For Professor Rapley, here is an easier link to follow:
http://tinyurl.com/2xca7f

Since then the Director of British Antarctic Survey, Chris Rapley, made a strategic decision to focus on Global Warming (that’s where the grant money is) and those who didn’t tow the party line got the boot.

Here is a clip of Rapley preaching the message.

http://video.energypolicytv.com/displaypage.php?
vkey=88a51f6ca8cfc1ac79b5&channel=Climate%20Change

NOAASIS says the MSU satellites are in polar orbit.

Melting in this region has occurred in the past (over the last 2000 years) – and is well documented by researchers at Rothera.

Do you know if there is anything published on this? I’ve seen various press reports that the present melting is ‘unprecedented’ in the last 10,000 years – which seems unlikely. Or are the Rothera people a little shy about mentioning such things in print?

http://gustofhotair.blogspot.com/2006/11/consistent-macquarie.html

By inclining the orbit, you can make the satellite move through what appears to be a Figure 8 from the ground, and sample a little more notherly or southerly, but there is a practical limit to how far you would want to do this. Polar orbiting satellites (which have highly inclined orbits) would be the only way to sample the very high latitudes.

The Sirius satellites use a modified Molniya orbit, which was originally developed by the Russians so they could get satellite coverage over their primarily high latitude region. Sirius’ modification generates a 24 hour period (instead of 12 for the Molniya) and remains over the Western hemisphere, topping out somewhere in Northern Canada (around the Hudson Bay). There’s a huge delta in altitude between the perigee and apogee, however.

Mark

It was a comment on Don’s comment that snowmobile traffic could be part of the issue. That I’m sure it does. (How much, that’s a different question of course)