1 Background - mountain.PROJECTS

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TURKU UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY PUBLICATIONS B Nr 4Meteorological data has also been collected from weather stations in the area surroundingHintereisferner during the project. This network consisted of ten stations, none of which aremore than 41 km away from the glacier’s highest point, Weisskugel at 3739 m a.s.l. At leasttwo meteorological parameters are measured at every station, temperature and precipitation.At the majority of the weather stations snow is also measured. At two weather stationshumidity and cloudiness is measured, air pressure is provided at one station. Glacier runoff ismeasured at Vernagtbach measurement site. The ten stations are situated in different valleysof which four converge on the glacier. Although the weather information at Hintereisfernerfor the three years is not known exactly, the record represents a unique source of informationat ten different weather stations in the glacier’s surrounding area and gives an insight into thesimilarities and possible differences of the atmospheric conditions in this small <strong>mountain</strong>zone. The main crest of the Alps on which Hintereisferner is situated is often a borderline forweather impacts. With this record it will be possible to examine carefully differences betweenthis side of the Alps and beyond because the investigated glacier is influenced from both sidesof the <strong>mountain</strong> range.Web camera installation for HintereisfernerA web camera was installed near Hintereisferner on 6 th August 2003. Daily images ofHintereisferner provide complementary information to several other monitoring systems, suchas the automatic weather stations and mass balance measurements. The web camera data canbe used to support analysis and crosscheck results and measurements of these systems. Theimages are also a valuable tool for planning field campaigns. In co-operation with localtourism facilities, the images can provide interesting glaciological information for a largeraudience and improve understanding of the glacial environment.The position of the snow line or, in the upper parts of the glacier, the firn line, changes withtime. The retreat depends on the thickness of the firn/snow layers and the weather conditionsincluding radiation, temperature and precipitation, which is measured at two locations by thenewly installed weather stations. Ablation and the spatially non-uniform accumulation cause apatchy pattern of snow/firn cover. For mass balance, accumulation or snowdrift studies it isvaluable to have images of the temporal evolution of this pattern, especially in years withstrong ablation, such as 2003. The web camera system is shown in Figure 12. The view fromthe camera is shown in Figure 13.Construction of a Ground Control Point (GCP) networkThe existing ground control network around Svartisen and Hintereisferner were deemedinadequate for the purposes of the OMEGA project. Hence, a measurement plan wasprepared for both study areas. Existing points were re-measured and new points establishedwhere necessary.GCP network – NorwayThe fieldwork for the ground control network on Svartisen was performed by NVE. The bulkof the work was done in August 2001, although some points had been measured in May 2001,and further measurements were made in September 2001 and July 2002. Vectors that hadbeen measured in 2000 outside the auspices of the OMEGA project were also used.22
PETRI PELLIKKA AND KARI KAJUUTTI (ED)Figure 12. The web cam system including solar panel, mast construction, web cam (with housing) andantenna at its current location.Figure 13. View of Hintereisferner from Rofenbergköpfe.The work can be summarised as follows. The total of 98 GPS vectors were measured. Duringthe calculations two of them were excluded due to possible errors. Thus, 96 vectors are23
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1 Background - mountain.PROJECTS

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