NOAA News || NOAA Home Page

May 1, 2002 — Santa Claus had better be on his best behavior because NOAA will now know if he has been naughty or nice via the North Pole Web Cam. (NOAA's Web cam image of North Pole taken April 28, 2002.)

Installed April 28, the camera presently sends back four images a day.

"The images will track the North Pole snow cover, weather conditions and the status of NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory's North Pole instrumentation, which includes meteorological and ice sensors that can be seen in the camera images," said James Overland, head of NOAA's North Pole Project.

Overland added that some of the camera's configurations—zoom, frequency of photos, and other settings—can be easily changed remotely from PMEL.

The NOAA North Pole Web Cam is part of the North Pole Environmental Observatory, a joint National Science Foundation-sponsored effort by the Polar Science Center at the University of Washington, NOAA, the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC), Oregon State University, and Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory. The Web camera was provided by Star Dot Technologies with technical support by Vance Kozik.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA North Pole Web Cam

NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

Media Contact:
Jana Goldman, NOAA Research, (301) 713-2483