Sensitivity and robustness of sky-polarimetric Viking navigation: Sailing success is most sensitive to night sailing, navigation periodicity and sailing date, but robust against weather conditions

Although Viking sailors did not have a magnetic compass, they could successfully navigate with a sun-compass under a sunny sky. Under cloudy/foggy conditions, they might have applied the sky-polarimetric Viking navigation (SPVN), the high success of which has been demonstrated with computer simulations using the following input data: sky polarization patterns measured with full-sky imaging polarimetry, and error functions of the navigation steps measured in psychophysical laboratory and planetarium experiments. As a continuation of the earlier studies, in this work we investigate the sensitivity of the success of SPVN to the following relevant sailing, meteorological and navigational parameters: sunstone type, sailing date, navigation periodicity, night sailing, dominance of strongly, medium or weakly cloudy skies, and changeability of cloudiness. Randomly varying these parameters in the simulation of Viking voyages along the latitude 60 degrees 21' 55 '' N from Norway to Greenland, we determined those parameters which had strong and weak influences on the success of SPVN. The following intrinsic parameters of the simulation were also randomly changed: sailing speed, visibility distance of Greenland's southeast coastline and start time of diurnal sailing. Our results show that the sailing success is sensitive to the night sailing, navigation periodicity and sailing date, while it is robust against the sunstone type, dominance of strongly, medium or weakly cloudy skies, and changing cloudiness.

Automated summary

Despite the lack of a magnetic compass, Viking sailors could navigate successfully with a sun-compass in sunny weather, and may have used sky-polarimetric Viking navigation (SPVN) in cloudy or foggy conditions. This study, through simulations of Viking voyages, reveals the significance of night sailing, navigation periodicity, and sailing date for the success of navigation.