Norad Santa - 50 Years of Tracking Santa on Christmas Eve
Written by Glenn Letham (GISuser editor)
20 December 2005
Using the North Warning System, a system of 47 radar system installations across Canada's North, NORAD will once again track the movements of Santa Claus as he sets out on his journey around the Globe on Christmas eve. NORAD uses four high-tech systems to track Santa - radar, satellites, Santa Cams and jet fighter aircraft. This year NORAD celebrates 50 years of tracking Santa... congrats to the Colorado Springs-based NORAD crew and volunteers at Cheyenne Mountain and Peterson Air Force Bases on doing a fantastic job! Note: the site is published in 6 languages for all to enjoy.
How it works:
The moment Santa leaves, NORAD starts tracking him with radar - these are the same satellites that monitor us against a misile attack.
As Santa approches various regions of the World, a Santa cam will capture some video footage and publish the results on the Internet for all to see. The Santa Cam produces both video and still images.
The last system used is the NORAD jet fighter. Canadian NORAD fighter pilots, flying the CF-18, take off out of Newfoundland to intercept and welcome Santa to North America.
Tracking Santa with NORAD Santa will teach children not only about geography and Santa's Route, they will also learn about the different traditions around the World and the various ways that people celebrate the Christmas Holiday season.
Using Microsoft's Virtual Earth app. development tools, visitors are presented with a nifty map linking to Santa sightings from around the World. See Santa Map Here
About NORAD Tracking Santa The tradition began after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. store advertisement for children to call Santa on a special "hotline" included an inadvertently misprinted telephone number. Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first "Santa" call on Christmas Eve 1955.
About NORAD NORAD is the bi-national U.S.-Canadian military organization responsible for the aerospace defense of the United States and Canada. NORAD was created by a 1958 agreement between Canada and the United States. The agreement has been renewed nine times - most recently in 2000.
Norad Santa is a truly fun and educational resource and a must-see for those of you that Believe!! This is a tradition here at the Letham household!
Note: Other great resources on Norad Santa not to be missed include printable World maps to help track Santa's progress, Christmas puzzles and games, coloring pages, and downloadable music from the USAF and Naden bands.
HxGN Live - The Hexagon Global Network - Learn about surveying, mapping, laser scanning and geospatial solutions from Leica Geosystems. June 3-6, 2013, Las Vegas, Nevada
Join us at GIS for Government 2013 taking place June 24-26, 2013 in the Washington, DC Metro Area to find out everything you need to know about GIS. Click here for more information
To register for the first GCS Geospatial Big Data webinar, visit the new GCS website at www.YourDataSmarter.com. The one-hour free webinar will be broadcast live at 3 pm EDT Wed, June 12, 2013
Using the North Warning System, a system of 47 radar system installations across Canada's North, NORAD will once again track the movements of Santa Claus as he sets out on his journey around the Globe on Christmas eve. NORAD uses four high-tech systems to track Santa - radar, satellites, Santa Cams and jet fighter aircraft. This year NORAD celebrates 50 years of tracking Santa... congrats to the Colorado Springs-based NORAD crew and volunteers at Cheyenne Mountain and Peterson Air Force Bases on doing a fantastic job! Note: the site is published in 6 languages for all to enjoy.
