The workshop is organized by:
Hans Oerlemans and Carleen Reijmer
Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University
Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht
PO box 80000, 3508 TA Utrecht
The Netherlands
Below you will find information about registration, accommodation and practical information on the workshop on Automatic weather stations on glaciers in Pontresina, Switzerland.
The workshop will take four days, from 28 to 31 March 2004. During these four
days three days are available for presentations and discussions. On one day
an excursion is organized to automatic weather stations
operated by IMAU on the Morteratschgletscher.
For those that plan to combine this workshop with holidays: there is an excellent
rental service in Pontresina, also for all kinds of mountaineering equipment.
When deciding on your subject of presentation remember
the purpose of this workshop, which is first of all an exchange of information.
Running AWS on glaciers has many typical problems (logistics, power supply,
bad weather, unstable surface, tourists, etc.), and it can be very helpful
to hear from others how these problems have been solved (or not).
The idea is to make relatively short presentations on the equipment and how
it is used - not scientific presentations on research work done with the data.
So data can be discussed, but more to illustrate the possibilities or the problems.
A particular issue will be the upgrading of standard AWS to stations that collect
additional data (e.g. the structure of the snowpack, spectral distribution
of reflected radiation, snowdrift, turbulence).
Towards the end of the workshop a session is foreseen in which the use of AWS
on glaciers is discussed in a broader context (e.g. is it feasible to recommend
a strategy for the deployment of AWS to support satellite and mass-balance
studies?).
There are several good hotels in the town of Pontresina. There are plenty of other hotels in Pontresina, see website of Pontresina.
Pontresina is easily accessible by public transport.
People traveling by train can find schedules on: https://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html
People travelling by plane can best fly to Zurich and then take a train to
Pontresina.
The meeting will take place in the Rondo convention centre in Pontresina.
For your presentations there will be an overhead projector, slide projector and a power point projector available. We use Apple iBook with CDrom. Each presentation is 25 minutes of which the last 5 are for questions.
Poster boards will be available for those who wish to bring posters. The with and height of the boards is 1.2 m and 1.95 m, respectively.
The excursion will be to the Persch/Morteratschgletscher, where two AWS are located at different elevations.
The group will be split into two:
Skiers
We will take the Diavolezza cable car and ski down from the mountain station (~3000 m) to the Perschgletscher, and then to the
Morteratschgletscher to visit the lower AWS (at ~2100 m). Here we will meet the other group that will come from below.
The route is marked, but not prepared. It can be done with normal downhill skis. Halfway there is a little climb (50 m) on a trail.
Safety equipment (harnass etc.) is not needed. However, you should be able to master any regular black run.
Those who are not good downhill skiers
From the Landgasthaus Morteratsch (1800 m) we will walk to the glacier front and then, on snow shoes or backcountry skies for the experienced, up to the lower AWS (at 2100 m).
Here we will meet the downhill skiers. We will spend some time at the AWS.
Then we will all go back to the Landgasthaus Morteratsch in different styles, and have a beer or so on the terrace.
The train will bring us back to Pontresina.
Equipment
Equipment can be rented in Pontresina (also snow shoes).
Costs: about 10 sfr for the train. For the skiers there is an additional 24 sfr for the cable car.
Download the pdf-file with the list of participants
HERE.
Download the pdf-file with all the extended abstracts, including 'Lessons to be learned' by J.Box, P.Anderson and M. van den Broeke, HERE (pdf, 4.8 Mb).
Not available anymore
Contents
Subjects
AWS on Hardangerjökulen, Norway, at the end of a very warm summer (September 2002). Photo W. Boot.
AWS on Caquella rock glacier, Bolivia (5350 m asl). Photo P. Wagnon.
AWS on Quelccaya Ice Cap, Perú (5670 m asl). Photo D. Hardy.
AWS 5 near Wasa / Aboa on Antarctica (362 m asl). Photo S. Lindström.
K&Z CNR1 radiation sensor on AWS9 near Kohnen station on Antarctica (2890 m asl). Photo M.R. van den Broeke.
Unmanned turbulence measurements on the Morteratschgletscher, Switzerland. Photo L. Klok.
Picture of the Triftgletscher in the western Swiss Alps taken by an automatic camera system. Photo H. Gubler.