Wilfried Haeberli

Abstract: The occurrence of permafrost strongly depends on atmospherical, topographical and soil specific factors such as mean annual air temperature, solar radiation, snow cover and soil texture. For a better understanding of the interconnection between these individual factors in the snow cover – permafrost system, a numerical model was developed: the one-dimensional model SNOWPACK, which simulates the local snow cover from the Swiss Automatic Snow and Weather Stations (IMIS), was extended to the underlying soil by including specific soil characteristics. The soil-specific parameters of this new model were calibrated with laboratory measurements. Simulations concerning the influence of soil grain-size on temperature development were conducted. A long-term simulation of the influence of increasing mean annual air temperatures on mean annual soil-surface temperatures shows both a strong linear dependency and soil-specific sensitivity. In this paper, the calibration of the new model and the first simulation results are presented. Permafrost, Phillips, Springman & Arenson (eds) © 2003 Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse, ISBN 90 5809 582 7

TL;DR: In this paper, Schmidt-hammer and weathering rind measurements were used to date rock glaciers in the Albula area of the eastern Swiss Alps, and the results showed that the number of active and relict glaciers increased with increasing surface ages.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the major components of distributed glacier mass balance models and apply a model that is based on the calculation of the energy balance to a larger test site (Mischabel region) in Switzerland.

TL;DR: The NELAK (Neue Seen als Folge der Entgletscherung in den Alpen) project as mentioned in this paper is an example of such a project. Butte et al. present a model-based approach to the realistischen Szenarien der Klimaentwicklung in the Alpen.

TL;DR: In this article, high-mountain areas with glacier and permafrost occurrence are temperature sensitive environments and climatic changes are likely to have an effect on slope stability, and the processes of slope failure and flow dynamics should therefore be better understood.