The Sornfelli summit, - a potential climate monitoring site

Note: This planned excursion to this facility did not take place, and an alternative tour was organized. However, these facilities remains available, although anticipated changes in entry requirements.

This unique facility to study and monitor the mountain meteorology and climate in the North Atlantic.   You may drive on paved roads up to about 680m elevation, and then, if you get access, through tunnels and up a staircase of about 220 steps inside the mountain to the top, about 746 m above sea level.  In clear weather, most of the island group can be seen from here.

Sornfelli's extreme environment and strategic North Atlantic position make it a valuable location for understanding both local mountain climate dynamics and broader regional and global climate change influences. Its strategic location is seen as a unique opportunity to study key atmospheric components like sea spray aerosols, long-range pollution, and climate gases, particularly as a gateway to the Arctic.

Performing meteorological observations at this site has been shown to be a challenge, and thus a unique, easily accessible site to test out equipment for extreme environments. In 1999 - 2000, an attempt was made by Jarðfeingi (Faroese Geological Survey) and its partners to establish a meteorological station on this summit using a new technology where instruments were only periodically exposed from a heated cylinder, protecting them from the extreme conditions of strong winds, icing, and lightning. Later instrumentation on a specially designed mast was tested. Further operation of this station ceased due to lack of resources until earlier this year Landsverk installed an weather station at the site (Link to latest measurements).   These efforts, however, demonstrates that this location offers a unique setting for monitoring meteorological conditions in the southernmost part of the northern hemisphere low arctic zone.

The installation on and in the Sornfelli was established in the early 1960s as a NATO Early Warning station as a result of the political tension during the Cold War period. Following the end of the Cold War and a change in strategic priorities, the main military installation was closed in 2002, and the surveillance radar stopped operating completely in 2007, when it became part of the Faroese Government property portfolio. Recently, a political agreement was made between the Faroese and Danish governments to establish a new air surveillance radar in these facilities.

Today these facilities host the local weather radar owned by the local airline and helicopter company Atlantic Airways, which makes these observations publicly available among other media, also on the FMO homepage (www.vedur.fo). In addition, the facility provides opportunities and space for a few research experiments. We at FMO would like very much to introduce to you these unique and easy accessible facility for meteorological and climate research, and to discuss future collaborative research and monitoring projects.

Further reading

Christiansen, H. H., and L. Mortensen, 2002. Arctic Mountain Meteorology at the Sornfelli Mountain in Year 2000 in the Faroe Islands. Fróðskaparrit- Faroese Scientific Journal, 2002. (pdf)

Christiansen, S. et al, Workshop organized by the University of the Faroe Islands to establish and integrate a marine and atmospheric monitoring station (Link)

Observations at Sornfelli in the FINI-project (Link)

A recent political agreement to establish air surveillance radar (Link)