Geophysical Observatories in Norway

At the end of the nineteenth century, the very first Nothern Lights observatory was founded, and earned the nickname "The Town of Northern Lights'". In Alta there is a city which is known for being one of the best places to observe the northern lights, because the climate is quite stable.

In addition to the observatory in Alta, Norway also has observatories on Svalbard.

The Kjell Henriksen Observatory is an observatory on Svaldbard. Since it is located close to the North Pole, this facility is perfect for observing the Aurora Borealis, and it is part of The University Centre in Svalbard. Here a lot of special equipment is used to gather information about the middle- and upper atmosphere. In addition, this research facility is also fairly new. It only first opened in 2008, and replaced an old observatory, which received wrong information due to pollution. Therefore, The Kjell Henriksen Observatory (KHO) was made for better progress in the northern ligths field and to gain new insights about polar lights. Svalbard is one of the most favorable places to do research, and this observatory is one of the main ones there.

Norway has also a Racket space center to gain information about the atmosphere.

Andøya space center lies in Nordland, Norway. It is a field for shooting rackets. The racket shoot field lies in the south outer field of the zone of the maximum polar light activity. It therefore has a good location for polar light studies. The first instrument in Europe to study the polar lights was a racket from Andøya. More than 1000 rockets has been shoot from Andøya.

Sources:

http://kho.unis.no/

http://www.forskningsradet.no/prognett-ssf/Nyheter/New_Aurora_observatory_on_Svalbard_is_open/1253978331215?lang=en

https://snl.no/And%C3%B8ya_Rakettskytefelt_AS http://www.esa.int/nor/ESA_in_your_country/Norway/Andoeya_Rakettskytefelt_perfekt_plassert_for_nordlysforskning