Location Information

The Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (SGO) is located at 67° 22' N, 26° 38' E, 120 km north of the Arctic Circle and 7 km south of Sodankylä, in central Lapland on the beautiful banks of the river Kitinen.

About Finland:
Finland is a member of the European Union and the local currency is EURO (€). The population of Finland is just under 5.3 million.

About Sodankylä:
Sodankylä is one of the biggest local centres in Lapland with a population of about 9,000 and a surface area of 12,400 km². The most important research organizations located here are the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, which belongs to the University of Oulu, the Arctic Research Centre of Finnish Meteorological Institute and the EISCAT receiver site.

Climate:
The time of the midnight sun lasts from 30^th May to 15^th July, and the polar night lasts from 19^th to 25^th December. The mean temperature in January is -14°C and in July +15°C. The snow cover usually lasts from 30^th October to 15^th May. There are about 150 nights of auroral displays per year and the probability of seeing aurora around the equinoxes is very high - provided the sky is clear.

Access to Sodankylä:
The nearest airport is at Rovaniemi, about 130 km south of Sodankylä (map). Finnair's and Blue1's web pages will give you more information on connections to Rovaniemi. Kittilä and Ivalo airports has also flights to Helsinki, but there is no public transportation available to Sodankylä.

Some flights are linked with bus connections to Sodankylä. Here is a link for bus timetables. For connections to the airport, you should make sure to select Place of departure: "Rovaniemi lentoasema (Rovaniemi)".

All major car rental companies are also available at the airports.

It is also possible to come by train from Helsinki (via Oulu and Kemi) to Rovaniemi. There are 2 night trains and 2 day trains every day. See the web pages of Finnish Railways for more information. Trains link with buses to Sodankylä.