location map (Fig. 24) at the beginning of the paper and for it to have incorporated some indication of relief and the position of Isfjord Radio and Kapp Lee.
