Permafrost Monitoring Sonnblick
Stefan Reisenhofer, Claudia Riedl and Daniel Binder
Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik (ZAMG), Climate Research Department, Vienna, Austria - www.zamg.ac.at
1. IndroducƟon and background
The Sonnblick Observatory at the summit of Hoher Sonnblick, is located in the
Austrian Central Alps and with the eleva on of 3105m a.s.l. the highest
observatory in the world to be operated year-round by the ‘Zentralanstalt für
Meteorologie und Geodynamik’ (ZAMG, Vienna). At this outstanding research
sta on the atmosphere is unfe ered by emissions and beside the atmosphere,
the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the lithosphere and the biosphere is
monitored too.
Within the project ‘Permafrost Monitoring Sonnblick’ (PERSON-GCW) and an
internal ZAMG project the spa al distribu on of permafrost is inves gated by
the ‘Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik’ (ZAMG) in the
Sonnblick area, in the Hohe Tauern in Austria. The aim of PERSON-GCW is to
iden fy parameters aﬀec ng permafrost - geological, geomorphological,
orographical and clima c factors - to determine its spa o-temporal behaviour
under present day climate condi ons and to es mate its possible future
extension under a climate change scenario.
2. Applied methods since the beginning in 2006
- Documenta
-> and measurable parameters
-> date, loca
on rockfalls:
on, volume and size of the event
- Boreholes with 20m depth:
-> temperature distribu on in the BL
-> spa al and temporal varia on in ac ve layer thickness
- Geoelectric:
-> interplay between freezing and mel ng behaviour
-> depth of the Permafrost table
- Near surface boreholes (NST) up to 140cm in depth:
-> temperature distribu on
-> heat input into the surface
- Ground penetra on radar:
-> inves ga on of ground condi ons
-> ice content yes/no
- Ground surface temperature (GST):
-> energy and heat transports at interface
atmosphere/ground
- Seismic reflec on:
-> inves ga on of ground condi ons
-> ice content yes/no
- Measurements of meteorological parameters:
-> air temperature; precipita on, radia on, snow height
- Terrestrial 3D laser scanning:
-> mass movements and volume changes
- Observa on camera:
-> spa al and temporal distribu on of the snow cover
- Extensometer:
-> fracture changes in the rock
-> upli and lowering of the ground
Near surface boreholes
3. The Network - Permafrost Monitoring Sonnblick
On the southern slope of Hoher Sonnblick con nuous temperature
measurements from three 20 m deep boreholes are available since 2007.
Close to this site measurements of ‘Ground-Surface Temperature’ (GST) and
‘Bo om Temperatures of the Snow cover’ (BTS) have been carried out since
autumn 2006. In order to record temperatures in the uppermost layer of the
ground and avoid hea ng by direct solar radia on; the loggers were buried few
cen metres into the ground or were installed in boreholes with depths
between 2 and 140 cm. Each of the ‘Near Surface Temperature’ (NST) borehole
mouths is barred with insula ng foam to provide the measurements from
atmospheric influence.
Figure: BTS and GST measurements at the study site Wintergasse – typical threshold
values of WEqT were used as indicators. For GST mean February temperature was used.
Light grey squares indicate GST measurements without
suﬃcient
cover.
Figures:
Nearsnow
surface
temperature in borehole w47.
Boreholes 20m deep
GST measurements
Legend
Figure: Temperature- me plot of the borehole Sonnblick 3.
Figures: MAGST of all GST-logger plo ed against eleva on. Colors
iden fy the diﬀerent aspects (le ) and expos ons (right), respec vely.
Daily mean temperature [°C] in different orientations and substrates
30
25
20
Temperature [°C]
15
Table: Maximum ac ve layer thickness (ALT measured in
the boreholes and corresponding date.
10
daily mean temperature at Sonnblick [3106m]
s1 east soil
Location 47
Elevation 2674.9 [m]
Aspect 284.5 [°]
Slope
17.4 [°]
s2 south rock
s3 west soil
s4 north soil
5
0
−5
−10
−15
−20
−25
Figure: 3D-Overview of monitoring sites in the Sonnblick area.
−30
2012
2013
2014
Date [Year]
4. What‘s coming next?
Figure: Temperature- me plot of four surface logger.
a) Sonnblick boreholes with 20m depth
-> new borehole equipement
c) Passive seismic networks
-> ‚SeisRockHT‘ - Seismic Rockfall
Monitoring in the Hohe
Tauern region - is funded by the
Austrian Academy of Sciences
-> Two all-year round, con nuously
registra ng passive seismic networks
-> Sonnblick(3106m a.s.l.) and
Kitzsteinhorn(3203m a.s.l.)
b) Geoelectric profile
-> Installa on of a geoelectric profile somewhere from the
northface to the southern slope of Hoher Sonnblick
?
?
Installa on 2015
ERT profile
?
Installa on 2015
ERT profile
?
Acknowledgements
PERSON-GCW project is
funded by the Austrian
Federal
Ministry
of
Agriculture,
Forestry,
Environment and Water
Management (BMLFUW).
Figure: SeisRockHT seismic network at the Sonnblick northface.
Contact:
[email protected]