# Identify this photo: I think it's a radar station in Greenland. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 31, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-photo-i-think-its-a-radar-station-in-greenland/515804 "2009-10-31T02:35:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-photo-i-think-its-a-radar-station-in-greenland/515804/1 "2009-10-31T02:35:15Z")
A friend of mine took [this photo](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/wolfstu/14235_322172125077_538355077_961065.jpg) while flying over Greenland. He’s not sure what that object is. I suspect it’s a radar station; either the kind used to watch for Soviet bombers during the cold war, or the kind used to monitor satellites. A little googling suggests it _might_ be the Dye-2 station of the Distant Early Warning line. Can anybody give a positive identification of that structure? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-photo-i-think-its-a-radar-station-in-greenland/515804/2 "2009-10-31T02:45:12Z")
Is it [this](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DTSboJzUQzk/SSXNWxXdPLI/AAAAAAAADH8/NObw-xPo3fk/s1600-h/Picture+54.png)? ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-photo-i-think-its-a-radar-station-in-greenland/515804/3 "2009-10-31T02:48:54Z")
How big was it? Reminds me of [this](http://www.strategypage.com/military_photos/military_photos_200621221.aspx), which is a X-band radar used by the US Missile Defense Agency to track missiles. That is it sitting in Hawaii. Also, obligatory [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea-based_X-band_Radar) link. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-photo-i-think-its-a-radar-station-in-greenland/515804/4 "2009-10-31T02:54:32Z")
Sorry for the double post, but after looking at Dye-2 photos online. It looks like it can’t be anything BUT that. I say you’ve ID’ed it off the start. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-photo-i-think-its-a-radar-station-in-greenland/515804/5 "2009-10-31T04:34:05Z")
[Here you go](http://www.lswilson.ca/dye3pics.htm). DYE-3. ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-photo-i-think-its-a-radar-station-in-greenland/515804/6 "2009-11-01T00:58:22Z")
Thanks guys – it looks pretty clear it’s one of those DYE stations. I’ll link my friend to the [DEW line map](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Distant_Early_Warning_(DEW)_Line.jpg) on Wikipedia; he may know which location he was closer to at the time the photo was taken.