Summit Station is the only high altitude, high latitude, inland, year‐round observing station in the Arctic. Summit Station offers immediate access to the free troposphere and is relatively free of local influences that could corrupt atmospheric observations. As such, it is ideally suited for studies aimed at identifying and understanding long‐range, intercontinental transport and its influences on the ice sheet surface, boundary layer, and overlying atmosphere. The pristine and remote location in a year‐round dry snow and ice region provides an optimal facility for energy and surface mass balance, radiation measurements, and remote sensing validation studies. Summit Station is also a prime site for astronomy and astrophysics research due to its high altitude and dry and stable atmosphere.

Summit Station is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Arctic Research Program and operated by CH2MHill Polar Services (CPS) with guidance from the Science Coordination Office (SCO) and in cooperation with the Government of Greenland. The CPS contract is administered by the Arctic Research Support and Logistics (RSL) Program at the NSF.