A bit of a swim... the other side of the story

You could barely make this up.

In a bizarre twist to Sunday's "a bit of a swim" story, there was another river story going on just downstream.

At what would have been more-or-less the same time, SGO director Esa Turunen was fishing in the Kitinen river and caught a very large hauki (a type of aggressive river fish common in the waters up here).

Hauki and Esa (Photo: E. Turunen)

But what is "hauki" in English? Well, I guess we could go and ask the fish...

So, fish... what is your English name?

Don't tell him, pike! 

Sorry, couldn't resist that one.

A bit of a swim

Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory is situated along the banks of the Kitinen River. A quick search on the Internet (or looking at all Kitinen-tagged posts on the weblog here), will turn up plenty of photographs of a frozen expanse of ice sheets and sub-zero temperatures. However it does melt in the spring and in the summer it is really quite and idyllic spot.

 

On the evening of the 15th, I decided to see if I could swim across the river. In fact, I first swam across the river, then up to the island and then back again.

The total distance was just over 600 metres, although in reality, I doubt I swam it as absolutely straight lines. There is a current running north to south, so that would have swept me off course a bit. At this time of year, the water is pretty murky, due to the the meltwater seeping through the tundra to get to the river. And the opposite banks are really quite muddy and swampy... so SGO is definitely on the best side of the river here.

Of course the next morning my shoulders were killing me. Even clicking the computer mouse button was a struggle at first. Still, it was all good fun!

Kiintojää

A couple of evenings ago, there was a very moody sunset over the Kitinen river near Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory. Along the shore, there is still fast-ice, but the mainstream is pretty clear now.

Fast ice along the Kitinen River (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Frozen river

Today's photograph is from Sodankylä. It was taken from the bridge over the Kitinen River, looking southwards. At this time of the year, the river is frozen and it serves as a "road" for the snowmobile traffic. You can see the tracks in the snow on the frozen river surface.

Kitinen River, seen from the bridge at Sodankylä (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Notice how high the midday sun is now. It is lovely to have those few hours of sunshine. After the kaamos, one really appreciates the glimmers of sun light.

Frozen Kitinen

This week we have a guest photo, kindly provided by our recent KAIRA observer:

It's Photo Friday! 

The frozen river at SGO. (Photo: P. Martin)

Enjoy your weekend.   :)

Text & image credit: P. Martin

Sodankylä from the air

As you might have seen on the EISCAT_3D web log recently, there has been a great little video posted on YouTube by Tarmo Laakso, which shows a flight along the Kitinen River in the Sodankylä area.

You can watch for Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory. The Tähtelä site starts to appear at 2:49, with the EISCAT 32m dish coming into view at 2:54 and the Polaria main building at 2:56.

Kurkiaska at midnight

'Tis Friday again (what, already?!), so it is time to end the week with a nice photo. Today's is from the Kurkiaska hydro-power station, on the Kitinen river, just south of Tähtelä, where the institute is. We took this photograph on our way back from the EISCAT_3D Users' Meeting. As we flew in on the late flight, it meant it was really quite late when we crossed the river... just before midnight in fact. The sun had set (just!) but there was still a blaze of colour on the northern horizon.

Have a nice weekend!

Midnight sunset from Kurkiaska. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Tähtelä

Occasionally you will see this place mentioned — Tähtelä.

Tähtelä is where the main Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory is located. It is also the location of a Finnish Meteorological Institute station. Tähtelä is small place with a handful of buildings belonging to the two institutes, a main shared centre (called "Polaria") and various houses, other small buildings and research equipment. It is not really a campus, but it is not really a village either. It is just a special place.

The visitor information sign for Tähtelä. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Tähtelä is located about 6 km south of the town of Sodankylä itself on the eastern shore of the Kitinen River.

The name Tähtelä itself means "Place of the stars". Although it is true that the institutes here are not primarily astronomical facilities, we do in fact occasionally observe astronomical objects (such as radio stars, pulsars or our own sun). And certainly some of the staff are trained astronomers who sometimes carry out astronomical research.


Note that there is another Tähtelä. It is a small railway stop, just north of Ingå in the south of Finland (LINK).

By the Kitinen

Another nice photograph to end the week. This one was taken near the river-side at Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory.

Kitinen riverside. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Kitinen River Sunset

Aren't Arctic skies just beautiful? Today's photograph is taken looking at the set sun over the Kitinen river just after midday.

Kitinen River (D. McKay-Bukowski)

Have a nice weekend!

Freezing over

We took these photographs are the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory recently. With theonset of the Autumn, the temperatures are dropping rapidly and winter will soon be upon us. And, of course, the water in the area is starting to freeze over.

First crystals forming in the puddles. (Image: D. McKay-Bukowski)

The Kitinen River starting to freeze over. (Image: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Dawn over the Kitinen River

Just a nice photograph today. This photograph was taken at dawn on 2nd August 2012 from the middle of the Kitinen River adjacent to the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory. Enjoy!

Kitinen River. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)

Summer Kitinen

Back in April (which seems like a long time ago now!) we took a photograph of the Kitinen River near Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory.

At the time we promised to take a photo in summer from the same spot. Well... here's one:

However, here's a better one! This is a panorama, taken at approx. 23:45 on 23^rd June 2011 (just after the mid-sommer). There is a hint of a rainbow, and the sun would drop out of the clouds, about 30-40 minutes after this sequence was taken. (Click on the image for the full-resolution version.)


Enjoy!

Sticks in the snow

Just a nice image to finish the week. This photograph was taken from the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (SGO), looking across the Kitinen River. Enjoy!


Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski

Kitinen iced over

This is the Kitinen River. It flows past the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (SGO). When we last wrote about the SGO, we mentioned that it was on the banks of the river. Of course, back then in the dead of the polar night it was impossible to get a photograph. Well... we're putting that to rights today.


Here it is, as seen from the shore. The tracks that go out and then to the right are from a reindeer. Of course, the river is completely iced over at this time of year. But the image does give one a nice sense of the beautiful landscape at the observatory. In summer, we'll try to take another photograph of the Kitinen from the same location to compare the seasons. (Click of the image for a larger version.)

Photo: Derek McKay-Bukowski