This dataset provides meteorological and actinometric observations from the Soviet drifting station North Pole 28 (NP-28) in the Central Arctic, 1987. Experimental studies were carried out at the drifting station, which operated in the Central Arctic Basin from February to October 1987. It includes air and surface temperatures, humidity, pressure, wind data, and cloud cover (see https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.995119). The radiation data covers hourly averages of long-wave (upward/downward) and short-wave global radiation, as well as fixed-hour solar radiation measurements (direct, diffuse, and reflected).