hiSNOW

The overall purpose of the hiSNOW research project is to improve our understanding of the effects of the ongoing climate change on the Alpine glaciers and snow cover, based on high resolution spatial and temporal remote sensing data as well as snow hydrological simulations. The results of hiSNOW will help us to assess the effects of melting glaciers and snow on the natural and economic environment, to identify the relationships between ALS and TLS, to determine the vertical ice flow motion components. Moreover, the project will better parameterize and further develop the mass and energy balance model AMUNDSEN to the needs of working on the South Tyrolean mountain regions.
The primary research objectives in hiSNOW are:
- Temporal and spatial high resolution quantification of both snow cover and glacier evolution
- Separation of mass balance and vertical flow motion components as main processes affecting the glacier surface topography (surface topography difference)
- Application of TLS (Terrestrial Laser Scanning) for a semi-automatic monitoring of snow and ice surface types, e.g. as basis of improved management of glacier ski resorts.

The main outcome of the project is the evaluation of the uncertainty in the monitoring of glacier properties by integrating remote sensing, proximal sensing, models and ground data.

The EURAC role is related to the snow monitoring and detection of the snow line over glaciers with remotely sensed data. The latest is used to evaluate glaciers mass balance.

Contact person: Claudia Notarnicola