The smaller Aggijjat (formerly Durban Island) is approximately 7 km (4.3 mi) to the east, while Auyuittuq National Park is to the west.

[6][7] In July 1941, a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) team headed by Captain Elliott Roosevelt conducted aerial reconnaissance for an airport site in the region of Baffin Island closest to Greenland.

[9] In January 1947, the Cabinet of Canada approved the transfer of the Padloping weather station from the United States to the Canadian Department of Transportation, effective 1949–1950.

However, by 1949, the transfer date had been postponed to summer of 1951 as there were insufficient Department of Transport personnel available to staff Padloping's combined meteorological and radio range station.

But in June 1951, with the Department of Transportation still unable to assume the commitment, the United States agreed to continue the Padloping operation.