John harry enggaard,uarctic bcs 311, assignment 1 due 5th of okt 2012. ins…

“A Nuuk introduction”

By John Harry Enggaard, Greenland University, BCS 311 Assignment 1 Instructor , LeeAnn Fishback, BCS 311 A1 – Land & environment

The culturehouse Katuaq

The world’s northernmost capital, with a population of aprox. 16.000 citizens. Founded by Hans Egede 29th of august ,1728 and named Godthåb, now Nuuk. The house of Hans Egede still stands today.The municipality is called Sermersooq and is the second largest in the world. It is governed by mayor, Aasi Chemnitz Narup. Postal code for Nuuk is 3900Nuuk covers an area of aprox. 265 square miles(690km2)

We define the circumpolar North as that portion of the northern hemisphere lying north of the 55th parallel of latitude

The circumpolar north is divided into three categories :

• the Subarctic zone(55–60degrees north latitude)• the Arctic zone (60–75degrees north latitude)• the Polar zones (75–90degrees north latitude)

Nuuk is situated in the arctic zone, with summer average temperatures not higher than 10 degress celsius, which is another definition on the arctic area.

Nuuk Coordinates: 64°10′30″N 51°44′20″W

Current Weather in Nuuk

in 230 ft / 70 m AltitudeLast Updated on October 4, 11:50 AM WGSTlight snowTemperature: 32 °F (0 °C) / Windchill: -3.6 °CWind speed: 7.00 mph / 11.27 km/hRel.Humidity: 100 %Pressure: 1017 mbar = hPa

© Weather Underground NOAA Weather Station

The best website in english with basic information about Nuuk is on wikipedia. It gives a fine broad description on what Nuuk is all about. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuuk

Another more mainstream site, but still interesting is :

http://www.greenland.com/en/explore-greenland/capital-region.aspx(This website just received an “oscar” for worlds best tourismsite)

I think these two website locations gives both actual reliable information about Nuuk plus more cultural oriented information and approaches to other websites and institutions in Greenland.

Nuuk is situated in a polar climate area in the arctic zone. According to KG climate classification below, Nuuk is classified in a “ET” climate zone.

Regions with a polar climate are characterized by a lack of warm summers (specifically, no month having an average temperature of 10 °C (50 °F) or higher). Regions with polar climate cover over 20% of the Earth. The sun shines 24 hours in the summer, and barely ever shines at all in the winter (see midnight sun and polar night). Polar climate results in treeless tundra, glaciers, or a permanent or semi-permanent layer of ice.

Nuuk Greenland Annual Temperature Graph

Nuuk Greenland Yearly Precipitation Graph

Climate data for NuukMonth Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Record high °C (°F)

11(52)

11(52)

12(54)

13(55)

16(61)

23(73)

24(75)

22(72)

17(63)

18(64)

14(57)

15(59)

24(75)

Average high °C (°F)

−4.6(23.7)

−4.7(23.5)

−5.1(22.8)

−1.2(29.8)

3.1(37.6)

7.0(44.6)

9.9(49.8)

9.3(48.7)

6.0(42.8)

1.4(34.5)

−1.3(29.7)

−3.5(25.7)

1.4(34.5)

Average low °C (°F)

−10(14)

−10.7(12.7)

−10.7(12.7)

−6.3(20.7)

−1.7(28.9)

1.1(34.0)

3.5(38.3)

3.5(38.3)

1.4(34.5)

−2.7(27.1)

−5.9(21.4)

−8.6(16.5)

−3.9(25.0)

Record low °C (°F)

−29(−20)

−27(−17)

−28(−18)

−21(−6)

−12(10)

−6(21)

−2(28)

−3(27)

−8(18)

−14(7)

−18(0)

−26(−15)

−29(−20)

Precipitation mm (inches)

40(1.57)

47(1.85)

49(1.93)

47(1.85)

55(2.17)

62(2.44)

87(3.43)

85(3.35)

89(3.5)

66(2.6)

73(2.87)

74(2.91)

774(30.47)

Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm)

9 9 10 9 9 8 10 9 12 10 11 10 116

Mean monthly sunshine hours

31 84 186 240 186 150 186 124 90 62 30 0 1,369

Source #1: World Meteorological Organization (UN)[15]

Source #2: BBC Weather

FIG 1

Date Sunrise Sunset Length Change Dawn Dusk Length Change

Today 07:49 18:40 10:51 07:01 19:28 12:27

+1 day

07:52 18:37 10:4500:06

shorter07:04 19:24 12:20

00:07 shorter

+1 week

08:10 18:16 10:0600:45

shorter07:21 19:04 11:43

00:44 shorter

+2 week

s08:31 17:51 9:20

01:31 shorter

07:41 18:41 11:0001:27

shorter

+1 mont

h08:22 15:58 7:36

03:15 shorter

07:27 16:53 9:2603:01

shorter

+2 mont

hs09:55 14:40 4:45

06:06 shorter

08:42 15:53 7:1105:16

shorter

+3 mont

hs10:16 14:47 4:31

06:20 shorter

09:01 16:02 7:0105:26

shorter

+6 mont

hs06:30 20:31 14:01

03:10 longer

05:39 21:23 15:4403:17

longer

As we see in fig. 1. (measured from this day, the 5th of oktober 2012)

Nuuk has a total daylight on 10.51min.

In 3 months the total of daylight will be 4.31min.

The closer we come to the north pole the less daylight we see .

.

The monthly average amount of the total solar radiation incident on a horizontal surface at the surface of the earth for a given month, averaged for that month over the 22-year period (Jul 1983 - Jun 2005). Each monthly averaged value is evaluated as the numerical average of 3-hourly values for the given month. Source:NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center.

Nuuk/ Greenland - Solar energy and surface meteorology

Variable

I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII

Insolatio

n, kWh/m²/day

0.11 0.54 1.35 2.71 4.24 5.33 5.24 3.83 2.42 1.05 0.26 0.0

Drinking water reservoirs in Nuuk – Greenland(above, two out of three lakes, see below.

Present water supply model for Nuuk and two suburbs, Nussuaq and Qinngorput.

Th water is based upon freshwater coming from the mountains running into the first lake to the next using gravity.

P is yearly production.VS is summer VVS is winter(production capacity)

Fishing Industry (www.nanoq.gl)“The majority of Greenland‘s fishing industry is managed by Royal Greenland A/S, which is owned by the Home Rule Government. The main product is peeled prawns, which are sold on the northern European market. The company‘s trawlers mainly produce unpeeled, cooked or raw, frozen prawns. The company is the world‘s largest retailer of cold-water prawns. A total of almost 6,500 people are employed in fishing and the fishing industry.”

According to above , and the fact that Nuuk is the home base for Royal Greenland and several other main exporting fishing companies, Nuuk is very dependant on the waters.Waterpower is the main energy source in Nuuk, covering almost 100% of the city power supply.Also the greenlandic culture itself is about sailing(kayaking) and hunting by sea. Since the only two ways to get to Greenland , and Nuuk, is by sea or plane. The fiords and waters is crucial for the city and the people living here.

Sermitsiaq the famous mountain , the landmark of Nuuk and Sermersooq municipality,and also the name of greenlands largest newspaper